Neural response to stress differs by sex in young adulthood.

Increase in stress-related disorders in women begins post-puberty and persists throughout the lifespan. To characterize sex differences in stress response in early adulthood, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants underwent a stress task in conjunction with serum cortisol levels and questionnaires assessing anxiety and mood. Forty-two healthy subjects aged 18-25 years participated (21M, 21F).

Involvement of dopamine, but not norepinephrine, in the sex-specific regulation of juvenile socially rewarding behavior by vasopressin.

Social play is a highly rewarding behavior displayed mostly during the juvenile period. We recently showed that vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR) blockade in the lateral septum (LS) enhances social play in male juvenile rats, but reduces it in females. Here, we determined whether the LS-AVP system modulates dopamine (DA) and/or norepinephrine (NE) neurotransmission in the LS to regulate social play behavior in sex-specific ways.

The Phenotypic Effects of Royal Jelly on Wild-Type D. melanogaster Are Strain-Specific.

The role for royal jelly (RJ) in promoting caste differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens rather than workers is well characterized. A recent study demonstrated that this poorly understood complex nutrition drives strikingly similar phenotypic effects in Drosophila melanogaster, such as increased body size and reduced developmental time, making possible the use of D. melanogaster as a model system for the genetic analysis of the cellular mechanisms underlying RJ and caste differentiation.

Long-term wheel-running and acute 6-h advances alter glucose tolerance and insulin levels in TALLYHO/JngJ mice.

Studies have shown a relationship between circadian rhythm disruptions and type-2 diabetes. This investigation examined the effects of circadian disruption (6-h phase advances) on the progression of diabetes in a type-2 diabetic mouse model -TALLYHO/JngJ - and whether wheel-running can alleviate the effects of the phase advances. 6-h advances alter fasting glucose, glucose tolerance and insulin production.

Alcohol and lithium have opposing effects on the period and phase of the behavioral free-running activity rhythm.

Bipolar patients have a high prevalence of comorbid alcohol use and abuse disorders, while chronic alcohol drinking may increase the presence and severity of certain symptoms of bipolar disorder. As such, there may be many individuals that are prescribed lithium to alleviate the manic symptoms of bipolar disorder, but also drink alcohol concurrently. In addition, both alcoholics and individuals with bipolar disorder often exhibit disruptions to their sleep-wake cycles and other circadian rhythms.