Publications by authors named "Pautassi R"

Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how the age at which individuals start drinking and their preferred drinking context (like parties or solitary settings) impact their alcohol consumption, motives for drinking, and expectations about alcohol's effects.
  • - Conducted among 752 Uruguayan citizens, findings reveal that early drinkers often drink alone more frequently and are driven by coping motives, while those who drink at parties demonstrate a desire for social conformity.
  • - The research suggests that drinking contexts significantly influence drinking behaviors and motivations, indicating that solitary drinking poses higher risks when combined with early drinking onset.
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Growing evidence suggests the tendency to act rashly under positive and negative emotions and affect-related drinking motives connect symptoms of mood disorders with alcohol-related problems. However, studies examining this sequence are scarce in Latin-American samples. The present study evaluated, in Argentinian college students ( = 403; 68.

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The Big Five personality traits have shown associations with symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students, but it is unclear which factors mediate these relationships. Past research suggests that psychological distress is closely related to difficulties in affect regulation (e.g.

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Ethanol consumption during pregnancy induces enduring detrimental effects in the offspring, manifesting as a spectrum of symptoms collectively termed as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Presently, there is a scarcity of treatments for FASD. To analyze current literature, emphasizing evidence derived from preclinical models, that could potentially inform therapeutic interventions for FASD.

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Prior studies suggest that lower levels of mindfulness contribute to the motivation of using alcohol to cope with distress. Research examining this possibility is scarce or limited to alcohol, but not marijuana, related outcomes. We examined separate models (for alcohol and for marijuana) to determine the associations between trait mindfulness (describing, acting with awareness, non-judging, non-reactivity) and alcohol and marijuana outcomes (use indicators and negative consequences) via emotional psychopathology (i.

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Background: Binge drinking at adolescence is a risk factor for problematic alcohol (ethanol) consumption later in life, yet the murine studies that modelled this phenomenon via ethanol self-administration have provided mixed findings. Antagonism of the sigma-1 receptor (S1-R) system at adolescence modulates ethanol's motivational effects and intake. It is still unknown, however, whether this antagonism would protect against enhanced ethanol intake at adulthood after adolescent binge ethanol exposure.

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Article Synopsis
  • Parenting experiences significantly impact neurodevelopment, with single-mother (SM) rearing linked to higher anxiety and alcohol consumption in adolescents compared to biparental (BP) environments.* -
  • Research on infant mice revealed that while both SM and BP mice are similarly stimulated by alcohol, SM mice showed greater neural activation in anxiety-related brain regions.* -
  • Adolescents from SM backgrounds are particularly responsive to alcohol's anxiety-reducing effects, suggesting that single-mother parenting may lead to heightened anxiety and sensitivity to alcohol.*
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Article Synopsis
  • Ethanol exposure in adolescent male rats leads to conditioned responses of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and corticosterone (CORT), with effects being more pronounced than in adults.
  • Female adolescent rats did not exhibit similar neuroimmune or CORT conditioning when exposed to ethanol paired with specific environmental cues.
  • This study suggests that male adolescents are more likely to develop conditioned associations between alcohol and their environment, highlighting a potential reason for their increased vulnerability to the long-term effects of ethanol.
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Psychological distress (i.e., incipient symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression) may promote substance use through increased emission of cognitive distortions.

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Impulsivity and substance-related outcomes share a complex relationship, as various facets of impulsivity exhibit distinct associations with different drug-related outcomes. This study examines the associations between frequency and quantity of alcohol and marijuana use with impulsivity traits, psychological distress, and the utilization of emotion regulation strategies. A survey asked Argentinian citizens (n = 1507, 356 men) about frequency and quantity of alcohol or marijuana use on each day of a typical week, as well as anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms (DASS-21), impulsivity-like traits (UPPS-P), and emotion regulation strategies (ERQ).

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Prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) causes several neurobehavioral impairments in the fetus. Postnatal days (PDs) 4-9 in rodents are considered equivalent to the third trimester of gestation in humans. This period is characterized by high rates of synaptogenesis and myelination and the maturation of key structures and transmitter systems.

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Early stress can increase vulnerability to psychopathological disorders, including substance use disorders. The effects of stress in the juvenile period of the rat, that extends between weaning and the onset of adolescence (equivalent to late human childhood), have received little attention. This study assessed short and long-term behavioral effects of juvenile stress, with a focus on effects on ethanol intake.

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The development of excessive alcohol (ethanol) and/or highly palatable food self-administration is an essential task to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie these behaviors. Previous work has highlighted that ethanol self-administration is modulated by both the induction of aversive states (i.e.

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: It is important to identify students who would benefit from early interventions to reduce harmful drinking patterns and associated consequences. the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) could be particularly useful as a screening tool in university settings. Objectives.

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Article Synopsis
  • Neuroinflammatory processes are increasingly recognized as key factors in substance use disorders, showing a complex interplay where drug intake worsens inflammation, which in turn escalates substance misuse.
  • The review emphasizes the need for further research on how demographic factors, genetic background, and co-existing mental health issues impact the neuroinflammatory response to substances, suggesting potential targets for new treatments.
  • It calls for more investigations into polydrug use and its interactions with neuroinflammation to better understand and address the neuropathological consequences of substance misuse.
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Prenatal ethanol exposure (PEE) induces heightened ethanol intake at adolescence in preclinical studies. Ethanol intake alters the absorption of folate, a methyl-group donor critical for numerous cellular functions. The prenatal administration of folate is, therefore, a promising approach to reduce the effects of PEE.

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Background: Ethanol drinking begins during adolescence and, particularly when occurs in a binge-like pattern, exerts lingering adverse consequences. Pre-clinical studies indicate that intermittent ethanol exposure (IEA, a model of repeated ethanol intoxication), or binge eating (BE) can increase subsequent ethanol consumption. It is unknown if the promoting effects of BE upon ethanol drinking are found in female rats and are modulated by IEA at adolescence.

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Negative emotional states (NES; i.e., depression, anxiety and stress) are likely contributors to the development of food addiction (FA).

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Rationale: Serotonin (5-HT) is a monoamine neuromodulator that plays a key role in the organization of the central nervous system. 5-HT alterations may be associated to the emergence of social deficits and psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders. Notably, disruption of the 5-HT system during sensitive periods of development seems to exert long-term consequences, including altered anxiety responses and problematic use of alcohol.

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Objectives: This study aimed to analyse how the health crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic affected psychoactive substance consumption in Uruguay.

Methods: An online survey was answered by 1,916 Uruguayan citizens between March and April 2020 regarding psychoactive substance use before and after the instauration of a recommended quarantine, increases in frequency and volume of use (during the quarantine) of the psychoactive substance they reported as having consumed the most in the year prior to the quarantine and psychological distress experienced during the last month.

Results: The main substances consumed during the quarantine were alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and psychopharmaceuticals.

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There is a high level of comorbidity between depression and alcohol use disorder. Subanesthetic doses of ketamine induce short-acting and enduring antidepressant effects after a single or a few administrations. Considering such comorbidity, we assessed, in Swiss male mice, if ketamine-induced antidepressant-like effects would alter ethanol's rewarding effects; and, if ethanol pretreatment would alter the rewarding and antidepressant effects of ketamine.

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The identification of factors promoting simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use is important to promote early intervention efforts. The associations between impulsivity facets and SAM (or concurrent alcohol and marijuana, CAM) use have been analyzed in North American samples. These topics, however, remain unexplored in South American samples.

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: Chronic alcohol misuse is associated with alcoholic myopathy, characterized by skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy. Moreover, there is evidence that sports-related people seem to exhibit a greater prevalence of problematic alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking (BD), which might not cause alcoholic myopathy but can negatively impact muscle function and amateur and professional athletic performance.: To review the literature concerning the effects of alcohol consumption on skeletal muscle function and structure that can affect muscle performance.

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Animal models of alcohol (ethanol) self-administration are crucial to dissect the neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol dependence, yet only a few of these induce pharmacologically relevant levels of alcohol consumption and rarely the alcohol self-administration co-occurs with other addictive behaviours. The present study aims to validate a novel model of voluntary ethanol consumption in male Wistar rats, in which ethanol access follows a binge eating experience. Over 10 sessions, Wistar rats were exposed to binge or control eating (i.

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