Severe fibromyalgia alleviated by the unique muscle relaxation method of applying low force: A case report.

Rationale: Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by idiopathic persistent chronic pain in the ligaments or musculoskeletal system, and more than half of the patients with FM might have migraine headaches. Direct musculoskeletal intervention could be a non-pharmacological management to relieve symptoms. However, patients with severe FM often have intense pain from only a soft touch, thereby rendering musculoskeletal intervention challenging.

Macrocytic anemia induced by selenium deficiency in the course of anorexia nervosa: A case report.

Rationale: Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an extreme fear of weight gain. Clinicians often prescribe meal replacement shakes if patients are unable or unwilling to consume typical foods. However, these shakes sometimes lack essential micronutrients, such as selenium, which may lead to health risks.

The effect of lavender aroma for anxiety disorder: a study protocol for a multicenter, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: Anxiety disorder is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder. Benzodiazepines, which are often used for anxiety in patients with anxiety disorder, have various side effects. Lavender, one of the most commonly used essential oils in aromatherapy, has the potential to reduce benzodiazepine use for anxiety disorders.

Correlation between trait emotional intelligence and prefrontal activation during a verbal fluency task: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

Stress is inevitable in humans and stress changes our physical and mental states. Stress has been studied epidemiologically, biologically, and psychologically. First defined in 1990, emotional intelligence (EI) affects psychological stress management.

Unpredictable refeeding syndrome with severe hypophosphatemia in borderline personality disorder comorbidity: A case report.

Rationale: Refeeding syndrome (RS) is a fatal condition caused by rapid calorie intake during starvation. Self-neglected fasting in psychiatric disorders is associated with RS. However, overeating resulting from circumventing the clinician's instructions does not have a reportedly high risk of RS.

Possible effect of natural light on emotion recognition and the prefrontal cortex: A scoping review of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy.

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, also known as functional NIR spectroscopy (fNIRS), is a tool for measuring the hemodynamic response of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) by using NIR light, enabling a noninvasive indirect neural activity assessment. The application of fNIRS in emotion recognition or the differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders of depressive patients, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, has previously been reported. Although the use of fNIRS has gradually expanded in cognitive neuroscience studies, few researchers have focused on the effects of light exposure in fNIRS studies.

Esophageal achalasia, diagnosed through the repeated manometry, alleviated using benzodiazepine: A case report.

Rationale: Idiopathic achalasia is an esophageal peristaltic dysfunction of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The initial symptom is progressive dysphagia. However, due to its rarity, it is often misdiagnosed as an esophageal disorder.

Aversive emotion rapidly activates orexin neurons and increases heart rate in freely moving mice.

The perifornical area of the hypothalamus has been known as the center for the defense response, or fight-or-flight response, which is characterized by a concomitant rise in arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory frequency. It is well established that orexin neurons, which are located in this region, play a critical role in this response. In this study, we further examined this role by recording orexin neuronal activity and heart rate in freely moving mice using an original dual-channel fiber photometry system in vivo.

Acute nociceptive stimuli rapidly induce the activity of serotonin and noradrenalin neurons in the brain stem of awake mice.

Nociception is an important type of perception that has major influence on daily human life. There are some descending pathways related to pain management and modulation, which are collectively known as the descending antinociceptive system (DAS). Noradrenalin (NA) in the locus coeruleus (LC) and serotonin (5-HT) in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) are components of the DAS.

Acute Aversive Stimuli Rapidly Increase the Activity of Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons in Awake Mice.

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is one of the origins of the brain dopaminergic system and is involved in regulating various physiological functions such as pain processing and motivation. In this study, we utilized a fiber photometry system to specifically investigate the activity of dopamine neurons in the VTA using dopamine transporter promoter-driven Cre recombinase-expressing mice and site-specific infection of adeno-associated virus carrying the FLEX G-CaMP6 gene. As expected, expression of G-CaMP6 was restricted to VTA dopamine neurons.