Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Rise And Fall Of Dopamine: A Two-Stage Model Of The Development And Entrenchment Of Anorexia Nervosa, Jeff A. Beeler, Nesha S. Burghardt

Publications and Research

Dopamine has long been implicated as a critical neural substrate mediating anorexia nervosa (AN). Despite nearly 50 years of research, the putative direction of change in dopamine function remains unclear and no consensus on the mechanistic role of dopamine in AN has been achieved. We hypothesize two stages i n AN– corresponding to initial development and entrenchment– characterized by opposite changes in dopamine. First, caloric restriction, particularly when combined with exercise, triggers an escalating spiral of increasing dopamine that facilitates the behavioral plasticity necessary to establish and reinforce weight-loss behaviors. Second, chronic self-starvation reverses this escalation to reduce or impair …

Intranasal Zinc Treatment Ameliorates Behavioral Deficits Caused By Chronic Stress And Traumatic Brain Injury In Mice, William R. Kochen

Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches and Lectures

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Link Between Genetics, Chronic Stress, And Depression, Michael Woller

Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) Grant Program

Depression is a very debilitating mental illness that affects about 7% of the American Population [1] and up to about 350 million people worldwide [2]. Since the cause for depression and the reason why some individuals are more vulnerable than others are currently unclear, studying paradigms that model depression in animals, such as the learned helplessness paradigm, is useful to explore possible mechanisms and devise new treatments. To explore a possible link between genetics, chronic stress and depression, we have exposed mice vulnerable to stress to an inescapable forced swim paradigm. During the forced swim test, the mice were monitored …

The Impact Of Chronic Stress, Traumatic Experiences And Genes On Behavior, Colten Brown

Research on Capitol Hill

Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) alters neurotransmission and remodels neural circuits involved in learning, attention and decision making.

Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is essential for the function of neurons. Regulation of GDNF during stress is linked to resiliency while the inability to regulate it causes behavioral alterations.

We investigated the effects of CUS on latent inhibition (LI), a measure of selective attention expressed in this model as freezing behavior.

Trauma-Informed School Programming: Applications For Mental Health Professionals And Educator Partnerships, Brenda Morton, Anna A. Berardi Phd.

Faculty Publications - College of Education

An alarming number of children experience significant trauma or chronic stress throughout childhood, manifesting in cognitive, social, physical, and emotional impairment. These challenges are expressed in the P-12 academic setting through difficulties with behavioral and emotional self-regulation, academic functioning, and physical ailments and illness. Advances in trauma-informed care, as applied to the school environment, have inspired new hope for educators who observe first-hand the learning challenges facing traumatized children. This article defines the nature of the problem along with a guiding framework to assist educators and mental health professionals in transforming to a trauma-informed school culture.

Is Burnout Solely Job-Related? A Critical Comment, Bianchi Renzo, Didier Truchot, Eric Laurent, Romain Brisson, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Within the field‐dominating, multidimensional theory of burnout, burnout is viewed as a work‐specific condition. As a consequence, the burnout syndrome cannot be investigated outside of the occupational domain. In the present paper, this restrictive view of burnout's scope is criticized and a rationale to decide between a work‐specific and a generic approach to burnout is presented. First, the idea that a multidimensional conception of burnout implies a work‐restricted scope is deconstructed. Second, it is shown that the burnout phenomenon cannot be confined to work because chronic, unresolvable stress – the putative cause of burnout – is not limited to …

Chronic Stress Elevates Telomerase Activity In Rats, Annaliese K. Beery, Jue Lin, Joshua S. Biddle, Darlene D. Francis, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Elissa S. Epel

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

The enzyme telomerase lengthens telomeres—protective structures containing repetitive DNA sequences at chromosome ends. Telomere shortening is associated with diseases of ageing in mammals. Chronic stress has been related to shorter immune-cell telomeres, but telomerase activity under stress may be low, permitting telomere loss, or high, partially attenuating it. We developed an experimental model to examine the impacts of extended unpredictable stress on telomerase activity in male rats. Telomerase activity was 54 per cent higher in stressed rats than in controls, and associated with stress-related physiological and behavioural outcomes. This significant increase suggests a potential mechanism for resilience to stress-related replicative …