Prefrontal cortex self-stimulation and energy balance.

The relation between sulcal prefrontal cortex (SPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (MPC) self-stimulation and energy balance was investigated in rats. SPC but not MPC self-stimulation induced feeding but not the gnawing of wooden blocks. SPC but not MPC self-stimulation enhanced weight gain over several weeks of exposure to stimulation. Food deprivation (48 hr but not 24 hr) increased SPC self-stimulation rates under a 5-s fixed-interval reinforcement schedule and decreased current thresholds for SPC self-stimulation. MPC self-stimulation was unaffected by food deprivation. Insulin (4 U/kg) and 2-deoxy-D-glucose (300 mg/kg) inhibited both SPC and MPC self-stimulation, probably through interfering with performance. Satiety induced by prolonged intake of a sweetened solution or deprivation-induced feeding moderately facilitated SPC self-stimulation. Overall, it appears that SPC but not MPC self-stimulation modulates, and is modulated by, energy balance.     

Recurrent postcoital lower-extremity streptococcal erythroderma in women. Streptococcal-sex syndrome

Two women with underlying distortion of their lower-body lymphatic systems from neoplasia and surgery or radiation therapy had recurrent episodes of lower-extremity erythroderma temporally associated with sexual intercourse. Both women had vaginal colonization with Streptococcus agalactiae (group B); one was shown to have recurrent bacteremia with this organism at the time of the episodes. Erythroderma developed in these women possibly because of seeding of S agalactiae in the vaginal soft tissues during coitus.     

Before and Beyond Projection? A Discussion of the Therapist's Experience of Holding the Patient in Mind

ABSTRACT. This paper is an attempt to think about a process and experience which is essentially before thinking in its origins; that is to say, the maternal experience of holding the baby in mind and the baby's experience of being held. I have looked at the issue subjectively and anecdotally, for which in the end I make no apology as I can see no other way to proceed, at least in the first instance; and I want to think about how this thinking applies to the practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.     

Effect of 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the amygdala on intravenous cocaine self-administration under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement

Bilateral six-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions were placed in the amygdala of rats self-administering cocaine (1.5 mg/kg per injection i.v.) under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Post-lesion access to three doses of cocaine (1.5, 0.75 and 0.37 mg/kg per injection i.v.) revealed a lesion effect only at the highest dose. At this dose, the lesion caused a significant increase in breaking point. No change in the breaking point was produced at the lower two doses. The biochemical results show a significant reduction in dopamine and DOPAC levels within the amygdala and an increase in dopamine within the NACC. In contrast, noradrenaline and serotonin (5-HT) levels were unaffected by the lesion in any of the dissected areas. These results demonstrate that no specific effect on cocaine reinforcement was produced by 6-OHDA lesions of the amygdala. The possibility that the lesion may have attenuated the anxiogenic qualities of the high dose of cocaine is discussed.