Psychological Assessment of the Headache Patient

Most clinicians agree that psychological factors are important considerations in the evaluation and treatment of headache patients. There has been a lack of systematic research, however, that has examined the relationship between these variables. Attention to such factors may become a greater concern as the frequency of a patient's headaches increases, there is increased disability secondary to headaches, and/or there is an inadequate response to usually effective treatment. In addition, there is no consensus as to the proper method to assess psychopathology in headache patients.     

Lesion of posterior parietal cortex in rats does not disrupt place avoidance based on either distal or proximal orienting cues

A current topic in neurobiology is the study of the role of various brain structures in processing of spatial information. The present study was aimed at elucidating the role of the rat posterior parietal cortex in performing a place avoidance task. Two variants of the task were used: an arena frame task, in which animals were trained to avoid a sector defined by local cues bound to the surface of a rotating arena, and the room frame task, in which the shock sector was defined with respect to distal room landmarks. The results showed that both control and lesioned rats were able to efficiently solve both tasks, while locomotion was not altered. These results suggest that the posterior parietal cortex is not crucial for the processing of either proximal or distal cues in place avoidance.     

The direct early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis by the detection of the deltaF508 CFTR gene mutation in a prematurely delivered boy

The suspicion of prenatal meconium ileus syndrome was raised in a pregnancy in a family with no history of cystic fibrosis because of significantly higher maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein in the 16th and 19th week of gestation, dispersed areas with increased echogenity in the fetal abdomen, slight fetal ascites in the 24th-25th weeks of gestation, decreased amniotic fluid gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity and alpha-fetoprotein level in the 25th-26th weeks, and normal 46,XY karotype of the fetus. The detection of a homozygous deltaF508 cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene mutation, by means of PCR from a small amount of white blood cells and urine sediment cells, substantiated the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in a prematurely delivered boy in the 28th week of gestation. The repeated sweat test was unsuccessful. The autopsy examination confirmed the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Fetal meconium ileus syndrome was complicated by peritonitis and by formation of a meconium pseudocyst. Direct PCR typing improves postnatal diagnostic possibilities in the early neonatal period in prematurely delivered babies when the sweat test is difficult to perform.     

Reinforcing effects for female hamsters of non-copulatory exposure to normal male hamsters

Naturally cycling female hamsters were run in a T-maze to determine their preference for exposure to an intact male enclosed in one goal box or a castrated male in the other goal box; physical contact with the goal animals was prevented. All animals preferred the intact male, but only on estrous days, and the preference was maintained even when no differential stimuli reached the choice point from the goal animals. The preference is interpreted as demonstrating that non-copulatory exposure to stimuli emanating from an intact male is reinforcing for an estrous female.     

Thyroid function, metabolic regulation, and depression

Evidence suggests that alterations in thyroid function are associated with depression. Thyroid hormones also play an essential role in regulating metabolism. They influence the balance between metabolic rate and caloric intake and thus affect body weight changes. Appetite and weight disturbances are common in the syndrome of depression. There may be changes in resting metabolic rate in depression as well. Hence an interrelationship between thyroid function, metabolic regulation, and depression is suggested. A basic model of metabolic regulation is presented and linked to changes in mood and various indices of thyroid function. The model is offered as an initial framework for studying endocrine and metabolic components of depression. Testable hypotheses are generated through the use of the model, and research strategies are discussed.