Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Dec 2005
ReviewRole of brain norepinephrine in the behavioral response to stress.
The brain noradrenergic system is activated by acute stress. The post-synaptic effects of norepinephrine (NE), exerted at a cellular or neural circuit level, have been described as modulatory in nature, as NE facilitates responses evoked in target cells by both excitatory and inhibitory afferent input. Over the past few years, we have undertaken a series of studies to understand how these cellular modulatory effects of NE, elicited by acute stress, might translate into modulation of the behavioral-affective components of the whole-animal response to stress. ⋯ On the other side of the same issue, regulatory alterations in noradrenergic neurotransmission, or in the stress-modulatory functions of NE, may be important in the behavioral effects of chronic antidepressant drug treatment. We present recent preliminary results addressing the effects of chronic treatment with the selective NE reuptake inhibitor, desipramine, on acute behavioral reactivity to stress. A better understanding of the role of NE in adaptive responses to acute stress, the pathological consequences of prolonged, repeated or severe stress, and the mechanisms of action of drugs used to treat stress-related diseases, may contribute to the future development of more effective strategies for the treatment or even prevention of such disorders.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Jan 2002
ReviewEvolutionary psychiatry. Adaptationist and nonadaptationist conceptualizations.
Darwin's theory of evolution, and in particular one of its mechanisms, natural selection, is being used as the explanatory cornerstone of many unsolved problems in human biology and human affairs. Psychiatry is an example of that. Darwinian psychiatry's main proponents endorse the adaptationist program to carry out their project to implement an evolutionary psychiatry. ⋯ The other mistake is biological; it is their belief that adaptation is the driving force of evolution while in fact it is just an outcome of evolution. The current status of the controversy between cognitive versus emotional experiences as essentially independent is reviewed, and evidence is presented, that they cannot be considered platonic, categorically independent functions of CNSs. These data, taken together, plus arguments derived from the high degree of plasticity of nervous systems, lead us to suggest a different approach to classification of mental diseases.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Jul 1992
ReviewThe treatment and management of neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
1. The neuroleptic malignant syndrome was initially described as a disorder specifically related to neuroleptic usage with frequent fatal outcome. The observations of variant or mild cases of this syndrome as well as case reports on neuroleptic-malignant-like syndromes in the absence of neuroleptics raises the issue of the usefulness of this terminology and highlights the potential for inappropriate management of this "malignant" syndrome. ⋯ Anticholinergic agents should be continued for 7 days after neuroleptics are stopped. If anticholinergic agents are unsuccessful after 2-3 dosages, dopamine agonists may be added, while simultaneously monitoring vital signs. It should be emphasized that severe EPS sometimes takes days to improve even after neuroleptic cessation and the addition of anticholinergics.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Jan 1987
ReviewLimbic postictal events: anatomical substrates and opioid receptor involvement.
1. Amygdaloid kindled seizures in rats produce postictal motor deficits, disruption of affective responding to sensory input, postictal explosiveness, and seizure suppression that may be similar to events following complex partial seizures in humans. 2. Preliminary 2DG studies in kindled rats indicate that postictal motor deficits may be mediated by the substantia nigra. ⋯ Kindling-induced postictal seizure suppression may be mediated by kappa receptors and perhaps also by mu receptors. 4. Mechanisms underlying postictal effects of complex partial seizures in humans are suggested by the data in this manuscript. New approaches to the treatment of these postictal events are also proposed.