Underlying Mechanisms in Differential Responsivity to Preventive Interventions Among Adolescents

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana H. Fishbein ◽  
Christopher Hyde ◽  
Diana Eldreth ◽  
Mallie J. Paschall ◽  
Robert Hubal ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Daniel Sforza ◽  
Christopher Putman ◽  
Satoshi Tateshima ◽  
Fernando Vinuela ◽  
Juan Cebral

Understanding the underlying mechanisms responsible for the progression and rupture of cerebral aneurysms is important for improving their evaluation and treatment. Previous studies have identified the main factors involved in these processes: hemodynamics, vascular wall biomechanics and mechano-biology, and contacts with peri-aneurysmal structures [1]. However, little is known about their relative importance and interactions. The goal of our study is to shed light into the mechanisms of aneurysm progression by studying cerebral aneurysms that are followed longitudinally in time. This is a challenging problem because due to the poor prognosis of aneurysm ruptures preventive interventions are considered for most aneurysms. This paper presents preliminary results and observations made on a series of aneurysms followed with non-invasive imaging.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Philippe Ryvlin ◽  
Torbjörn Tomson ◽  
Orrin Devinsky ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most common cause of death related to epilepsy and is associated with treatment resistance and the presence of generalised tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS, of either focal or generalised onset). While the causative mechanisms of SUDEP are yet to be fully elucidated, it is thought that seizure-induced brainstem suppression, and respiratory and cardiac dysfunction may be involved. Research into SUDEP has identified several risk factors (including frequency of GTCS and male gender) but has also indicated proven or potential preventive strategies, including more effective seizure control. Despite increasing awareness and research into SUDEP, its underlying mechanisms and preventive strategies remain poorly defined. More research is needed into the pathophysiology of SUDEP and to identify predictive biomarkers. Furthermore, clinical trials are warranted to assess outcomes with preventive interventions. We review SUDEP epidemiology and risk factors, and discuss potential measures to reduce SUDEP risk.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
H. NESSIGHAOUI ◽  
M. LILAMAND ◽  
K.V. PATEL ◽  
B. VELLAS ◽  
M.L. LAROCHE ◽  
...  

Frailty is a multidimensional syndrome, involving functional, nutritional, biological and psychological aspects. This condition, defined as a decreased resistance to internal and external stressors, is predictive of adverse health outcomes, including disability and mortality. Importantly, the frailty syndrome is usually considered a reversible condition, thus amenable of specific preventive interventions. Persistent pain in older adults is very common and has multiple determinants. This symptom represents a determinant of accelerated aging. In the present paper, we discuss available evidence examining the association between these two conditions. Despite the high prevalence of these two conditions and their shared underlying mechanisms, our search only retrieved few relevant studies. Most of them reported a relationship between pain (or analgesics consumption) and different operational definitions of frailty. Pain may represent a relevant risk factor as well as a potential target for interventions against the frailty syndrome, but further studies are needed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Beneke ◽  
Dieter Böning

Human performance, defined by mechanical resistance and distance per time, includes human, task and environmental factors, all interrelated. It requires metabolic energy provided by anaerobic and aerobic metabolic energy sources. These sources have specific limitations in the capacity and rate to provide re-phosphorylation energy, which determines individual ratios of aerobic and anaerobic metabolic power and their sustainability. In healthy athletes, limits to provide and utilize metabolic energy are multifactorial, carefully matched and include a safety margin imposed in order to protect the integrity of the human organism under maximal effort. Perception of afferent input associated with effort leads to conscious or unconscious decisions to modulate or terminate performance; however, the underlying mechanisms of cerebral control are not fully understood. The idea to move borders of performance with the help of biochemicals is two millennia old. Biochemical findings resulted in highly effective substances widely used to increase performance in daily life, during preparation for sport events and during competition, but many of them must be considered as doping and therefore illegal. Supplements and food have ergogenic potential; however, numerous concepts are controversially discussed with respect to legality and particularly evidence in terms of usefulness and risks. The effect of evidence-based nutritional strategies on adaptations in terms of gene and protein expression that occur in skeletal muscle during and after exercise training sessions is widely unknown. Biochemical research is essential for better understanding of the basic mechanisms causing fatigue and the regulation of the dynamic adaptation to physical and mental training.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Jianhui Wu ◽  
Shimin Fu ◽  
Yuejia Luo

In the present study, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measurements in a peripherally cued line-orientation discrimination task to investigate the underlying mechanisms of orienting and focusing in voluntary and involuntary attention conditions. Informative peripheral cue (75% valid) with long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) was used in the voluntary attention condition; uninformative peripheral cue (50% valid) with short SOA was used in the involuntary attention condition. Both orienting and focusing were affected by attention type. Results for attention orienting in the voluntary attention condition confirmed the “sensory gain control theory,” as attention enhanced the amplitude of the early ERP components, P1 and N1, without latency changes. In the involuntary attention condition, compared with invalid trials, targets in the valid trials elicited larger and later contralateral P1 components, and smaller and later contralateral N1 components. Furthermore, but only in the voluntary attention condition, targets in the valid trials elicited larger N2 and P3 components than in the invalid trials. Attention focusing in the involuntary attention condition resulted in larger P1 components elicited by targets in small-cue trials compared to large-cue trials, whereas in the voluntary attention condition, larger P1 components were elicited by targets in large-cue trials than in small-cue trials. There was no interaction between orienting and focusing. These results suggest that orienting and focusing of visual-spatial attention are deployed independently regardless of attention type. In addition, the present results provide evidence of dissociation between voluntary and involuntary attention during the same task.


2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertram Gawronski ◽  
Roland Deutsch ◽  
Etienne P. LeBel ◽  
Kurt R. Peters

Over the last decade, implicit measures of mental associations (e.g., Implicit Association Test, sequential priming) have become increasingly popular in many areas of psychological research. Even though successful applications provide preliminary support for the validity of these measures, their underlying mechanisms are still controversial. The present article addresses the role of a particular mechanism that is hypothesized to mediate the influence of activated associations on task performance in many implicit measures: response interference (RI). Based on a review of relevant evidence, we argue that RI effects in implicit measures depend on participants’ attention to association-relevant stimulus features, which in turn can influence the reliability and the construct validity of these measures. Drawing on a moderated-mediation model (MMM) of task performance in RI paradigms, we provide several suggestions on how to address these problems in research using implicit measures.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 159-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsbeth D. Asbeek Brusse ◽  
Marieke L. Fransen ◽  
Edith G. Smit

Abstract. This study examined the effects of disclosure messages in entertainment-education (E-E) on attitudes toward hearing protection and attitude toward the source. In addition, the (mediating) role of the underlying mechanisms (i.e., transportation, identification, and counterarguing) was studied. In an experiment (N = 336), three different disclosure messages were compared with a no-disclosure condition. The results show that more explicit disclosure messages negatively affect transportation and identification and stimulate the generation of counterarguments. In addition, the more explicit disclosure messages affect both attitude measures via two of these processes (i.e., transportation and counterarguing). Less explicit disclosure messages do not have this effect. Implications of the findings are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Juckel

Abstract. Inflammational-immunological processes within the pathophysiology of schizophrenia seem to play an important role. Early signals of neurobiological changes in the embryonal phase of brain in later patients with schizophrenia might lead to activation of the immunological system, for example, of cytokines and microglial cells. Microglia then induces – via the neurotoxic activities of these cells as an overreaction – a rarification of synaptic connections in frontal and temporal brain regions, that is, reduction of the neuropil. Promising inflammational animal models for schizophrenia with high validity can be used today to mimic behavioral as well as neurobiological findings in patients, for example, the well-known neurochemical alterations of dopaminergic, glutamatergic, serotonergic, and other neurotransmitter systems. Also the microglial activation can be modeled well within one of this models, that is, the inflammational PolyI:C animal model of schizophrenia, showing a time peak in late adolescence/early adulthood. The exact mechanism, by which activated microglia cells then triggers further neurodegeneration, must now be investigated in broader detail. Thus, these animal models can be used to understand the pathophysiology of schizophrenia better especially concerning the interaction of immune activation, inflammation, and neurodegeneration. This could also lead to the development of anti-inflammational treatment options and of preventive interventions.


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