Are “Bath Salts” on Your Differential List? a Case Report of Delirium and Agitation After Use of Illicit Bath Salts.

Are “bath salts” on your differential list? A case report of delirium and agitation after use of illicit bath salts.

Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2013; 15(2):
Sethi R, Vasudeva S

HubMed – addiction

Homeostatic regulation of memory systems and adaptive decisions.

Hippocampus. 2013 Aug 8;
Mizumori SJ, Jo YS

While it is clear that many brain areas process mnemonic information, understanding how their interactions result in continuously adaptive behaviors has been a challenge. A homeostatic-regulated prediction model of memory is presented that considers the existence of a single memory system that is based on a multilevel coordinated and integrated network (from cells to neural systems) that determines the extent to which events and outcomes occur as predicted. The ‘multiple memory systems of the brain’ have in common output that signals errors in the prediction of events and/or their outcomes, although these signal differ in terms of what the error signal represents (e.g. hippocampus: context prediction errors vs midbrain/striatum: reward prediction errors). The prefrontal cortex likely plays a pivotal role in the coordination of prediction analysis within and across prediction brain areas. Due to its widespread control and influence, and intrinsic working memory mechanisms, the prefrontal cortex supports the flexible processing needed to generate adaptive behaviors and predict future outcomes. Prefrontal cortical regulation of prediction brain areas provides the control needed to continually and automatically produce adaptive responses according to homeostatic regulatory principles: prefrontal cortex serves as a controller that is intrinsically driven to maintain in prediction areas an experience-dependent firing rate set point that ensures adaptive temporally and spatially resolved neural responses to future prediction errors. This same drive by prefrontal cortex also restores set point firing rates after deviations (i.e. prediction errors) are detected. In this way, prefrontal cortex contributes to reducing uncertainty in prediction systems. An emergent outcome of our model is the flexible and adaptive control that prefrontal cortex is known to implement (i.e. working memory) in the most challenging of situations. Compromise to any of the prediction circuits should result in rigid and suboptimal decision making and memory as seen in addiction and neurological disease. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. HubMed – addiction

The effect of early-life stress on memory systems supporting instrumental behavior.

Hippocampus. 2013 Aug 8;
Patterson TK, Craske MG, Knowlton BJ

People experiencing early-life stress (ELS) exhibit increased incidence of behaviors that lead to addiction and obesity as adults. Many of these behaviors may be viewed as resulting from an overreliance on habits as opposed to goal-directed instrumental behavior. This increased habitization may result from alterations in the interactions between dorsolateral striatum-dependent and hippocampus-dependent learning systems. As an initial examination of this idea, we investigated the effect of ELS on instrumental learning and extinction. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of ELS in two groups of people, one trained on a continuous reinforcement schedule and one trained on a partial reinforcement schedule. We found that people who experienced ELS had a diminished effect of the partial reinforcement schedule on extinction. In Experiment 2, we again manipulated reinforcement schedule and also challenged declarative memory by requiring subjects to perform a concurrent task. We found that the declarative challenge did not affect extinction responding in the non-ELS group. In a moderate-ELS group, we observed a diminished sensitivity to the reinforcement schedule during extinction only under divided attention. In the high-ELS group, we observed a reduced sensitivity to reinforcement schedule even in the absence of the declarative memory challenge, consistent with Experiment 1. Our results suggest that ELS reduces the tendency to use declarative, hippocampus-dependent memory in instrumental tasks in favor of habits. ELS may affect hippocampal development, thus altering the interaction between memory systems and potentially contributing to poor health outcomes. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. HubMed – addiction

Obesity status of middle school students in xiangtan and its relationship with internet addiction.

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Aug 8;
Li M, Deng Y, Ren Y, Guo S, He X

Objective: To investigate the state of middle school students’ obesity in Xiangtan, China and to study the influence of Internet addiction on obesity. Subjects: 1,150 junior and senior middle school students in Xiangtan, China. Design and Methods: The research subjects were select randomly for the study. The height and body weight of human body were measured and the obesity state was judged according to BMI value and the Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC) standard. The questionnaire for the survey of middle school students’ basic situation was designed and a survey of the respondents’ personal information and the contributory factors to obesity was conducted. The Middle School Students’ Internet Addiction Diagnosis Scale was adopted for measuring and judging the Internet addiction of the research subjects. Results: (1) The total detection rate of obesity was 23.57%. (2) The overall detection rate of Internet addiction was 21.23%. (3) The detection rate of obesity in middle school students with Internet addiction (32.92%) was significantly higher than that without Internet addiction (21.06%). Logistic regression showed that Internet addiction was an independent risk factor of obesity. Conclusion: Internet addiction is related to obesity of middle school students. HubMed – addiction