Comparison of Psychological Symptoms and Serum Levels of Neurotransmitters in Shanghai Adolescents With and Without Internet Addiction Disorder: A Case-Control Study.

Comparison of Psychological Symptoms and Serum Levels of Neurotransmitters in Shanghai Adolescents with and without Internet Addiction Disorder: A Case-Control Study.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(5): e63089
Zhang HX, Jiang WQ, Lin ZG, Du YS, Vance A

BACKGROUND: Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is now recognized internationally and is known to be linked with academic and social impairment. To date, we know little about its associated main biological factors. This study aimed to collect a carefully defined group of adolescents with IAD and an age- and gender-matched typically developing comparison group. We hypothesized that the young people with IAD would have higher rates of self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, have altered levels of peripheral blood dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. In addition, we hypothesized the hours spent online are correlated with the severity of depression and anxiety among these young people with IAD. METHODOLOGYPRINCIPAL FINDING: A cross-sectional study of 20 adolescents who met Beard’s criteria for IAD and 15 typically developing adolescents (comparison group) was conducted. All the participants completed the Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Peripheral blood dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine were assayed. The mean level of norepinephrine was lower in the IAD group than that in the typically developing participants, while dopamine and serotonin levels did not differ. The SDS, SAS and SCARED symptom scores were increased in the adolescents with IAD. A logistic regression analysis revealed that a higher SAS score and lower level of norepinephrine independently predicted IAD group membership. There was no significant correlation between hours spent online and scores of SAS/SDS in IAD group. CONCLUSIONSSIGNIFICANCE: Increased self-reported anxiety and lower peripheral blood norepinephrine are independently associated with IAD. HubMed – addiction

 

An emerging trend of methamphetamine injection in iran: a critical target for research on blood-borne infection diseases.

Hepat Mon. 2013 Feb; 13(2): e8154
Alam Mehrjerdi Z, Noroozi A

HubMed – addiction

 

Double Dissociation between the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Nucleus Accumbens Core in Encoding the Context versus the Content of Pavlovian Cocaine Cue Extinction.

J Neurosci. 2013 May 8; 33(19): 8370-7
Torregrossa MM, Gordon J, Taylor JR

One strategy proposed to treat addictive disorders is to extinguish the association between environmental stimuli (cues) and actions associated with drug use to reduce relapse. The context specificity of extinction learning, however, impairs the ability of addicts to generalize extinction training to the drug-taking context. We previously reported that the NMDA receptor partial agonist d-cycloserine administered after pavlovian extinction of cocaine cues in the nucleus accumbens core (NAc) reduced cue-induced renewal. Nevertheless, it was unclear whether this was due to disrupted contextual encoding of extinction or enhanced extinction consolidation. Thus, we examined the effect of the NMDA receptor antagonist d-AP5 on context encoding versus cue extinction learning. We also determined the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in encoding the cue extinction memory or the context, due to its projections to NAc, and hypothesized the role in conflict monitoring and contextual modulation of decision making. Using rats, we observed that NMDA receptor antagonism in the NAc did not alter context encoding but did interfere with acquisition of the cue extinction memory, i.e., learning, conversely inactivation of the ACC reduced the contextual encoding of extinction but did not interfere with the acquisition or expression of extinction. The observed effects were not present in the absence of cue extinction training. Additionally, the contextual memory did not appear to be consolidated in the ACC as neither postsession inactivation nor protein synthesis inhibition impaired context-appropriate responding. These results have implications for overcoming the context specificity of extinction to treat psychiatric disorders including addiction. HubMed – addiction