Browsing by Subject "Anxiety."
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Item Chronic intermittent ethanol treatment yields persistent increases in anxiety and receptor subunit changes in adolescent and adult rats.(2014-01-28) Van Skike, Candice E.; Diaz-Granados, Jaime L.; Matthews, Douglas B.; Psychology and Neuroscience.; Baylor University. Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience.GABAA and NMDA receptors are involved in the behavioral effects of ethanol; however, the age-dependent molecular mechanisms associated with the effects of chronic ethanol have yet to be fully elucidated. Adolescence is marked by unique sensitivity to certain effects of ethanol, including distinct consumption patterns, increased prevalence of consumption during young adulthood compared to that of abstaining adolescents, and increased risk for development of future alcohol use disorders. In the adult, tolerance and dependence are marked by attenuated function of GABAA receptors and increased function of NMDA receptors, but the receptor subunit expression profiles for adolescents following binge-like ethanol exposure are not yet completely known. Since tolerance and withdrawal appear to be age dependent, it is likely that receptor subunit expression is differentially altered following chronic ethanol exposure in adolescence compared to adulthood. Additionally, chronic ethanol exposure and its withdrawal can alter behavior. Especially relevant to the maintenance and persistence of consumption behaviors are alterations in anxiety. Anxiety levels can often be used to predict relapse in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients long after ethanol cessation, therefore it is important to determine the persistence of the anxiogenic effects of ethanol withdrawal and how alterations in receptor subunits may interact with withdrawal-induced anxiogenesis. Given that very little research has focused on age dependent anxiogenesis and subunit alterations following chronic ethanol consumption, this project will investigate multiple withdrawal induced changes in anxiety and its persistence in adolescent and adult rats. Additionally, the persistence of any changes in receptor subunit expression will be assessed using the same animals from the anxiety data. This multimodal, within-subjects design allows for the direct exploration of the relationship between behavioral and molecular alterations due to chronic ethanol exposure.Item Cultural and religious factors on mental health perceptions and attitudes among Indian Orthodox Christians in the United States.(2014-09-05) Varghese, Miriam S.; Benedict, Helen Elizabeth, 1946-; Psychology and Neuroscience.; Baylor University. Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience.Culture and religion play a significant role in the development and maintenance of mental health stigma. They influence beliefs about the causes of mental illness and also impact willingness to seek treatment. In the United States, little is known about the psychological adjustment of South Asians, particularly Indian immigrants and first generation Indian American Christians. In this study, I investigated the effect of acculturation, ethnic identity, and religious commitment on stigma, etiological beliefs about common childhood and adolescent psychological disorders (attention deficit- hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, and autism), and help-seeking attitudes in the Indian Orthodox population. Forty-six Indian immigrants and 64 first generation Indian Americans completed electronic or paper questionnaires assessing their level of acculturation, ethnic identity, and religious commitment. Participants also completed measures on stigma, help-seeking attitudes, and causal beliefs (biological, psychosocial, and spiritual). The results showed that religious commitment was negatively associated with stigma and positively associated with help-seeking attitudes. Participants who rated high on acculturation endorsed biological underpinning for ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. Previous knowledge of mental illness was linked to fewer ratings of spiritual causes for ADHD, autism and depression, but religious commitment was associated with increased ratings of spiritual causes for alcohol abuse.Item Fantasy-Exposure Life-Narrative Therapy (FELT) for anxious children : a pilot and feasibility study.(2014-09-05) Steadman, Jason L.; Benedict, Helen Elizabeth, 1946-; Psychology and Neuroscience.; Baylor University. Dept. of Psychology and Neuroscience.A small, pilot study was conducted for the development of the Fantasy-Exposure Life-Narrative Therapy (FELT) treatment manual. One primary objective of the study is to investigate initial promise of efficacy of training therapists to use case conceptualization, analyze play themes, and use play interventions within a manualized play therapy. Child participants between the ages of 6 and 11 who presented with pathological anxiety that was neither trauma-related nor of the obsessive-compulsive type participated in the study. Initial screening included multirater-multimethod assessment and involved numerous broad- and narrow-band instruments (BASC-2, RCMAS-2, PSWQ-C) as well as a diagnostic and clinical interview. Of 9 potential recruits, 6 met full inclusion criteria, and 5 completed the full treatment program. Therapy lasted for 12 consecutive weeks, and assessment was conducted pre- and post-treatment and at 6-week follow-up. Qualitative feedback was also gathered using a structured format from all participants. Small sample size limited statistical power; however, effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated and found to be large or medium and ranged from 0.5 to 1.26, depending on the measure used. Additionally, a content analysis of qualitative data provided additional indicators of positive response to treatment. FELT displays promise as a potentially efficacious treatment for anxious children. Future randomized, controlled studies are currently being planned.Item Molecular mechanisms in low-serotonin induced mood and anxiety disorders.(2010-10-08T16:29:45Z) Tran, Lee.; Keele, N. Bradley.; Biomedical Studies.; Baylor University. Institute of Biomedical Studies.The amygdala has been shown to be involved in both epilepsy and emotional disturbances such as in mood and anxiety disorders. It is suggested that anxiety and mood disorders may be the result of sub-seizure hyperexcitability in limbic areas such as the amygdala. Epilepsy-like mechanisms involve increased glutamatergic activity, whereas low serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is associated with abnormal emotion. Although much evidence suggests low 5-HT increases excitability, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are not known. Here we explored the ability of low serotonin to increase glutamate receptor (GluR) expression resulting in increased anxiety-like behavior. Using qRT-PCR, we found that individually-housed rats treated with p-chlorophenylalanine (300 mg/kg i.p.), an inhibitor of tyrosine hydroxylase, resulted in 21.8 fold higher GluR1 mRNA expression in amygdala neurons. Similar results were found in rats treated with bilateral infusions of 5’7-dihydroxytryptamine (DHT, 8 μg/side) into the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) resulting in a 10³ fold increase in GluR1 mRNA. Further, Western blot analysis confirmed an overall 50.0% increase in GluR1 protein expression without any significant increase in other GluR subunits. These results suggested that low serotonin induces hyperexcitability of LA neurons by increasing GluR1 mRNA, and led to increased expression of GluR1. Additionally, we showed that these molecular changes resulted in behavioral differences in the open field maze, but not the plus maze. Rats treated with 5,7-DHT had a higher degree of center avoidance. The signaling pathway involved was also of interest. We found that the increase in GluRs may be mediated by CaMKII as shown by a ~60% increase in CaMKII phosphorylation. In order to further investigate, RNAi delivered by an AAV vector was used to knock down CaMKII expression and the effects on GluR expression was assessed. We showed that knockdown of CaMKII resulted in up to 37% decrease in GluR1 mRNA. CaMKII knockdown was also able to reverse the anxiogenic effects of decreased 5-HT, increasing center entries up to 30% and center duration up to 40% compared to controls. These results suggested that low serotonin induced hyperexcitability in LA neurons by increasing GluR1 possibly through a CaMKII mediated pathway, and led to increased open-field anxiety. This mechanism could be important in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders.