Approach behavior and sympathetic nervous system reactivity predict substance use in young adults

Publication date: Available online 10 May 2016
Source:International Journal of Psychophysiology
Author(s): J. Benjamin Hinnant, Alissa B. Forman-Alberti, Anna Freedman, Lindsay Byrnes, Kathryn A. Degnan
A behavioral measure of approach (performance on a resource gathering task) in combination with sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity was used to predict substance use in a sample of young adults (n=93). Pre-ejection period reactivity (PEP-R), a cardiac index of SNS reactivity, was recorded during the resource gathering task (task PEP – resting PEP). Higher levels of approach behaviors on the task in combination with less PEP-R (blunted SNS reactivity) predicted the highest levels of substance use. Findings are discussed in the context of behavioral and physiological systems of approach and avoidance.



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Conscious brain, metacognition and schizophrenia

Publication date: Available online 10 May 2016
Source:International Journal of Psychophysiology
Author(s): Petr Bob, Ondrej Pec, Aaron L. Mishara, Tereza Touskova, Paul H. Lysaker
Recent findings indicate that the binding and synchronization of distributed neural activities are crucial for cognitive processes and consciousness. In addition, there is increasing evidence that disrupted feature binding is related to experiences of disintegration of consciousness in schizophrenia. These data suggest that the disrupted binding and disintegration of consciousness could be typically related to schizophrenia in terms of Bleuler's concept of "splitting". In this context, deficits in metacognitive capacity in schizophrenia may be conceptualized as a spectrum from more discrete to more synthetic activities, related to specific levels of neural binding and neurocognitive deficits. This review summarizes the recent research on metacognition and its relationship to deficits of conscious awareness that may be found in schizophrenia patients. Deficits in synthetic metacognition are likely linked to the integration of information during specific processes of neural binding. Those in turn may be related to a range of mental activities including reasoning style, learning potential and insight.



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Contents

Publication date: June 2016
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 127, Issue 6





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Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs): Tailoring methodology to specific conditions

Publication date: June 2016
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 127, Issue 6
Author(s): Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou




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Towards the application of HD-EMG decomposition in clinical practice

Publication date: June 2016
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 127, Issue 6
Author(s): Miguel A. Mañanas, Mónica Rojas-Martínez, Joan F. Alonso




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Editorial Board

Publication date: June 2016
Source:Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 127, Issue 6





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Properties and physiological function of Ca2+-dependent K+ currents in uniglomerular olfactory projection neurons

Ca²⁺-activated potassium currents [I_K(Ca)] are an important link between the intracellular signaling system and the membrane potential, which shapes intrinsic electrophysiological properties. To better understand the ionic mechanisms that mediate intrinsic firing properties of olfactory uniglomerular projection neurons (uPNs), we used whole cell patch-clamp recordings in an intact adult brain preparation of the male cockroach Periplaneta americana to analyze I_K(Ca). In the insect brain, uPNs form the principal pathway from the antennal lobe to the protocerebrum, where centers for multimodal sensory processing and learning are located. In uPNs the activation of I_K(Ca) was clearly voltage and Ca²⁺ dependent. Thus under physiological conditions I_K(Ca) is strongly dependent on Ca²⁺ influx kinetics and on the membrane potential. The biophysical characterization suggests that I_K(Ca) is generated by big-conductance (BK) channels. A small-conductance (SK) channel-generated current could not be detected. I_K(Ca) was sensitive to charybdotoxin (CTX) and iberiotoxin (IbTX) but not to apamin. The functional role of I_K(Ca) was analyzed in occlusion experiments under current clamp, in which portions of I_K(Ca) were blocked by CTX or IbTX. Blockade of I_K(Ca) showed that I_K(Ca) contributes significantly to intrinsic electrophysiological properties such as the action potential waveform and membrane excitability.

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