289 research outputs found
Serotonergic 5-HT7 receptors and cognition
No full textThe abundant distribution of serotonin (5-HT) in different areas of the central nervous system can explain the involvement of this neurotransmitter in the regulation of several functions, such as sleep, pain, feeding, and sexual and emotional behaviors. Moreover, the serotonergic system is also involved in other more complex roles, such as cognition, including learning and memory processes.
Recent studies led to the discovery of various types and subtypes of receptors differentially associated to cognitive mechanisms. 5-HT7 is the most recently discovered receptor for 5-HT; therefore, it is also one of the least well characterized. Studies exist hypothesizing the role of 5-HT7 on the modulation of learning and memory processes and other cognitive functions. Moreover, much attention has been devoted to the possible role of 5-HT7 receptors in psychiatric disorders. Therefore, the aim of this review is to clarify the behavioral role of the recently discovered 5-HT7 type receptor and highlight its involvement in the cognitive functions, with particular attention to the modulation
of learning and memory processes, thus providing a basis to obtain new therapeutic agents and strategies for the treatment of cognitive disorders
Effects of sex steroid hormones on memory
No full textMany evidences have elucidated relevant mechanisms of action of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone on cognition, including learning and memory processes, both in animal models and humans. This influence may depend on their modulator role on several neurotransmitter systems, and the extensive presence of their receptors in cerebral areas, involved in cognitive functions, including the amygdala, hippocampal formation, and cerebral cortex. The present brief review summarizes data of our research and others with the aim of clarifying, in mammals, the involvement of sex hormones on memory. In particular, after an introduction illustrating the general mechanisms of sex hormones modulation on memory processes, the specific role of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in memory is described in three different sections. Besides summarizing the most relevant actions of sex steroid hormones in the modulation of learning and memory, in this review is also emphasized that many aspects and mechanisms are still not completely
understood and extensive future research is necessary to elucidate them
5-HT7 receptors in the modulation of cognitive processes
No full textThe abundance of serotonin (5-HT) in the central nervous system can explain its role in the regulation of various functions, such as sleep, feeding,sexuality, emotional status, and pain. In addition, 5-HT localized in “cognitive pathways” with hippocampus and frontal cortex as the main target
structures, is involved in learning and memory processes. Recent studies led to the discovery of various types and subtypes of receptors, differentially
associated to cognitive mechanisms. Abundant data available reveals that the administration of 5-HT2A/2C and 5-HT4 receptor agonists, or 5-HT1A,5-HT3 and 5-HT1B antagonists improves memory and has a facilitatory effect on learning in situations involving a high cognitive demand. On the contrary 5-HT2A/2C and 5-HT4 receptors antagonists, or 5-HT1A, 5-HT3 and 5-HT1B receptors agonists have opposite effects. Although these results
are contradictory, or even opposite, it is important to take into account the effect of global, and unspecific, stimulation of serotonergic receptors and the activation of other neurotransmission systems, together with the type of task used, the way it is administered and the ligand affinity.
The aim of this review is to clarify the behavioral role of the recently discovered 5-HT7-type receptor and highlight its involvement in the modulation of learning and memory processes, thus providing a basis to obtain new therapeutic agents and strategies for the treatment of learning and memory disorders
Introduction
No full textWhen, in the last months of 2018, we started conceiving this Special issue, we could never have guessed that it would have been published in the middle of a global pandemic. Nor could have we imagined that higher education would have been involved in such an unexpected, previously inconceivable and potent process. Universities around the world are at the forefront right now. They have radically transformed their way of ‘being academia’, since their activities had to be transposed to digital platforms for distance learning. Higher education institutions, which are most exposed to transformation processes, are currently undergoing changes that effect students, policies, security, and more. As shall we described in this Special issue, the pandemic is indeed transforming university life. Today, we can only see the most uncertain and dramatic part of it. Many practices shall undergo restructurings, as will the academic profession, the students’ experience, and research policies. On all these issues we will continue to research in order to understand our world and accompany its transformations
Declarative Memory Impairment and Emotional Bias in Recurrent Depression with a Seasonal Pattern: The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition in Seasonal Affective Disorder
No full textSeasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a subtype of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) with a seasonal pattern. Although it is a pathological condition limited to specific seasons of the year, during the symptomatic period, patients may experience a significant impairment of well-being and daily quality of life as a result of the depressed mood, associated with other symptoms defined as atypical of MDD. While extensive evidence of memory deficits has been found in MDD, explicit memory impairments in SAD are insufficiently studied. This study aims to investigate the cognitive processing of emotional stimuli in women with SAD, in particular the interplay between emotions and declarative memory. One hundred and twenty young women, screened from an initial number of 1125 university students, were divided into two groups, an experimental one that included 60 medically untreated women affected by “winter type SAD” and a control group of 60 non-SAD women. Different subjects were randomly submitted to two types of audio–visual stories, neutral or arousal, and then their memory performances were analyzed by means of a free-recall test and a recognition memory test. In both the free-recall test (p < 0.008) and in the recognition memory test (p < 0.002), the SAD group showed impaired memory performances. Taken together, our novel key findings suggest that SAD is characterized by impairment in declarative memory and attentional bias for emotional negative stimuli
The relationship between Night Eating Syndrome, depression and chronotype in a non-clinical adolescent population
No full textPurpose. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in a population of non-clinical adolescents and to investigate the relationship between NES, depression and eveningness dimension. Methods. The data were collected from a sample of 301 subjects, 181 females and 120 males, aged between 15 and 19 (mean value 17.64, SD=1.3). All subjects were invited to answer demographic questions and to take a self-report battery composed by three questionnaires: the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ), the Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results. The distribution of chronotypes in the sample was: morning type 9%, intermediate 68.4% and evening type 22.6%. 4% of the participants (12 subjects) reached the criteria for NES The data indicate that MEQ and NEQ scores are significantly inversely correlated (r=-0.157; p<0.01); 58.3% of the participants who reached the criteria for NES received low scores on the MEQ.The BDI scores resulted significantly associated with the NEQ variable (r=0.275; p=0.001). Conclusions. This is the first study, as far as we are aware, which has investigated the relationship between chronotype, depression and NES in an adolescent non-clinical population. The findings of our study highlight the high prevalence of NES in the adolescent population and indicate a significant association between eveningness dimension, Depression and NES
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