Brain Injury Enhances Fear Learning And Excitatory Processes

The article, Concussive brain injury enhances fear learning and excitatory processes in the amygdala by Maxine L. Reger, Andrew M. Poulos, Floyd Buen, Christopher C. Giza, David A. Hovda, and Michael S Fanselow took a close look into the fears and behaviors generated in rats two days after suffering trauma to the brain. This particular article was discovered by searching the keywords: brain injury and amygdala, in the PubMed database. By searching those keywords, the database was able to pull up numerous articles discussing the two topics, but I felt that Reger et al (2012) demonstrated a clear association between the topics. The article brings about a question of whether or not there is a link between brain injuries, posttraumatic stress disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD, and the changes involved in the excitatory and inhibitory processes involved in the amygdala. In order to examine such a link, the authors performed a number of tests on adult Sprague-Dawley rats to test their hypothesis as well as to investigate the neurobiological correlation between concussion and PTSD. To further assess these correlations, it is imperative to explore the methods used to conduct this study. The experiment was conducted using adult male Sprague-Dawley rats from the Charles River Laboratories in Hollister, California. The rats were housed in cages, two rats per cage, for a 12 hour light/dark cycle. The investigation began by combining the use of lateralShow MoreRelatedHuman Sexual Response Essay8571 Words   |  35 PagesI. Introduction to the human sexual response A.Definition of sexual arousal B.Differentiation of cognitive vs reflex erection C.Models of sexual response patterns D.Intro to central vs peripheral nervous systems E.General intro to the brain areas activated in arousal F.Gender differences and why we’re only considering boys II. Information processing of sexual stimuli (1st component of sexual response) A.Detection of sexually-salient stimuli III. General arousal raising mechanismsRead MoreGenetically Modifying for Smarter Living Things2651 Words   |  11 Pagestopic for debate among professionals and the general public alike. For instance, some value the benefits of modifying foods to contain greater nutritional benefits, yield larger crop sizes, and have resistance to many diseases. Alternatively, others fear the undetermined risks for consuming scientifically altered organisms long-term, and deem the act of tampering with the makeup of living things unethical. Even more controversial, is the modern idea of using genetic modification techniques to createRead MoreAdrenal Gland9709 Words   |  39 Pagesfasciculata. The primary glucocorticoid released by the adrenal gland in the human is cortisol and corticosterone in many other animals. Its secretion is regulated by the hormone ACTH from the anterior pituitary. Upon binding to its target, cortisol enhances metabolism in several ways: * It stimulates the release of amino acids from the body * It stimulates lipolysis, the breakdown of fat * It stimulates gluconeogenesis, the production of glucose from newly-released amino acids and lipids Read MoreUse Of Traditional Chinese Medicine During The Treatment Of Schizophrenia Essay7976 Words   |  32 Pagesresponses (DSM-IV, 2000). Disorganized speech may be present in a variety of ways. For example, when responding to a question the person may give an answer which has little or no relevance to the question, change subjects, or make up words. Thought processes may be incomplete so there may be impairment in speech. When a schizophrenic’s behavior is considered â€Å"disorganized† it may mean that may not be able to carry out simple tasks of brushing their teeth or bathing. They may completely neglect personal