In the forced swim test (FST) rodents progressively show increased episodes of immobility if immersed in a beaker with water from where escape is not possible. In this test, a compound qualifies as a potential antidepressant if it prevents or delays the transition to this passive (energy conserving) behavioural style. In the past decade however the switch from active to passive "coping" was use...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the involvement of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine - 5-HT) receptors in mediation of stress-induced arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) secretion in male rats. DESIGN Experiments on laboratory rats with control groups. METHODS Different stress paradigms were applied after pretreatment with intracerebroventricular infusion of saline or different 5-HT antagoni...

In the era of Big Data, omic-scale technologies, and increasing calls for data sharing, it is generally agreed that the use of community-developed, open data standards is critical. Far less agreed upon is exactly which data standards should be used, the criteria by which one should choose a standard, or even what constitutes a data standard. It is impossible simply to choose a domain and have i...

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The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between pre-competition group cohesion, mood, and performance in a soccer team over the course of a season. A male soccer team in England played eight games and data were analyzed on a game-by-game basis. Participants completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Brawley, & Widmeyer, 1985) and Brunel Mood Scale to assess Anger, Con...

Often, freezing and startle behaviors in the context of a previously experienced stress are taken as an indication of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms in rats. However, PTSD is characterized by large individual variations of symptoms. In order to take into consideration the complex and long term distinctive variations in effects of trauma exposure additional behavioral measur...

Hypersecretion of cortisol occurs in numerous patients with major depression and normalizes with clinical recovery during the course of chronic antidepressant treatment. These clinical data suggest that investigation of the effects of antidepressant treatments on the regulation of the brain-pituitary-adrenal axis may assist in elucidating the therapeutic basis of antidepressant actions. In the ...

BACKGROUND We have shown previously that exercise benefits stress resistance and stress coping capabilities. Furthermore, we reported recently that epigenetic changes related to gene transcription are involved in memory formation of stressful events. In view of the enhanced coping capabilities in exercised subjects we investigated epigenetic, gene expression and behavioral changes in 4-weeks vo...

BACKGROUND Catha edulis Forsk. (Khat) is traditionally used for treating various disorders. Nevertheless there are no reports of any scientific assessment of its psychopharmacological properties. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the current study was designed to evaluate the antidepressant-like activity of Khat ethanolic extract using established animal models of depression and stress. MATERIALS AND ME...