BACKGROUND It is unclear whether altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation, which frequently accompanies depression and anxiety disorders, represents a trait rather than a state factor. AIMS To examine whether HPA axis dysregulation represents a biological vulnerability for these disorders, we compared cortisol levels in unaffected people with and without a parental history...

Utilizing polysomnography (PSG) and psychometry, objective and subjective sleep and awakening quality was investigated in 11 drug-free patients (five females, six males) aged 35-75 years (mean age 54.1 +/- 11.4) suffering from nonorganic insomnia (F 51.0) related to a depressive episode (F 32) or recurrent depressive disorder (F 33). as compared with 11 age- and sex-matched normal controls (fiv...

To find the best timing for administration of long-acting antihypertensive drugs, we gave nitrendipine, a calcium antagonist of the dihydropyridine group, once a day to six hospitalized and drug-free patients with essential hypertension, changing the time of administration and studying the effects on the circadian rhythm of blood pressure. After control values of 24-hour blood pressure variatio...

CONTEXT The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is one of the body's main systems that controls response to stress. It acts through the hormone cortisol. While the dysregulation of cortisol has been associated with anxiety disorders, the evidence is inconsistent. Moreover, only a few small studies have assessed this relationship in older adults. OBJECTIVE To determine whether in adults ...

As Santa Clara prepares to host the Dalai Lama on Monday, Feb. 24, it is worth examining the surprising parallels between the writings of St. Ignatius of Loyola—the founder of the Jesuit order—and a Buddhist text that played an important role in the spiritual formation of the Dalai Lama, The Way of the Bodhisattva by the eighth-century monk Śāntideva. While Ignatian spirituality and Tibetan Bud...

Presynaptic stimulation stochastically recruits transmission according to the release probability (P(r)) of synapses. The majority of central synapses have relatively low P(r), which includes synapses that are completely quiescent presynaptically. The presence of presynaptically dormant versus active terminals presumably increases synaptic malleability when conditions demand synaptic strengthen...

The cortisol awakening response (CAR) is frequently assessed in psychoneuroendocrinological research on adult participants. However, knowledge on the development of the CAR during early life is scarce and characterized by inconsistent findings. We have recently shown that a positive CAR is readily observable in young infants under conditions of strict methodological control. However, it still r...