Efeito da coesão semântica sobre a discriminação de itens emocionais em testes de memória de reconhecimento de palavras

Highly emotional itens are best remembered in emotional memory tasks than neutral items. An example of emotional item that benefits declarative memory processes are the taboo words. These words undergo from a conventional prohibition, imposed by tradition or custom. Literature suggests that the strongest recollection these words is due to emotional arousal, as well as, the fact that they form a cohesive semantic group, which is a positive additive effect. However, studies with semantic lists show that cohesion can have a negative effect of interference, impairing memory. We analyzed, in two experiments, the effect of arousal and semantic cohesion of taboo words on recognition tests, comparing with into two other word categories: semantically related and without emotional arousal (semantic category) and neutral, with low semantic relation (objects). Our results indicate that cohesion has interfered whith the performance of the test by increasing the number of false alarms. This effect was strongly observed in the semantic category of words in both experiments, but also in the neutral and taboo words, when both were explicitly considered as semantic categories through the instruction of the test in Experiment 2. Despite the impairment induced by semantic cohesion in both experiments, the taboo words were more discriminated than others, and this result agrees with the indication of the emotional arousal as the main factor for the best recollection of emotional items in memory tests

Disfunção sexual feminina e níveis dos hormônios esteroidais em mulheres obesas atendidas no ambulatório de cirurgia bariátrica do hospital universitário Onofre Lopes em Natal/RN

A disfunção sexual corresponde a alterações em uma ou mais fases da resposta sexual humana e apresenta maior prevalência na população feminina. Ademais, a participação de alguns fatores como obesidade e níveis dos hormônios esteroidais na disfunção sexual feminina (DSF) permanece incerta. O presente estudo deteve-se na análise da ocorrência de DSF numa população de mulheres portadoras de obesidade, cadastradas no Ambulatório de Cirurgia Bariátrica do Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, no município de Natal, RN. O estudo foi realizado em uma amostra composta por trinta e uma mulheres, com idade entre 20 e 50 anos, com índice de massa corpórea (IMC) > 30 Kg/m2. A todas as pacientes foi aplicado um questionário composto por uma seção com dados socio-econômicos, e outra abordando a saúde sexual feminina, sendo esta última correspondente ao Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), para diagnóstico de DSF. A partir dessa caracterização, as pacientes foram reunidas nos grupos CD (pacientes com disfunção, n= 9) e SD (sem disfunção, n= 22). Para a análise do efeito da obesidade na DSF, as pacientes foram reunidas nos grupos 1 (6 pacientes com IMC grau I e II: entre 30 e 40 Kg/m2) e 2 (25 com IMC grau III: acima de 40). Para o estudo da participação dos hormônios esteroidais foram determinadas as concentrações séricas de cortisol, estradiol e dehidroepiandrosterona (DHEA) pelo método de quimiluminescência. A análise estatística dos dados foi realizada usando os testes ANOVA, MANOVA (Pillai), além de análise de Cluster. Para identificar as diferenças entre os domínios do FSFI, foi usado o teste T de Student. A significância considerada para todos os testes foi para p< 0,01. Das pacientes estudadas, 25,8% apresentaram DSF de acordo com o escore total do FSFI. A análise estatística posterior evidenciou que as diferenças ocorreram para os domínios desejo, excitação e orgasmo. Não foi encontrada relação da presença de DSF com os diferentes graus de obesidade ou com os níveis hormonais dos esteróides cortisol, estradiol ou DHEA. Contudo, foi encontrado aumento significativo nos níveis séricos de estradiol para o grupo 1, que corresponde ao de menor índice de IMC. Estes resultados mostram que a prevalência de DSF não diferiu entre os graus I,II e III de obesidade das pacientes deste estudo mas, quando presente, a disfunção ocorre nos domínios desejo, excitação e orgasmo. A maior concentração de estradiol encontrada nas pacientes de menor índice de IMC sugere uma possível relação entre as duas variáveis que precisa ser investigada em estudos futuros.

Estudo dos efeitos comportamentais do neuropeptídeos em camundongos submetidos a modelos animais de Parkinson

Neuropeptide S (NPS) is the endogenous ligand of a G-protein coupled receptor. Preclinical studies have shown that NPSR receptor activation can promote arousal, anxiolytic-like behavioral, decrease in food intake, besides hyperlocomotion, which is a robust but not well understood phenomenon. Previous findings suggest that dopamine transmission plays a crucial role in NPS hyperactivity. Considering the close relationship between dopamine and Parkinson Disease (PD), and also that NPSR receptors are expressed on dopaminergic nuclei in the brain, the current study attempted to investigate the effects of NPS in motor deficits induced by intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of 6-OHDA and systemic administration of haloperidol. Motor deficits induced by 6-OHDA and haloperidol were evaluated on Swiss mice in the rota-rod and catalepsy test. Time on the rotating rod and time spent immobile in the elevated bar were measured respectively in each test. L-Dopa, a classic antiparkinsonian drug, and NPS were administrated in mice submitted to one of the animal models of PD related above. 6-OHDA injection evoked severe motor impairments in rota-rod test, while the cataleptic behavior of 6-OHDA injected mice was largely variable. The administration of L-Dopa (25 mg/kg) and NPS (0,1 and 1 nmol) reversed motor impairments induced by 6-OHDA in the rota-rod. Haloperidolinduced motor deficits on rota-rod and catalepsy tests which were reversed by L-Dopa (100 e 400 mg/kg), but not by NPS (0,1 and 1 nmol) administration. The association of L-Dopa 10 mg/kg and NPS 1 nmol was also unable to counteract haloperidol-induced motor deficits. To summarize, 6-OHDA-, but not haloperidol-, induced motor deficits were reversed by the central administration of NPS. These data suggest that NPS possibly facilitates dopamine release in basal ganglia, what would explain the overcome of motor performance promoted by NPS administration in animals pretreated with 6-OHDA, but not haloperidol. Finally, the presented findings point, for the first time, to the potential of NPSR agonist as an innovative treatment for PD.

Efeito do alerta e valência emocional nos componentes de lembrança e familiaridade da memória episódica

The episodic memory system allows us to retrieve information about events, including its contextual aspects. It has been suggested that episodic memory is composed by two independent components: recollection and familiarity. Recollection is related to the vivid e detailed retrieval of item and contextual information, while familiarity is the capability to recognize items previously seen as familiars. Despite the fact that emotion is one of the most influent process on memory, only a few studies have investigated its effect on recollection and familiarity. Another limitation of studies about the effect of emotion on memory is that the majority of them have not adequately considered the differential effects of arousal and positive/negative valence. The main purpose of the current work is to investigate the independent effect of emotional valence and arousal on recollection and familiarity, as well as to test some hypothesis that have been suggested about the effect of emotion on episodic memory. The participants of the research performed a recognition task for three lists of emotional pictures: high arousal negative, high arousal positive and low arousal positive. At the test session, participants also rated the confidence level of their responses. The confidence ratings were used to plot ROC curves and estimate the contributions of recollection and familiarity of recognition performance. As the main results, we found that negative valence enhanced the component of recollection without any effect on familiarity or recognition accuracy. Arousal did not affect recognition performance or their components, but high arousal was associated with a higher proportion of false memories. This work highlight the importance of to consider both the emotional dimensions and episodic memory components in the study of emotion effect on episodic memory, since they interact in complex and independent way

Seasonal metabolic depression, substrate utilisation and changes in scaling patterns during the first year cycle of tegu lizards (Tupinambis merianae)

The tegus increase in body mass after hatching until early autumn, when the energy intake becomes gradually reduced. Resting rates of oxygen consumption in winter drop to 20% of the values in the active season (Vo(2)=0.0636 ml g(-1) h(-1)) and are nearly temperature insensitive over the range of 17-25degreesC (Q(10)=1.55). During dormancy, plasma glucose levels are 60% lower than those in active animals, while total protein, total lipids and beta-hydroxybutyrate are elevated by 24%, 43% and 113%, respectively. In addition, a significant depletion of liver carbohydrate (50%) and of fat deposited in the visceral fat bodies (24%) and in the tail (25%) and a slight loss of skeletal muscle protein (14%) were measured halfway through the inactive period. Otherwise, glycogen content is increased 4-fold in the brain and 2.3-fold in the heart of dormant lizards, declining by the onset of arousal. During early arousal, the young tegus are still anorexic, although Vo(2) is significantly greater than winter rates. The fat deposits analysed are further reduced (62% and 45%, respectively) and there is a large decrease in tail muscle protein (50%) together with a significant increase in glycogen (2-3-fold) and an increase in plasma glucose (40%), which suggests a role for gluconeogenesis as a supplementary energy source in arousing animals. No change is detectable in citrate synthase activity, but beta-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase activities are strongly affected by season, reaching a Mold and 5-fold increase in the liver tissue of winter and arousing animals, respectively, and becoming reduced by half in skeletal muscle and heart of winter animals compared with late fall or spring active individuals. From hatching to late autumn, the increase of the fat body mass relatively to body mass is disproportionate (b=1.44), and the mass exponent changes significantly to close to 1.0 during the fasting period. The concomitant shift in the Vo(2) mass exponent in early autumn (b=0.75) to values significantly greater than 1.0 in late autumn and during winter dormancy indicates an allometric effect on the degree of metabolic depression related to the size of the fat stores and suggests greater energy conservation in the smaller young.

Comparacao da recuperacao de anestesia venosa com propofol e anestesia inalatoria com sevoflurano para laparoscopia ginecologica

Backgrounds and Objectives: Both continuous venous anesthesia with propofol and inhalational anesthesia with sevoflurane propitiate fast arousal with few side effects. The aim of this study was to compare the arousal and post anesthestic recovery times in patients submitted to these two agents. Methods: Forty three patient aged 18 to 50 years, physical status I or II, submitted to gynecological laparoscopy were distributed in two groups: G1 - propofol in continuous infusion of 115 μg.kg -1.min -1 and G2 sevoflurane. All the patients were pre-medicated with 7.5 mg midazolam, sufentanil 0.5 μg.kg -1, propofol 2 mg.kg -1, atracurium 0.5 mg.kg -1, N 2O in 50% of oxygen in a no-rebreathing system. The depth of the anesthesia and arousal time were assessed by the Bispectral index (BIS). The time between end of anesthesia and eye opening, time for command response and time for orientation were also evaluated. Results: The times recorded in minutes were: G1 - eye opening 8.2 ± 2.9, command response 8.6 ± 3.1, orientation 9.8 ± 3.4, recovery 31.6 ± 3.8; G2 - eye opening 4.5 ± 3, command response 4.9 ± 3.4, orientation 6.2 ± 3.4, recovery 66 ± 8. Except the recovery time, all the values were larger in G1. Conclusions: Both intravenous propofol or inhalational sevoflurane were considered excellent anesthetic techniques as to recovery time and recovery room discharge. Sevoflurane provided an earlier arousal with a longer recovery room stay as compared to propofol.

Metabolic, ventilatory, and hygric physiology of the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus agilis)

We present the first complete study of basic laboratory-measured physiological variables (metabolism, thermoregulation, evaporative water loss, and ventilation) for a South American marsupial, the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus agilis). Body temperature (Tb) was thermolabile below thermoneutrality (Tb = 33.5°C), but a substantial gradient between Tb and ambient temperature (Ta) was sustained even at Ta = 12°C (Tb = 30.6°C). Basal metabolic rate of 1.00 mL O2 g-1 h-1 at Ta = 30°C conformed to the general allometric relationship for marsupials, as did wet thermal conductance (5.7 mL O2 g-1 h-1 °C-1). Respiratory rate, tidal volume, and minute volume at thermoneutrality matched metabolic demand such that O2 extraction was 12.4%, and ventilation increased in proportion to metabolic rate at low T a. Ventilatory accommodation of increased metabolic rate at low Ta was by an increase in respiratory rate rather than by tidal volume or O2 extraction. Evaporative water loss at the lower limit of thermoneutrality conformed to that of other marsupials. Relative water economy was negative at thermoneutrality but positive below Ta = 12°C. Interestingly, the Neotropical gracile mouse opossums have a more positive water economy at low Ta than an Australian arid-zone marsupial, perhaps reflecting seasonal variation in water availability for the mouse opossum. Torpor occurred at low Ta, with spontaneous arousal when . T b > 20°C. Torpor resulted in absolute energy and water savings but lower relative water economy. We found no evidence that gracile mouse opossums differ physiologically from other marsupials, despite their Neotropical distribution, sympatry with placental mammals, and long period of separation from Australian marsupials. © 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

Desenvolvimento do inventário da resposta sexual na gestação - PSRI

Pós-graduação em Ginecologia, Obstetrícia e Mastologia - FMB

Sexualidade e envelhecimento na percepção de pessoas idosas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeitos da bupropiona sobre o comportamento sexual, parâmetros espermáticos e fertilidade de ratos machos e sobre a contratilidade do ducto epididimático in vitro

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Cardiac hypertrophy and structural and metabolic remodeling related to seasonal dormancy in the first annual cycle in tegu lizards

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Body and Didactics. Possible directions of international research

The paper investigates the role of the body in didactics. It looks up for points of contact between the functional sceneries of the classroom and some recent approaches, such like simplexity, neurosciences and enactivism. The two experiments presented they aim to demonstrate the importance of body awareness to improve the didactic quality. The first experience used a SenseWear Armband that provided data about the energetic expenditure of a teacher during diff erent activities in a lesson. Th e second experiment relied on a neurofeedback device integrated to a sensor, it detected body temperature with the aim of understanding the role of the body in the process of self-regulation-learning and management of attention and arousal.

Influence of sleep disorders on the behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorder

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Pre-task music improves swimming performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of pre--task music on swimming performance and other psychological variables. A randomized counterbalanced within--subjects (experimental and control condition) design was employed. Eighteen regional level male swimmers performed two 200m freestyle swimming time trials. Participants were exposed to either 5min of self--selected music (pre--task music condition) or 5min of silence (control condition) and, after 1 minute, performed the swimming task. Swimming time was significantly shorter (--1.44%) in the pre--task music condition. Listening to pre--task music increased motivation to perform the swimming task, while arousal remained unchanged. While fatigue increased after the swimming task in both conditions, vigour, ratings of perceived exertion and affective valence were unaltered. It is concluded, for the first time, that pre--task music improves swimming performance.

Qualidade do sono em pacientes com síndrome do túnel do carpo

Pós-graduação em Bases Gerais da Cirurgia - FMB