The psychology of mountaineering: A systematic review

Research on the psychology of mountaineering has received widespread attention over many decades. Therefore, to clarify scientific findings in the area, provide future research directions, and enable the development of applied recommendations to enhance performance and safety, the purpose of this systematic mixed studies review was to identify, appraise, and synthesise research on the psychology of mountaineering. After systematically searching 10 electronic databases and undertaking manual searches up to April 2020, 69 studies published over 54 years (1966-2020) were included in the review. Thematic synthesis was undertaken and generated 11 descriptive themes, which were captured by two analytical themes, (i) personality characteristics of mountaineers, and (ii) psychological experiences in mountaineering. The synthesis generated novel insights into connections between different research topics in the psychology-specific literature in mountaineering, thus providing a more advanced understanding of current knowledge in this area. The review highlights that considerable progress has been made in this field, but further high-quality studies are required across all facets of this literature. Future avenues for research include: group dynamics; cognitive mechanisms underlying decision-making; and coping with setbacks and traumatic events

Neurocytotoxic effects of iron-ions on the developing brain measured in vivo using medaka (Oryzias latipes), a vertebrate model

Purpose: Exposure to heavy-ion radiation is considered a critical health risk on long-term space missions. The developing central nervous system (CNS) is a highly radiosensitive tissue; however, the biological effects of heavy-ion radiation, which are greater than those of low-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation, are not well studied, especially in vivo in intact organisms. Here, we examined the effects of iron-ions on the developing CNS using vertebrate organism, fish embryos of medaka (Oryzias latipes)

Dietary levels of pure flavonoids improve spatial memory performance and increase hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Evidence suggests that flavonoid-rich foods are capable of inducing improvements in memory and cognition in animals and humans. However, there is a lack of clarity concerning whether flavonoids are the causal agents in inducing such behavioral responses. Here we show that supplementation with pure anthocyanins or pure flavanols for 6 weeks, at levels similar to that found in blueberry (2% w/w), results in an enhancement of spatial memory in 18 month old rats. Pure flavanols and pure anthocyanins were observed to induce significant improvements in spatial working memory (p = 0.002 and p = 0.006 respectively), to a similar extent to that following blueberry supplementation (p = 0.002). These behavioral changes were paralleled by increases in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (R = 0.46, p<0.01), suggesting a common mechanism for the enhancement of memory. However, unlike protein levels of BDNF, the regional enhancement of BDNF mRNA expression in the hippocampus appeared to be predominantly enhanced by anthocyanins. Our data support the claim that flavonoids are likely causal agents in mediating the cognitive effects of flavonoid-rich foods

Food for thought: how nutrition impacts cognition and emotion

More than one-third of American adults are obese and statistics are similar worldwide. Caloric intake and diet composition have large and lasting effects on cognition and emotion, especially during critical periods in development, but the neural mechanisms for these effects are not well understood. A clear understanding of the cognitiveemotional processes underpinning desires to over-consume foods can assist more effective prevention and treatments of obesity. This review addresses recent work linking dietary fat intake and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid dietary imbalance with inflammation in developing, adult, and aged brains. Thus, early-life diet and exposure to stress can lead to cognitive dysfunction throughout life and there is potential for early nutritional interventions (e.g., with essential micronutrients) for preventing these deficits. Likewise, acute consumption of a high-fat diet primes the hippocampus to produce a potentiated neuroinflammatory response to a mild immune challenge, causing memory deficits. Low dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can also contribute to depression through its effects on endocannabinoid and inflammatory pathways in specific brain regions leading to synaptic phagocytosis by microglia in the hippocampus, contributing to memory loss. However, encouragingly, consumption of fruits and vegetables high in polyphenolics can prevent and even reverse age-related cognitive deficits by lowering oxidative stress and inflammation. Understanding relationships between diet, cognition, and emotion is necessary to uncover mechanisms involved in and strategies to prevent or attenuate comorbid neurological conditions in obese individuals

Amphetamine-induced taste aversion learning in young and old F-344 rats following exposure to 56Fe particles

Exposure to 56Fe particles produces changes in dopaminergic function and in dopamine-dependent behaviors, including amphetamine-induced conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning. Because many of these changes are characteristic of the changes that accompany the aging process, the present study was designed to determine whether or not there would be an interaction between age and exposure to 56Fe particles in the disruption of an amphetamine-induced CTA. One hundred and forty F-344 male rats 2-, 7-, 12-, and 16-months old, were radiated with 56Fe particles (0.25–2.00 Gy, 1 GeV/n) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Three days following irradiation, the rats were tested for the effects of radiation on the acquisition of a CTA produced by injection of amphetamine (3 mg/kg, i.p.). The main effect of age was to produce a significant decrease in conditioning day sucrose intake; there was no affect of age on the acquisition of the amphetamine-induced CTA. Exposing rats to 56Fe particles disrupted the acquisition of the CTA produced by injection of amphetamine only in the 2-month-old rats. These results do not support the hypothesis of an interaction between age and exposure to 56Fe particles in producing a disruption of amphetamine-induced CTA learning. As such, these results suggest that the aging produced by exposure to 56Fe particles may be endpoint specific