"Mens sana in corpore sano"

Que la vida saludable i l'exercici físic reverteixen en una millora de les facultats cognitives és sabut des de ben antic. Actualment s'han fet estudis que han intentat establir científicament aquesta relació, considerant l'exercici físic com un al·liat en el tractament de persones amb dèficits cognitius. Malgrat les investigacions realitzades, no s'ha arribat a una conclusió ferma que doni suport a aquestes afirmacions i aquest és un dels motius pel què no s'inclou, sistemàticament, l'activitat física en tractaments de desordres psíquics com les demències. El problema radica en establir exactament quin tipus d'exercici és l'idoni per estimular les capacitats cognitives. Estudis realitzats en rates demostren que no totes les activitats físiques són adequades, havent de moderar també la magnitud de l'esforç.Que la vida saludable y el ejercicio físico revierten en una mejora de las facultades cognitivas es conocido desde tiempos remotos. Actualmente se han hecho estudios que han intentado establecer científicamente esta relación, considerando el ejercicio físico como un aliado en el tratamiento de personas con déficits cognitivos. A pesar de las investigaciones realizadas, no se ha llegado a una conclusión firme que apoye estas afirmaciones y éste es uno de los motivos por el que no se incluye, sistemáticamente, la actividad física en tratamientos de desórdenes psíquicos como las demencias. El problema radica en establecer exactamente qué tipo de ejercicio es el adecuado para estimular las capacidades cognitivas. Estudios realizados en ratas demuestran que no todas las actividades físicas son adecuadas, teniendo que moderar también la magnitud del esfuerzo

Traumatic brain injury in late adolescent rats : effects on adulthood memory and anxiety

This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.The consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained during late adolescence (7 weeks-old) on spontaneous object recognition memory and on anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze were tested in rats during adulthood. Testing took place at two different post injury times, in separate groups: three and six weeks, when animals were 10 and 13 weeks old, respectively. The rats were either submitted to controlled cortical impact injury, an experimental model of focal TBI with contusion, or were shamoperated. TBI animals failed to remember the familiar object and had a significantly lower performance than sham-operated animals, indicating memory disruption, when the retention delay was 24 h, but not when it was 3 h. TBI did not have any significant effect on the main anxiety-related behaviors, but it reduced time in the central platform of the elevated plus maze. The effects of TBI on memory and on anxiety-like behaviors were similar at the two post injury times. In both TBI and sham-operated groups, animals tested six weeks after surgery had lower anxiety-related indices than those tested at three weeks, an effect that might be indicative of reduced anxiety levels with increasing age. In summary, focal TBI with contusion sustained during late adolescence led to object recognition memory deficits in a 24-h test during adulthood, but did not have a major impact on anxiety-like behaviors. Memory deficits persisted for at least six weeks after injury, indicating that spontaneous modifications of these functional disturbances did not take place along this time span

Posttraining epinephrine reverses memory deficits produced by traumatic brain injury in rats

The aim of this research is to evaluate whether posttraining systemic epinephrine is able to improve object recognition memory in rats with memory deficits produced by traumatic brain injury. Forty-nine two-month-old naïve male Wistar rats were submitted to surgical procedures to induce traumatic brain injury (TBI) or were sham-operated. Rats were trained in an object recognition task and, immediately after training, received an intraperitoneal injection of distilled water (Sham-Veh and TBI-Veh group) or 0.01 mg/kg epinephrine (TBI-Epi group) or no injection (TBI-0 and Sham-0 groups). Retention was tested 3 h and 24 h after acquisition. The results showed that brain injury produced severe memory deficits and that posttraining administration of epinephrine was able to reverse them. Systemic administration of distilled water also had an enhancing effect, but of a lower magnitude. These data indicate that posttraining epinephrine and, to a lesser extent, vehicle injection reduce memory deficits associated with TBI, probably through induction of a low-to-moderate emotional arousa

Effects of voluntary physical exercise, citicoline, and combined treatment on object recognition memory, neurogenesis and neuroprotection after traumatic brain injury in rats

Final publication is available from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/neu.2014.3502The biochemical and cellular events that lead to secondary neural damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI) contribute to long-term disabilities, including memory deficits. There is a need to search for single and/or combined treatments aimed at reducing these TBI-related dysfunctions. The effects of citicoline and of voluntary physical exercise in a running wheel (3 weeks), alone or in combination, on TBI-related short-term (3 h) and long-term (24 h) object recognition memory (ORM) deficits, and on neurogenesis and neuroprotection were examined using a rodent model of TBI(controlled cortical impact injury). Citicoline improved memory deficits at the two times tested, while physical exercise only in the long-term test. Physical exercise had a clear neuroprotective effect as indicated by reduced interhemispheric differences in hippocampal formation and lateral ventricle volumes and in density of mature neurons in the hilus of the dentate gyrus and the perirhinal cortex. Physical exercise also increased cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the granular cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Some degree of neuroprotection of citicoline was suggested by reduced interhemispheric differences in the volume of the hippocampal formation. Contrary to what was expected, the effects of citicoline and physical exercise did not sum up.Furthermore, a negative interference between both treatments was found in several behavioral and histological variables. The promising profiles of both treatments as therapeutic tools in TBI when applied singly, underscore the need to carry out further works looking for other combined treatment regimens that increase the benefit of each treatment alone

Una experiència de dos anys de treball cooperatiu i col·laboratiu pel suport i la gestió docent

Des del curs 2010-11, la Facultat de Psicologia de la UAB compta amb un grup d'estudiants que es formen com a "assistents de titulació" dels estudis de Grau realitant tasques de suport a la docència. Amb l'objectiu de que aquesta experiènca tingui un caràcter formatiu per a l'estudiant i que a més signifiqui un suport notable al personal acadèmic de la facultat, es van prioritzar aquelles tasques amb una caràcter transversal i es va generar una estructura de treball basada en una metodologia col·laborativa. En el present treball presentem els resultats de l'experiència acumulada durant aquests dos cursos de funcionament.Since the academic year 2010-11, the Faculty of Psychology of the UAB has a group of students that work as "assistants of the Degree studies" realizing tasjs of teaching support. In order to facilitate students' acquisition of useful skills and to support teaching in a helpful way, trasnversal tasks were priopritized and the organizational structure of the group was based in a collaborative methodoogy. In presnet work, the results of the experiencie accumulated during these two years are presented and discussed

Presumed "prefrontal cortex" lesions in pigeons : effects on visual discrimination performance

The posterodorsolateral neostriatum (PDLNS) in pigeons may be an equivalent of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in mammals. Here we report that lesions of this brain region in pigeons have a detrimental effect on various learned visual discriminations. Pigeons with lesions of the overlying area corticoidea dorsolateralis (CDL) served as controls. Both the postoperative re-learning to criterion of a preoperatively learned simultaneous double visual mirror pattern discrimination and the learning of a simple successive go, no-go discrimination were impaired by the PDLNS lesions. The PDLNS and CDL groups did not differ significantly in the postoperative learning of a reversal of the simultaneous discrimination. The results are discussed in relation to the presumed equivalence between the avian PDNLS and the mammalian PFC

La adrenalina : un sistema endógeno de modulación de la memoria

Existen numerosos tratamientos capaces de afectar a los procesos de aprendizaje y memoria. Sin embargo, todavía son poco conocidos los mecanismos endógenos que modulan el almacenamiento de la información en condiciones normales. Estos mecanismos son de gran importancia ya que, activados por la propia situación de aprendizaje, son capaces de modular la fuerza con que se fija la experiencia en la memoria. En este sentido, algunos sistemas hormonales que se activan en respuesta a una determinada experiencia podrían estar implicados en la consolidación de la memoria de esa experiencia. En concreto, en el presente artículo se discuten diversos aspectos de la relación entre la adrenalina y la consolidación de la memoria que sugieren que la liberación de esta hormona tras el entrenamiento podría formar parte de un sistema endógeno de modulación de la memoria. Este sistema, además de modificar la fuerza de la huella mnésica en condiciones normales, podría ser también un mecanismo a través del cual diversos tratamientos podrían actuar para modular la memoriaSeveral treatments can affect the processes of learning and memory. Presumably, endogenous mechanisms exist that modulate the storage of information in normal conditions. These mechanisms would be activated by the learning situation and would modulate the strength of memory storage of this experience. In this way, several hormonal systems that are activated as a consequence of a learning situation might act as one of these endogenous memory modulation systems. The present paper discusses several aspects of the relation between epinephrine and memory consolidation that suggest that this hormone might be an endogenous system of memory modulation. Ibis system would modify the strength of the memory trace in normal conditions and it could be also a mechanism through which several treatments modulate memor

La adrenalina: un sistema endógeno de modulación de la memoria

Existen numerosos tratamientos capaces de afectar a los procesos de aprendizaje y memoria. Sin embargo, todavía son poco conocidos los mecanismos endógenos que modulan el almacenamiento de la información en condiciones normales. Estos mecanismos son de gran importancia ya que, activados por la propia situación de aprendizaje, son capaces de modular la fuerza con que se fija la experiencia en la memoria. En este sentido, algunos sistemas hormonales que se activan en respuesta a una determinada experiencia podrían estar implicados en la consolidación de la memoria de esa experiencia. En concreto, en el presente artículo se discuten diversos aspectos de la relación entre la adrenalina y la consolidación de la memoria que sugieren que la liberación de esta hormona tras el entrenamiento podría formar parte de un sistema endógeno de modulación de la memoria. Este sistema, además de modificar la fuerza de la huella mnésica en condiciones normales, podría ser también un mecanismo a través del cual diversos tratamientos podrían actuar para modular la memoria