Proteinchemische und molekularbiologische Experimente sowie neuroendokrine und neurophysiologische Untersuchungen zur Aufklaerung biologischer Grundlagen psychosomatischer Erkrankungen Schlussbericht

1. Technical equipment: The FACSCalibur flow cytometer represents the most versatile and state-of-the-art equipment available on the market. Adding a second laser allows us to measure 4 different fluorochromes simultaneously. The FACS contains a cell sorting module which enables us to sort and culture special cell types. 2. Research goal: It is our goal to investigate the biological basis of psychosomatic diseases. Furthermore we hope to clarify the interaction between the immune system and mental status as immune system involvement in psychiatric disorders is subject of controversial discussion in current literature. 3. Methods: Using different techniques heparinized blood samples of depressed patients were incubated with fluorescent antibodies in order to label the specific surface structures of immune cells allowing the characterization of different subpopulations. 4. Results: Preliminary data point to a shift in CD4"+/CD8"+ ratio in depression favoring the CD8"+ subpopulation. However, for statistical relevance the number of probands should be increased. 5. Conclusion: Our results indicate that psychiatric changes seen in depression are also reflected on the cellular level. Further studies are being planned investigating the effect of cytokines on the immune system during depressive episodes. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: DtF QN1(73,16) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

The calcium response of human T lymphocytes is decreased in aging but increased in Alzheimer's dementia

BACKGROUND: A significant increase in the [Ca2+]i response of single T lymphocytes to mitogenic stimulation with phytohemagglutinin is reported for 27 Alzheimer patients compared with 27 healthy gender- and age-matched control subjects, regardless of gender. METHODS: The [Ca2+]i signals of T lymphocytes were assessed using the Fura-2-AM method. RESULTS: In Alzheimer's disease (AD) the reaction pattern is similar to that seen in a group of 27 young healthy control subjects who exhibited a marked [Ca2+]i rise after stimulation. During normal aging the reaction pattern of T cells is significantly attenuated in comparison to that found in young subjects. In healthy control subjects differences in age-related changes in calcium homeostasis are highly significant among women, young women showing the most intense cell response. CONCLUSIONS: The elevation of [Ca2+]i appears to be a prerequisite for apoptosis, which is suggested to be involved in the neuronal death occurring in AD. An increased [Ca2+]i in AD is consistent with processes leading to neurodegeneration in AD

Data from: Distributed cognition and social brains: reductions in mushroom body investment accompanied the origins of sociality in wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

The social brain hypothesis assumes the evolution of social behaviour changes animals' ecological environments, and predicts evolutionary shifts in social structure will be associated with changes in brain investment. Most social brain models to date assume social behaviour imposes additional cognitive challenges to animals, favouring the evolution of increased brain investment. Here, we present a modification of social brain models, which we term the distributed cognition hypothesis. Distributed cognition models assume group members can rely on social communication instead of individual cognition; these models predict reduced brain investment in social species. To test this hypothesis, we compared brain investment among 29 species of wasps (Vespidae family), including solitary species and social species with a wide range of social attributes (i.e. differences in colony size, mode of colony founding and degree of queen/worker caste differentiation). We compared species means of relative size of mushroom body (MB) calyces and the antennal to optic lobe ratio, as measures of brain investment in central processing and peripheral sensory processing, respectively. In support of distributed cognition predictions, and in contrast to patterns seen among vertebrates, MB investment decreased from solitary to social species. Among social species, differences in colony founding, colony size and caste differentiation were not associated with brain investment differences. Peripheral lobe investment did not covary with social structure. These patterns suggest the strongest changes in brain investment—a reduction in central processing brain regions—accompanied the evolutionary origins of eusociality in Vespidae

DISCOVERY dust analyzer Pre-phase-A study on system concept, implementation, and realization of a dust analyzer for a DISCOVERY mission

This prephase-A study is part of a continuous study work performed by vH and S on the subject of integrating time-of-flight (TOF) dust spectrometers onto possible DISCOVERY missions planned by NASA. Within this study, the implementation of a dust impact TOF spectrometer is analyzed for three different DISCOVERY missions: CONTOUR, SMACS, and CHIRON. A considerable difference to previous instrument concepts rises from the fact that the dust sources -interstellar dust and weak comets - to be anlyzed have a very low dust fluence. This demands a new spectrometer approach, utilizing large area targets - larger by more than factor 100, compared to former PIA/GIOTTO and PUMA/VEGA instruments. The new instrument concept derived within this study results in the possibility of analyzing both cometary and interstellar dust particles. (orig./AKF)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F96B1506+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany); Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA) GmbH, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Volumes of brain regions- all subjects

Volumes of brain regions for all individual subjects, by species and caste

Context and trade-offs characterize real-world threat detection systems: A review and comprehensive framework to improve research practice and resolve the translational crisis

Contains fulltext : 219339.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)A better understanding of context in decision-making - that is, the internal and external conditions that modulate decisions - is required to help bridge the gap between natural behaviors that evolved by natural selection and more arbitrary laboratory models of anxiety and fear. Because anxiety and fear are mechanisms evolved to manage threats from predators and other exigencies, the large behavioral, ecological and evolutionary literature on predation risk is useful for re-framing experimental research on human anxiety-related disorders. We review the trade-offs that are commonly made during antipredator decision-making in wild animals along with the context under which the behavior is performed and measured, and highlight their relevance for focused laboratory models of fear and anxiety. We then develop an integrative mechanistic model of decision-making under risk which, when applied to laboratory and field settings, should improve studies of the biological basis of normal and pathological anxiety and may therefore improve translational outcomes.9 p

Context and trade-offs characterize real-world threat detection systems: A review and comprehensive framework to improve research practice and resolve the translational crisis

A better understanding of context in decision-making-that is, the internal and external conditions that modulate decisions-is required to help bridge the gap between natural behaviors that evolved by natural selection and more arbitrary laboratory models of anxiety and fear. Because anxiety and fear are mechanisms evolved to manage threats from predators and other exigencies, the large behavioral, ecological and evolutionary literature on predation risk is useful for re-framing experimental research on human anxiety-related disorders. We review the trade-offs that are commonly made during antipredator decision-making in wild animals along with the context under which the behavior is performed and measured, and highlight their relevance for focused laboratory models of fear and anxiety. We then develop an integrative mechanistic model of decision-making under risk which, when applied to laboratory and field settings, should improve studies of the biological basis of normal and pathological anxiety and may therefore improve translational outcomes