Effects of Cocaine-Kindling on the Expression of NMDA Receptors and Glutamate Levels in Mouse Brain

In the present study we examined the effects of cocaine seizure kindling on the expression of NMDA receptors and levels of extracellular glutamate in mouse brain. Quantitative autoradiography did not reveal any changes in binding of [3H] MK-801 to NMDA receptors in several brain regions. Likewise, in situ hybridization and Western blotting revealed no alteration in expression of the NMDA receptor subunits, NR1 and NR2B. Basal overflow of glutamate in the ventral hippocampus determined by microdialysis in freely moving animals also did not differ between cocaine-kindled and control groups. Perfusion with the selective excitatory amino acid transporter inhibitor, pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (tPDC, 0.6 mM), increased glutamate overflow confirming transport inhibition. Importantly, KCl-evoked glutamate overflow under tPDC perfusion was significantly higher in cocaine-kindled mice than in control mice. These data suggest that enhancement of depolarization stimulated glutamate release may be one of the mechanisms underlying the development of increased seizure susceptibility after cocaine kindling

Measuring Emotional Intelligence Enhances the Psychological Evaluation of Chronic Pain

The assessment of emotional factors, in addition to other psychosocial factors, has been recommended as a means of identifying individuals with chronic pain who may not respond to certain pain treatments. Systematic reviews of the evidence regarding the prediction of responsiveness to a treatment called the spinal cord stimulator (SCS) have yielded inconclusive results. Emotional intelligence is a term which refers to the ability to identify and manage emotions in oneself and others and has been shown to be inversely associated with emotional distress and acute pain. This study aims to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence, chronic pain, and the more established psychosocial factors usually used for SCS evaluations by clinical psychologists in medical settings. A sample of 112 patients with chronic pain on an acute hospital waiting list for SCS procedures in a pain medicine service were recruited. Psychological measures were completed including: a novel measure of emotional intelligence; usual measures of emotional distress and catastrophizing; and a numerical rating scale designed to assess pain intensity, pain-related distress, and interference. As predicted, findings revealed significant associations between most of the measures analyzed and current pain intensity. When entered into a simultaneous regression analysis, emotional intelligence scores remained the only significant predictor of current pain intensity. There are potential clinical, ethical, and organizational implications of emotional intelligence processes partially predicting pain in patients on a waiting list for a medical procedure. These results may offer new insight, understanding, and evaluation targets for clinical psychologists in the field of pain management

Emotional intelligence training intervention among trainee teachers: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) has often been linked to improvements in professional performance. Indeed, generic competencies related to EI have been included in university curricula. However, learning EI involves significant time and effort on the part of students, and this may hinder the acquisition of specific content for each degree. In this study, an intervention to develop EI in higher education students is described and evaluated. Methods: The intervention consisted of eight group sessions performed in a regular course aiming to increase EI. The sessions included strategies and training on perceiving and understanding one’s own emotions and others’ emotions, identifying and understanding the impact one’s own feelings in adopting decisions, expressing one’s own emotions and the stress experienced, and managing both one’s own emotions and emotions of others. Participants were 192 students studying for a Master of Primary Education degree. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was adopted. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using multi-level analyses. Results: The results showed a significant improvement in the EI of students in the experimental group compared with the control group. Conclusions: This research demonstrates that it is possible to develop EI in higher education students, without hindering the acquisition of specific content competencies and, therefore, without interfering with their academic performance and without overburdening students with work outside the classroom. Trial registration: The experiment has been registered in the Initial Deposit of the Spanish Center for Sociological Research (CIS). 7/6/2015. http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/ES/index.html.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Grant number EDU2015-64562-R

Brain microvessels take up large neutral amino acids in exchange for glutamine. Cooperative role of Na+-dependent and Na+-independent systems. J Biol Chem. 1983 Jul 25;258(14):8949-54.

Some regulatory aspects of neutral amino acid transport were investigated in isolated brain microvessels, an in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier. Preloading of the microvessels with glutamine stimulated the subsequent uptake of other neutral amino acids by way of the Na+-independent L system, but had no effect on the uptake of either basic or acidic amino acids. Moreover, this stimulation was abolished when the loading step was carried out in the absence of Na+ ions or in the presence of a high concentration of alpha-methylaminoisobutyric acid, indicating that the microvessels were able to concentrate glutamine via the A system of amino acid transport. Since the presence of the A system of neutral amino acid transport has not been detected in studies of blood-brain transport performed in vivo, the A system is probably associated with the antiluminal side of brain microvessels. Our results indicate, therefore, that the concentrative Na+-dependent A system and the exchanging Na+-independent L system can cooperate in the uptake of the large neutral hydrophobic amino acids. Such a cooperation may be relevant in the pathogenesis of some neurological disturbances such as hepatic encephalopathy, in which brain glutamine concentration is unusually high. PMID: 6863319 MeSH Term