Influence of preoperative life satisfaction on recovery and outcomes after colorectal cancer surgery - a prospective pilot study.

Colorectal surgery has an important impact on a patient's quality of life, and postoperative rehabilitation shows large variations. To enhance the understanding of recovery after colorectal cancer, health-related quality of life has become a standard outcome measurement for clinical care and research. Therefore, we aimed to correlate the influence of preoperative global life satisfaction on subjective feelings of well-being with clinical outcomes after colorectal surgery. In this pilot study of consecutive colorectal surgery patients, various dimensions of feelings of preoperative life satisfaction were assessed using a self-rated scale, which was validated in French. Both objective (length of stay and complications) and subjective (pain, subjective well-being and quality of sleep) indicators of recovery were evaluated daily during each patient's hospital stay. A total of 112 patients were included. The results showed a negative relationship between life satisfaction and postoperative complications and a significant negative correlation with the length of stay. Moreover, a significant positive correlation between life satisfaction and the combined subjective indicators of recovery was observed. We have shown the importance of positive preoperative mental states and global life satisfaction as characteristics that are associated with an improved recovery after colorectal surgery. Therefore, patients with a good level of life satisfaction may be better able to face the consequences of colorectal surgery, which is a relevant parameter in supportive cancer care

Intraseptal injection of the 5-HT1A/5-HT7 agonist 8-OH-DPAT and working memory in rats

RATIONALE: In rats, 5-HT(1A) receptors are present in the septal region, e.g. on cholinergic neurons of the medial septum, where they might be a substrate for cognitively relevant interactions between cholinergic and serotonergic systems. OBJECTIVE: The present experiment assessed the effects of the stimulation of septal 5-HT(1A) receptors on spatial working memory. METHODS: Stimulation of septal 5-HT(1A) receptors was carried out by infusions targetting the medial septum of the 5-HT(1A)/5-HT(7) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propyl-amino)-tetralin (8-OH-DPAT; 0.5 or 4 microg). Spatial memory was assessed in a water maze using a protocol placing emphasis on spatial working memory. The location of the hidden platform was changed every day and performance was assessed on two consecutive trials each day. RESULTS: In comparison to vehicle injections, the intraseptal infusion of 4 microg 8-OH-DPAT impaired performance significantly: rats treated with 8-OH-DPAT exhibited increased distances to reach the hidden platform on both trials 1 and 2. Rats infused with 0.5 microg showed similar changes that failed to be significant. Such effects were not observed when the platform was visible. CONCLUSIONS: These results extend those of a previous experiment which showed that intraseptal injections of 8-OH-DPAT impaired spatial reference memory. Based on the characteristics of the observed deficits, it is suggested that the 8-OH-DPAT-induced impairment, rather than being only the result of a true alteration of working memory, might reflect a more global cognitive deficiency in which alteration of general memory capacities may be biased by disrupted search strategies/exploration and/or dysfunctions of attention

Caracterisation d'un nouveau modele de regulation de la fonction melanotrope : regulation peptidergique et absence de controle dopaminergique chez les Leporides

SIGLECNRS T 56490 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Comparative optimism: An automatised self‐presentational answer? The contribution of response times

Objective Our study sought to explore, by using response time measures, the cognitive effort associated with comparative optimism expression (CO) and its modulation. More precisely, our aim was to decide between two opposite options: (1) expressing CO as a self‐serving bias (presenting oneself as better than others) will require less cognitive effort than restraining CO; and (2) modulating CO depending on social context will be effortless, thus for example restraining CO as a normative self‐presentational answer (for presenting oneself modestly) will require less cognitive effort than expressing CO. Methods Participants answered a CO questionnaire in two social contexts in which CO is socially valued (professional domain) or not valued (friendship domain). They had to answer either spontaneously or in order to convey a favourable or an unfavourable impression. Answers and times needed to respond were recorded. Results The present data revealed that participants were slower when restraining CO to convey a negative image to an employer or to depict a modest self to a friend. Conversely, they were faster when expressing CO to convey a favourable image to a recruiter or a negative one to a friend. In the spontaneous condition, a same level of CO was expressed, but response times were lengthened in the friendship domain. Conclusion Overall, these results suggest that in comparing one's own risk with that of an average other, restraining CO according to the socially valued self‐presentational standard of modesty corresponds to a strenuous answer. Consequently, expressing CO might represent a more overlearned, automatised self‐presentational answer