Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain—3-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging, J. Talairach, P. Tournoux. Georg Thieme Verlag, New York (1988), 122 pp., 130 figs. DM 268

As humans, we perceive feelings from our bodies that relate our state of well-being, our energy and stress levels, our mood and disposition. How do we have these feelings? What neural processes do they represent? Recent functional anatomical work has detailed an afferent neural system in primates and in humans that represents all aspects of the physiological condition of the physical body. This system constitutes a representation of 'the material me', and might provide a foundation for subjective feelings, emotion and self-awareness.

How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body.

Objective:Although mindfulness-based therapy has become a popular treatment, little is known about its efficacy. Therefore, our objective was to conduct an effect size analysis of this popular intervention for anxiety and mood symptoms in clinical samples.Method:We conducted a literature search using PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and manual searches. Our meta-analysis was based on 39 studies totaling 1,140 participants receiving mindfulness-based therapy for a range of conditions, including cancer, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and other psychiatric or medical conditions. Results:Effect size estimates suggest that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for improving anxiety (Hedges’sg!0.63) and mood symptoms (Hedges’sg!0.59) from pre- to posttreatment in the overall sample. In patients with anxiety and mood disorders, this intervention was associated with effect sizes (Hedges’sg) of 0.97 and 0.95 for improving anxiety and mood symptoms, respectively. These effect sizes were robust, were unrelated to publication year or number of treatment sessions, and were maintained over follow-up.Conclusions:These results suggest that mindfulnessbased therapy is a promising intervention for treating anxiety and mood problems in clinical populations.

/pdf/the-effect-of-mindfulness-based-therapy-on-anxiety-and-1i5sns9vyx.pdf

The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review

A review of central 5-HT receptors and their function

Here we provide a review of the animal and human literature concerning the role of the amygdala in fear conditioning, considering its potential influence over autonomic and hormonal changes, motor behavior and attentional processes. A stimulus that predicts an aversive outcome will change neural transmission in the amygdala to produce the somatic, autonomic and endocrine signs of fear, as well as increased attention to that stimulus. It is now clear that the amygdala is also involved in learning about positively valenced stimuli as well as spatial and motor learning and this review strives to integrate this additional information. A review of available studies examining the human amygdala covers both lesion and electrical stimulation studies as well as the most recent functional neuroimaging studies. Where appropriate, we attempt to integrate basic information on normal amygdala function with our current understanding of psychiatric disorders, including pathological anxiety.

The amygdala: vigilance and emotion

The peptide cholecystokinin (CCK)2was originally discovered in the gastrointestinal tract ([Ivy and Oldberg, 1928][1]) and has been shown to mediate pancreatic secretion and contraction of gallbladder. Then, CCK was described in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) as a gastrin-like

https://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/pharmrev/51/4/745.full.pdf

International Union of Pharmacology. XXI. Structure, distribution, and functions of cholecystokinin receptors.

• We studied the action of cholecystokinin tetrapeptide (CCK-4) in patients with panic disorder and normal controls. Subjects received, in random order, one injection of CCK-4 and one injection of placebo (saline) on two separate days in a double-blind crossover design. Two doses of CCK-4, 50 and 25 μg, were administered to two different samples of subjects. The panic rate with 50 μg of CCK-4 was 100% (12/12) for patients and 47% (7/15) for controls. The panic rate with 25 μg of CCK-4 was 91% (10/11) for patients and 17% (2/12) for controls. Nine percent of patients compared with 0% of controls panicked with placebo. These findings concur with previous reports of a panicogenic effect of CCK-4 and suggest that patients with panic disorder are more sensitive to the panicogenic effect of the peptide than are normal controls.

Enhanced sensitivity to cholecystokinin tetrapeptide in panic disorder. Clinical and behavioral findings.

http://psychsyt.ca/ESW/Files/MBSR_vs_group_CBT_for_Gen_Soc_Anx_Dis.pdf

Randomized trial of a meditation-based stress reduction program and cognitive behavior therapy in generalized social anxiety disorder.

Cholecystokinin-tetrapeptide (CCK-4) and placebo were injected to 11 panic disorder patients. CCK-4 induced a panic attack identical to spontaneous panic attacks in all patients; placebo did not in...

Jacques Bradwejn

Papers

International Union of Pharmacology. XXI. Structure, distribution, and functions of cholecystokinin receptors.

Enhanced sensitivity to cholecystokinin tetrapeptide in panic disorder. Clinical and behavioral findings.

Randomized trial of a meditation-based stress reduction program and cognitive behavior therapy in generalized social anxiety disorder.

Cholecystokinin-tetrapeptide induces panic attacks in patients with panic disorder.

CCK in animal and human research on anxiety.