Trevor W. Robbins

Bio: Trevor W. Robbins is an academic researcher from University of Cambridge. The author has contributed to research in topics: Prefrontal cortex & Impulsivity. The author has an hindex of 231, co-authored 1137 publications receiving 164437 citations. Previous affiliations of Trevor W. Robbins include Centre national de la recherche scientifique & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The biological, social and clinical bases of drug addiction: commentary and debate

Abstract: This article summarizes the main discussions at a meeting on the biological, social and clinical bases of drug addiction focused on contemporary topics in drug dependence. Four main domains are surveyed, reflecting the structure of the meeting: psychological and pharmacological factors; neurobiological substrates; risk factors (including a consideration of vulnerability from an environmental and genetic perspective); and clinical treatment. Among the topics discussed were tolerance, sensitization, withdrawal, craving and relapse; mechanisms of reinforcing actions of drugs at the behavioural, cognitive and neural levels; the role of subjective factors in drug dependence; approaches to the behavioural and molecular genetics of drug dependence; the use of functional neuroimaging; pharmaceutical and psychosocial strategies for treatment; epidemiological and sociological aspects of drug dependence. The survey takes into account the considerable disagreements and controversies arising from the discussions, but also reaches a degree of consensus in certain areas.

Abnormal response to negative feedback in unipolar depression:evidence for a diagnosis specific impairment

Abstract: Objectives—To assess in further detail the specific form of motivational impairment influencing neuropsychological performance in depression—oversensitivity to perceived failure. The present study considers two questions:firstly whether this is specific to depression and secondly how the eVect relates to clinical features. Methods—Unipolar depressed patients and matched controls were assessed on two neuropsychological tests giving explicit performance feedback. The data were analysed in two separate studies to consider the questions above. The first study considered the specificity of the eVect to depressed patients, using data on the same tests collected from other patient groups. The second study was a longitudinal assessment of the depressed patients on clinical recovery to determine whether the eVect is specific to the depressed state. Results—The eVect was not seen in nondepressed patient groups, either neurological or psychiatric groups. The longitudinal study showed a residual abnormal response to negative feedback on clinical recovery. Conclusions—Abnormal response to negative feedback is specific to a primary diagnosis of depression and may be a trait rather than a state factor of the disorder. These results are discussed in relation to the putative neuropathology of depression and also to cognitive and behavioural accounts of the disorder. The findings presented here have important implications for establishing a link between mood and cognition in unipolar depression. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1997;63:74‐82)

Isolation rearing in rats: Pre- and postsynaptic changes in striatal dopaminergic systems

Abstract: Isolationrearing of rats produces a behavioral syndrome indicative of altered dopamine (DA) function in the nucleus accumbens (NAC). The present experiments extend these findings by investigating: (a) interactions between isolationrearing and repeated handling/testing on presynaptic DA function in the NAC using in vivo microdialysis; (b) the dose–response curve for the effects of d-amphetamine, and the responses elicited by high potassium, using in vivo microdialysis; and (c) postsynaptic function in isolates as indexed by DA receptor-linked cAMP production. Experiment 1 showed that both isolationrearing and repeated handling/testing had effects on monoamine function in the NAC. However, while both manipulations enhanced DA release evoked by d-amphetamine, only isolated rats had elevated basal DA levels. Opposite neurochemical changes were observed with respect to the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA, isolates having lower, and repeatedly handled/tested animals having higher, extracellular levels. Experiment 2 provided evidence for enhanced d-amphetamine–evoked DA release in isolated animals, while potassium-evoked DA release was reduced. Experiment 3 provided evidence that the isolationrearing induced changes in presynaptic DA function were accompanied by postsynapticchanges. Specifically, the inhibitory influence of the D2 receptor on D1 receptor-stimulated cAMP production was attenuated in ventral striatal slices taken from isolates, suggesting a functional downregulation of D2 receptors.

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain

Abstract: We review evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different attentional functions. One system, which includes parts of the intraparietal cortex and superior frontal cortex, is involved in preparing and applying goal-directed (top-down) selection for stimuli and responses. This system is also modulated by the detection of stimuli. The other system, which includes the temporoparietal cortex and inferior frontal cortex, and is largely lateralized to the right hemisphere, is not involved in top-down selection. Instead, this system is specialized for the detection of behaviourally relevant stimuli, particularly when they are salient or unexpected. This ventral frontoparietal network works as a 'circuit breaker' for the dorsal system, directing attention to salient events. Both attentional systems interact during normal vision, and both are disrupted in unilateral spatial neglect.

An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function

Abstract: ▪ Abstract The prefrontal cortex has long been suspected to play an important role in cognitive control, in the ability to orchestrate thought and action in accordance with internal goals. Its neural basis, however, has remained a mystery. Here, we propose that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them. They provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task. We review neurophysiological, neurobiological, neuroimaging, and computational studies that support this theory and discuss its implications as well as further issues to be addressed

Chapter 11 Working memory

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the modern notion of short-term memory, called working memory. Working memory refers to the temporary maintenance of information that was just experienced or just retrieved from long-term memory but no longer exists in the external environment. These internal representations are short-lived, but can be maintained for longer periods of time through active rehearsal strategies, and can be subjected to various operations that manipulate the information in such a way that makes it useful for goal-directed behavior. Working memory is a system that is critically important in cognition and seems necessary in the course of performing many other cognitive functions, such as reasoning, language comprehension, planning, and spatial processing. This chapter demonstrates the functional importance of dopamine to working memory function in several ways. Elucidation of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying human working memory is an important focus of cognitive neuroscience and neurology for much of the past decade. One conclusion that arises from research is that working memory, a faculty that enables temporary storage and manipulation of information in the service of behavioral goals, can be viewed as neither a unitary, nor a dedicated system. Data from numerous neuropsychological and neurophysiological studies in animals and humans demonstrates that a network of brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, is critical for the active maintenance of internal representations.