Introduction Impulsivity is a central feature of drug addiction and may arise as a result of impaired inhibitory control. The extent to which inhibitory deficits arise as a consequence of drug exposure or relate to pre-existing addiction vulnerability is unknown. Materials and methods This study compared measures of impulsivity in outpatients with alcohol dependence (n=23) and problem gambling (n=21), a putative behavioural addiction where direct effects of drug exposure may be minimal. Healthy controls (n=27) were also tested, in a cross-sectional design. Subjects completed the stop-signal test as a neurocognitive probe of response inhibition, alongside self-report ratings of impulsivity, adult ADHD and OCD. Results On the stop-signal test, Go reaction time and stopsignal reaction time were significantly slower in the alcohol-dependent group, compared with healthy controls. Healthy controls slowed their responding after successful and failed stop trials. Slowing after failed stop trials was significantly attenuated in the alcohol-dependent subjects. Go reaction time and post-error slowing were correlated with chronicity and severity, respectively, in the alcoholdependent subjects. Problem gamblers did not differ significantly from controls on the stop-signal test, despite trait elevations in impulsivity ratings. Conclusion Inhibitory control is impaired in alcohol dependence but occurs in the context of psychomotor slowing. In addition, alcohol-dependent individuals failed to show behavioral adjustment following failed stops. These deficits may represent direct effects of chronic alcohol administration on fronto-striatal circuitry.

AimsProblem gambling has been proposed to represent a ‘behavioural addiction’ that may provide key insights into vulnerability mechanisms underlying addiction in brains that are not affected by the damaging effects of drugs. Our aim was to investigate the neurocognitive profile of problem gambling in comparison with alcohol dependence. We reasoned that shared deficits across the two conditions may reflect underlying vulnerability mechanisms, whereas impairments specific to alcohol dependence may reflect cumulative effects of alcohol consumption.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingOut-patient addiction treatment centres and university behavioural testing facilities.ParticipantsA naturalistic sample of 21 male problem and pathological gamblers, 21 male alcohol-dependent out-patients and 21 healthy male control participants.MeasurementsNeurocognitive battery assessing decision-making, impulsivity and working memory.FindingsThe problem gamblers and alcohol-dependent groups displayed impairments in risky decision-making and cognitive impulsivity relative to controls. Working memory deficits and slowed deliberation times were specific to the alcohol-dependent group.ConclusionsGambling and alcohol-dependent groups shared deficits in tasks linked to ventral prefrontal cortical dysfunction. Tasks loading on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were selectively impaired in the alcohol-dependent group, presumably as a consequence of long-term alcohol use.

Aims and MethodOne of the steps to change stigmatised attitudes involves identifying the concerns of people whose attitude is to be changed. This paper presents the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ), a short instrument aimed at systematically obtaining this information, and examines the feasibility, test–retest reliability as well as face and construct validity of the AMIQ on the UK general public. A postal survey of a random sample of 1079 adults was conducted. A self-reported questionnaire with 5-point Likert scale responses was validated in response to short fictional vignettes. A second subsample of 256 was used for a reliability test.ResultsThe AMIQ is a short instrument with good psychometric properties. It shows good stability, test–retest reliability, alternative test reliability, face, construct and criterion validity. The self-selecting sample of 1079 UK adults showed highly stigmatised attitudes to people with addictive disorders but more positive attitudes to those with depression or self-harm. Results from a smaller follow-up sample showed that attitudes towards people with alcohol dependence and schizophrenia were intermediate.Clinical ImplicationsThe AMIQ can be used in various medical and mental health stigma research and intervention settings.

The project aimed to assess stigmatized attitudes among health professionals directed towards patients with mental health problems. The Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire was used to assess participants' attitudes towards fictitious patients from a secure forensic hospital and patients with schizophrenia and substance use disorders. Participants were health professionals from acute and mental health settings. In total, 108 completed questionnaires were received. Participants had highly stigmatized attitudes towards patients from a forensic hospital and those with active substance use disorders. Attitudes were less stigmatized to people with substance use disorders who were recovering in remission. This suggested that health professionals have stigmatized attitudes towards an illness such as schizophrenia and this is worse towards patients from a secure hospital. The manner in which patients with substance use disorder are presented can have a significant effect on stigmatized attitudes by health professionals.

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In NG108-15 cells inhibition of both N-type calcium channel current and adenylyl cyclase by somatostatin (SRIF) was not sustained but rapidly desensitized in the continued presence of the drug. The degree and rate of desensitization were concentration-dependent, and the desensitization was homologous with respect to the ␦-opioid receptor. We have been unable to obtain evidence for the involvement of G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) in this desensitization. SRIF-induced desensitization of N-type calcium channel currents was not reduced in cells stably overexpressing a dominant negative mutant of GRK2 or following intracellular dialysis with GRK2-and GRK3-blocking peptides or with heparin. Inhibitors of protein kinase A, protein kinase C, and protein kinase G were also without effect. In contrast, both the rate and degree of SRIF-induced desensitization were reduced by pretreatment with phenylarsine oxide or concanavalin A, both inhibitors of receptor endocytosis. Furthermore, SRIF-induced desensitization was enhanced by monensin, which prevents receptor recycling back to the plasma membrane. Similarly, SRIF-induced desensitization of adenylyl cyclase inhibition was not reduced in cells stably overexpressing dominant negative mutant GRK2 but was reduced in cells pretreated with the receptor endocytosis inhibitor hyperosmotic sucrose or concanavalin A. These data are consistent with the view that SRIF-induced desensitization in NG108-15 cells results from receptor internalization.The cellular effects of somatostatin (SRIF) 1 are mediated by specific cell surface receptors. To date, five somatostatin receptor genes have been cloned (sst 1 to sst 5 ). sst receptors all couple through G i /G o proteins, and some or all of these receptor subtypes have been observed to inhibit adenylyl cyclase (1, 2), to activate tyrosine phosphatase activity (3), to activate phospholipase C (4), to activate mitogen-activated protein kinase (5), to inhibit high voltage activated calcium channel currents (6 -9), and to activate a potassium conductance (10 -11). As with other G protein-coupled receptors, desensitization or waning of the response in the continued presence of an agonist is a salient feature of sst receptor-mediated signaling.There is now good evidence that desensitization of G proteincoupled receptor-mediated responses can arise from a number of different mechanisms depending on both the type of receptor and the type of cell in which it is expressed. At the receptor level, desensitization can be due to phosphorylation by specific G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) (12-17); phosphorylation by second messenger kinases such as protein kinase A (18 -20), protein kinase C (12,15,21,22), calcium/calmodulindependent protein kinase (23), and casein kinase (24); receptor palmitoylation (25-27); and receptor internalization (28 -30). In addition, modulation of post receptor components of the receptor-effector pathway, such as the level of G protein expression (31), can also underlie desensitization.In the present st...

Background: Publication bias and discrimination are increasingly recognised in medicine. A survey was conducted to determine if medical journals were more likely to publish research reports from members of their own than a rival journal's editorial board. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all research reports published in 2006 in the four competing medical journals within five medical specialties. Only three journals were willing to divulge the authorship of reports that had been rejected. Results: Overall, 4460 research reports were published in 2006 by the 20 journals from five subspecialties (mean 223 (SD = 164) reports per journal; median 176; interquartile range 108-238). On average, 17.2 (7.7%) reports were from a journal's own editorial board (SD = 10.7; median 15; interquartile range 10-23; n = 20), and 6.3 (2.8%) reports were from a member of the editorial board of one of the three rival journals within the specialty (SD = 7.3; median 3.5; interquartile range 1-8; n = 60).

Aims and MethodTo assess the effect of factsheets from the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Changing Minds campaign on stigmatised attitudes of members of the general public towards those with mental illness. Participants were recruited at random from a panel of over 1200 members of the general population and presented with questionnaires containing single-page factsheets adapted from the Changing Minds campaign describing schizophrenia or substance use disorders. The Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was used to measure the effect on stigmatised attitudes.ResultsIn total 200 questionnaires were distributed; 158 completed questionnaires were received (response rate 79%). The AMIQ scores for the alcoholism and schizophrenia vignettes did not differ between experimental and control groups. Fidelity questions included in the questionnaire indicated that participants had read and understood the factsheets.Clinical ImplicationsDidactic factsheets produced for the Changing Minds campaign were largely ineffective at changing stigmatised attitudes towards schizophrenia and alcoholism.