The authors showed that conditional effects of the stimulation environment modulate both the ictal and interictal behaviors of rats subjected to amygdala kindling. Rats received 53 stimulations to the left basolateral amygdala in 1 conditional stimulus (CS) context (CS+) and 53 sham stimulations (the stimulation lead was attached but no current was delivered) in another context (CS-), quasirandomly over 54 days. Three kinds of conditional effects were observed. First, after several stimulations, less ambulatory activity, more freezing, and less rearing reliably occurred in the CS+ context than in the CS-context. Second, after 45 stimulations, all of the rats chose the CS- context over the CS+ context in a conditioned place preference test. Third, when the rats were finally stimulated in the CS- context, their motor seizures were less severe: Latencies were longer, motor seizures were shorter, convulsive patterns were of a lower class, and there were fewer falls.

Both eHealth and mHealth programs present a wide range of self-management strategies for bipolar disorder, although individuals seeking comprehensive interventions might be best served by eHealth programs, while those seeking more condensed and direct interventions might prefer mHealth programs. (PsycINFO Database Record

No abstract

Background Self-management is increasingly recognized as an important method through which individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) may cope with symptoms and improve quality of life. Digital health technologies have strong potential as a method to support the application of evidence-informed self-management strategies in BD. Little is known, however, about how to most effectively maximize user engagement with digital platforms. Objective The aims of this study were (1) to create an innovative Web-based Bipolar Wellness Centre, (2) to conduct a mixed-methods (ie, quantitative and qualitative) evaluation to assess the impact of different sorts of engagement (ie, knowledge translation [KT]), and (3) to support engagement with the self-management information in the Bipolar Wellness Centre. Methods The project was implemented in 2 phases. In phase 1, community-based participatory research and user-centered design methods were used to develop a website (Bipolar Wellness Centre) housing evidence-informed tools and strategies for self-management of BD. In phase 2, a mixed-methods evaluation was conducted to explore the potential impact of 4 KT strategies (Web-based webinars, Web-based videos, Web-based one-to-one Living Library peer support, and in-person workshops). Quantitative assessments occurred at 2 time points—preintervention and 3 weeks postintervention. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a subsample of participants for the qualitative interviews, ensuring each KT modality was represented, and interviews occurred approximately 3 weeks postintervention. Results A total of 94 participants were included in the quantitative analysis. Responses to evaluative questions about engagement were broadly positive. When averaged across the 4 KT strategies, significant improvements were observed on the Bipolar Recovery Questionnaire (F1,77=5.887; P=.02) and Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder (F1,77=8.212; P=.005). Nonsignificant improvements in positive affect and negative affect were also observed. The sole difference that emerged between KT strategies related to the Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy measure, which decreased after participation in the webinar and video arms but increased after the Living Library and workshop arms. A subsample of 43 participants was included in the qualitative analyses, with the majority of participants describing positive experiences with the 4 KT strategies; peer contact was emphasized as a benefit across all strategies. Infrequent negative experiences were reported in relation to the webinar and video strategies, and included technical difficulties, the academic tone of webinars, and feeling unable to relate to the actor in the videos. Conclusions This study adds incremental evidence to a growing literature that suggests digital health technologies can provide effective support for self-management for people with BD. The finding that KT strategies could differentially impact chronic disease self-efficacy (hypothesized as being a product of differences in degree of peer contact) warrants further exploration. Implications of the findings for the development of evidence-informed apps for BD are discussed in this paper.

The synapses formed by the mossy fiber (MF) axons of hippocampal dentate gyrus granule neurons onto CA3 pyramidal neurons exhibit an intriguing form of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity that is induced and expressed presynaptically. In contrast to most other CNS synapses, long-term potentiation (LTP) at the MF-CA3 synapse is readily induced even during blockade of postsynaptic glutamate receptors. Furthermore, blocking voltage-gated Ca 2ϩ channels prevents MF-LTP, supporting an involvement of presynaptic Ca 2ϩ signaling via voltage-gated Ca 2ϩ channels in MF-LTP induction. We examined the contribution of activity in both dentate granule cell somata and MF terminals to MF-LTP. We found that the induction of stable MF-LTP requires tetanization-induced action potentials not only at MF boutons, but also at dentate granule cell somata. Similarly, blocking Ca 2ϩ influx via voltage-gated Ca 2ϩ channels only at the granule cell soma was sufficient to disrupt MF-LTP. Finally, blocking protein synthesis or blocking fast axonal transport mechanisms via disruption of axonal tubulin filaments resulted in decremental MF-LTP.Collectively, these data suggest that-in addition to Ca 2ϩ influx at the MF terminals-induction of MF synaptic plasticity requires action potential-dependent Ca 2ϩ signaling at granule cell somata, protein synthesis, and fast axonal transport along MFs. A parsimonious interpretation of these results is that somatic activity triggers protein synthesis at the soma; newly synthesized proteins are then transported to MF terminals, where they contribute to the stabilization of MF-LTP. Finally, the present data imply that synaptic plasticity at the MF-CA3 synapse can be affected by local modulation of somatic and presynaptic Ca 2ϩ channel activity.