The time-limited, short-term use of very low dosages of sublingual buprenorphine was associated with decreased suicidal ideation in severely suicidal patients without substance abuse. Further research is needed to establish the efficacy, safety, dosing, and appropriate patient populations for this experimental treatment.

To assess the relationship between two phenotypes in an extremely well-characterized population of personality disorder patients-impulsive aggression and prolactin response to fenfluramine-and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) genotype, TPH genotype (at an intronic polymorphic site) and prolactin response to fenfluramine were assessed in 40 Caucasian patients with personality disorder. Impulsive aggression was assessed by using the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI). Twenty-one male patients with the "LL" genotype had higher BDHI scores than men with the "UL" or the "UU" genotype. No relationship between genotype and prolactin response to fenfluramine was found. It was concluded that impulsive-aggressive behavior in male personality disorder patients may be associated with the TPH genotype.

Cellular experiments have suggested that during dassical conditioning of the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex ofAplysia, adenylyl cyclase may serve as a molecular site of convergence for Ca2+ and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT), the cellular representations of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (CS and US). We explored the possible molecular basis of the behavioral requirement that the CS and US be paired within a narrow time window and in the appropriate order. To examine the temporal interactions of brief pulses of Ca2+ and 5-HT in stimulating Aplysia neural cyclase, we used a perfused-membrane cyclase assay. When briefpulses of Ca2W and 5-HT were paired, cyclase activation depended upon the sequence of the pulses: peak cyclase activation was greater when the Ca2+ pulse iediately preceded the 5-HT pulse. Eamination of the rising phase of 5-HT stimulation suggested that a Ca+ prepulse might accelerate the onset of activation by 5-HT, without affecting the final level of activation achieved with prolonged 5-HT exposure. The observed interactions between Ca2+ and transmitter in activating cyclase could contribute importantly to the temporal requirements of conditioning for CS-US pairing.

Mammalian brains contain at least 7 primal emotional systems - SEEKING, RAGE, FEAR, LUST, CARE, PANIC and PLAY (capitalization reflects a proposed primary-process terminology, to minimize semantic confusions and mereological fallacies). These systems help organisms feel affectively balanced (e.g. euthymic) and unbalanced (e.g. depressive, irritable, manic), providing novel insights for understanding human psychopathologies. Three systems are especially important for understanding depression: The separation distress (PANIC) system mediates the psychic pain of separation distress (i.e. excessive sadness and grief), which can be counteracted by minimizing PANIC arousals (as with low-dose opioids). Depressive dysphoria also arises from reduced brain reward-seeking and related play urges (namely diminished enthusiasm (SEEKING) and joyful exuberance (PLAY) which promote sustained amotivational states). We describe how an understanding of these fundamental emotional circuits can promote the development of novel antidepressive therapeutics - (i) low-dose buprenorphine to counteract depression and suicidal ideation emanating from too much psychic pain (PANIC overarousal), (ii) direct stimulation of the SEEKING system to counteract amotivational dysphoria, and (iii) the discovery and initial clinical testing of social-joy-promoting molecules derived from the analysis of the PLAY system.

The "Behavioural Profiling" approach presented here is of importance to understanding gender differences in the aetiology of predisposition to stress-related disorders, and of gender symptomatology differences in stress-related disorders.

No abstract

An important recent insight in a number of neurobiological systems is that during learning, individual dually regulated proteins with associative properties function as critical sites of stimulus convergence.During conditioning in Aplysia, the Ca2+/calmodulin-sensitive adenylyl cyclase (AC) in mechanosensory neurons serves as a molecular site of interaction between Ca 2 § and serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)]mtwo signals that represent the CS and US in these cells. Conditioning requires that the CS and US be paired within a narrow time window and in the appropriate sequence. AC shows an analogous sequence preference: It is more effectively activated when a pulse of Ca 2 § precedes a pulse of 5-HT than when the 5-HT precedes Ca z § One mechanism that contributes to this sequence preference is that Ca2+/calmodulin binding to AC accelerates the rate of AC activation by receptor-Gs. We have identified two additional properties of AC activation that would cause pairing with Ca 2 § 1Corresponding author.preceding 5-HT to be more effective than simultaneous pairing or pairing with the reciprocal sequence: (1) Activation of

Recent advances in the cognitive, affective and social neurosciences have enabled these fields to study aspects of the mind that are central to psychoanalysis. These developments raise a number of possibilities for psychoanalysis. Can it engage the neurosciences in a productive and mutually enriching dialogue without compromising its own integrity and unique perspective? While many analysts welcome interdisciplinary exchanges with the neurosciences, termed neuropsychoanalysis, some have voiced concerns about their potentially deleterious effects on psychoanalytic theory and practice. In this paper we outline the development and aims of neuropsychoanalysis, and consider its reception in psychoanalysis and in the neurosciences. We then discuss some of the concerns raised within psychoanalysis, with particular emphasis on the epistemological foundations of neuropsychoanalysis. While this paper does not attempt to fully address the clinical applications of neuropsychoanalysis, we offer and discuss a brief case illustration in order to demonstrate that neuroscientific research findings can be used to enrich our models of the mind in ways that, in turn, may influence how analysts work with their patients. We will conclude that neuropsychoanalysis is grounded in the history of psychoanalysis, that it is part of the psychoanalytic worldview, and that it is necessary, albeit not sufficient, for the future viability of psychoanalysis.