Adolescent Ethanol Exposure Alters Cholinergic Function and Apical Dendritic Branching Within the Orbital Frontal Cortex.

During adolescence, heavy binge-like ethanol consumption can lead to frontocortical structural and functional impairments. These impairments are likely driven by adolescence being a critical time point for maturation of brain regions associated with higher-order cognitive functioning. Rodent models of heavy binge-like ethanol exposure show consistent disruptions to the typical development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). All deep cortical layers receive cholinergic projections that originate from the Nucleus basalis of Meynert (NbM) complex. These cholinergic projections are highly involved in learning, memory, and attention. Adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure (AIE) induces cholinergic dysfunction as a result of an epigenetic suppression of the genes that drive the cholinergic phenotype. The current study used a model of AIE to assess structural and functional changes to the frontal cortex and NbM following binge-like ethanol exposure in adolescence. Western blot analysis revealed long-term disruptions of the cholinergic circuit following AIE: choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) was suppressed in the NbM and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) was suppressed in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In vivo microdialysis for acetylcholine efflux during a spatial memory task determined changes in cholinergic modulation within the PFC following AIE. However, AIE spared performance on the spatial memory task and on an operant reversal task. In a second study, Golgi-Cox staining determined that AIE increased apical dendritic complexity in the OFC, with sex influencing whether the increase in branching occurred near or away from the soma. Spine density or maturity was not affected, likely compensating for a disruption in neurotransmitter function following AIE.

Organ donation in the African-American population: a fresh perspective with a simple solution.

Organ transplantation is seriously limited by a lack of available organs. This article focuses on the more pronounced lack of organ donation within the African-American population and discusses the consequences of this trend. The reasons for this population's continued reluctance to donate organs are reviewed in detail and current efforts to improve donation rates are outlined. The solution proposed in this article is to acknowledge and use resources already active in the community in efforts to increase organ donation rates within the African-American population. Social workers, teachers, religious leaders, and transplant donors, recipients, and their families would all provide a crucial addition to the multidisciplinary team already involved with organ donation efforts.

The cardiac patient and exercise: a sociobehavioral analysis.

Health beliefs (health motivation, perceptions of illness, perceptions of resusceptibility, efficacy of treatment, barriers to treatment, and cues to taking health-related action), HLOC, patient satisfaction, social support, and self-motivation were studied in a group of cardiac patients (N = 41; 39 men and two women) who initiated and completed a phase II outpatient cardiac exercise program. Twenty-three had MI and 18 had CABG. They ranged in age from 34 to 75 years with a mean age of 53 1/2 years. Regarding health beliefs, the only subscales not reflecting the tendency toward compliant behavior were general health motivation and cues to taking health-related action. Scores on the remaining measures revealed a tendency for subjects to be externally controlled, satisfied with the program and staff, recipients of social support, and self-motivated. Although it was anticipated that patients with MI would differ significantly from patients who had CABG regarding these measures, this was not found to be true. A correlation matrix revealed that the most remarkable relationships were those between perceptions of severity of illness and general health motivation; HLOC and general health motivation; perceptions of severity and resusceptibility; cues to taking health-related action and satisfaction with the program staff; and satisfaction with the program and the program staff. Interestingly, perceptions of resusceptibility were negatively related to social support and self-motivation.