The effect of supraphysiological dose of nandrolone decanoate administration on the inflammatory, neurotrophin and behavioral response in adult and old male mice.

This study examined the effect of 6 weeks of supraphysiological nandrolone decanoate (ND) administration in adult mice (7 months) on cognitive function and neuroinflammation during aging. Male C57BL/6 mice were randomized into ND (10 mg·kg-1·wk-1) or control (CTL) groups. Half of the mice were tested at a young (Y) age (ND-Y and CTL-Y), 1 week following final ND administration, while the remaining mice were tested at 16 months (O) (ND-O and CTL-O). Learning and memory were better in young mice compared to older mice, regardless of treatment. ND-O displayed decreased anxiety as compared to all other groups. TNFα and IL1ß expression were higher in older mice, regardless of treatment. ND administration in young mice appeared to attenuate the neuroinflammatory response in aging mice as evidenced by decreased COX2, IL-4 and increased IL-10 expression in ND-O compared to CTL-O. BDNF AR and ER expression increased in ND-O compared to CTL-O. Results of the study indicated that supraphysiological ND administration had no negative effect on learning and memory but may attenuate anxiety in older mice. In addition, ND administration in young adult mice may attenuate the inflammatory response during aging, which may be related to elevations in both AR and ER expression.

Perspective effects in nondeontic versions of the Wason selection task.

Perspective effects in the Wason four-card selection task occur when people choose mutually exclusive sets of cards depending on the perspective they adopt when making their choice. Previous demonstrations of perspective effects have been limited to deontic contexts--that is, problem contexts that involve social duty, like permissions and obligations. In three experiments, we demonstrate perspective effects in nondeontic contexts, including a context much like the original one employed by Wason (1966, 1968). We suggest that perspective effects arise whenever the task uses a rule that can be interpreted biconditionally and different perspectives elicit different counterexamples that match the predicted choice sets. This view is consistent with domain-general theories but not with domain-specific theories of deontic reasoning--for example, pragmatic reasoning schemas and social contract theory--that cannot explain perspective effects in nondeontic contexts.

A threatening intellectual environment: why females are susceptible to experiencing problem-solving deficits in the presence of males.

Does placing females in environments in which they have contact with males cause deficits in their problem-solving performance? Is a situational cue, such as gender composition, sufficient for creating a threatening intellectual environment for females--an environment that elicits performance-impinging stereotypes? Two studies explored these questions. Participants completed a difficult math or verbal test in 3-person groups, each of which included 2 additional people of the same sex as the participant (same-sex condition) or of the opposite sex (minority condition). Female participants in the minority condition experienced performance deficits in the math test only, whereas males performed equally well on the math test in the two conditions. Further investigation showed that females' deficits were proportional to the number of males in their group. Even females who were placed in a mixed-sex majority condition (2 females and 1 male) experienced moderate but significant deficits. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of distinctiveness, stereotype threat, and tokenism.