Relación entre nivel académico y metas de socialización en madres de niños preescolares / Relationship between academic level and socialization goals in mothers of preschoolers

En esta investigación se analizó cómo el nivel académico de madres de niños en edad preescolar se relaciona con sus metas de socialización. Utilizando una metodología mixta se aplicaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a 172 madres de niños entre 3 y 4 años y medio de edad que viven en Bogotá y varios municipios de la zona cundiboyacense. Las entrevistas fueron sometidas a análisis de contenido de tipo categorial para calcular la frecuencia con que se mencionaron distintas metas de socialización y examinar si hubo una relación significativa entre el nivel de formación académica de las madres y su preferencia por metas de socialización asociadas a la independencia o la interdependencia. Los resultados indican que a mayor nivel académico, mayor es el énfasis en metas de socialización asociadas a la independencia.

This research examined how academic level of mothers of preschoolers relates to their socialization goals. Using a mixed methodology, structured interviews were applied to 172 mothers of children between 3 and 4 1/2 years old, who lived in Bogotá and several municipalities of the Cundinamarca-Boyacá area. The interviews were analyzed through categorical content analysis to calculate the frequency with which different socialization goals were mentioned, and to examine whether there was a significant relationship between the level of education of mothers and their preference for socialization goals associated with independence and / or interdependence. The results indicate that the higher the educational level, the greater the emphasis on socialization goals associated with independence.

Chronic stress in adulthood followed by intermittent stress impairs spatial memory and the survival of newborn hippocampal cells in aging animals: prevention by FGL, a peptide mimetic of neural cell adhesion molecule.

In this study, we examined whether chronic stress in adulthood can exert long-term effects on spatial-cognitive abilities and on the survival of newborn hippocampal cells in aging animals. Male Wistar rats were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress at midlife (12 months old) and then reexposed each week to a stress stimulus. When evaluated in the water maze at the early stages of aging (18 months old), chronic unpredictable stress accelerated spatial-cognitive decline, an effect that was accompanied by a reduction in the survival of newborn cells and in the number of adult granular cells in the hippocampus. Interestingly, spatial-memory performance in the Morris water maze was positively correlated with the number of newborn cells that survived in the dentate gyrus: better spatial memory in the water maze was associated with more 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells. Administration of FGL, a peptide mimetic of neural cell adhesion molecule, during the 4 weeks of continuous stress not only prevented the deleterious effects of chronic stress on spatial memory, but also reduced the survival of the newly generated hippocampal cells in aging animals. FGL treatment did not, however, prevent the decrease in the total number of granular neurons that resulted from prolonged exposure to stress. These findings suggest that the development of new drugs that mimic neural cell adhesion molecule activity might be of therapeutic relevance to treat stress-induced cognitive impairment.

The kappa-opioid receptor is involved in the stimulating effect of nicotine on adrenocortical activity but not in nicotine induced anxiety.

The kappa (kappa) opioid system appears to interact with nicotine in the modulation of locomotion and addiction related processes. In this study we have investigated the possible implication of the kappa-opioid system in the effects of nicotine on anxiety and adrenocortical activity. In two different experiments, we analysed the possible interaction between nicotine (0.5 mg/kg i.p.) and either the kappa-opioid receptor antagonist nor-binaltorphimine (5 mg/kg i.p.) or the kappa-opioid receptor agonist U50,488H (1 mg/kg s.c.). Behavioural and endocrine experiments were performed in different groups of animals. Animals were exposed to the holeboard immediately followed by the plus-maze. Serum corticosterone levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Nicotine induced an anxiogenic-like effect in the plus-maze and a significant decrease of holeboard activity. The anxiogenic-like effect in the plus-maze was not modified by any of the kappa-opioid receptor ligands. Nicotine also induced a significant increase in the corticosterone levels, and the kappa antagonist, which did not exert any effect per se, antagonised this effect. The kappa-agonist U50,488H induced a significant increase in corticosterone concentration when administered alone. We provide the first evidence for the involvement of the kappa-opioid receptor in the stimulatory effect of nicotine on adrenocortical activity.

Behavioral, endocrine and immunological characteristics of a murine model of premature aging.

We have previously shown that differences in life span among members of Swiss mouse populations appear to be related to their exploration of a T-maze, with a slow exploration ('slow mice') being linked to alteration of spontaneous behavior and monoaminergic systems, impaired immune function and shorter life span. In general these traits resemble some of the characteristics of chronologically old animals. Thus, we proposed the 'slow mice' as a model of prematurely aging mice (PAM). Now, we have compared female PAM with non-prematurely aging mice (NPAM) as regards a number of behavioral, endocrine and immunological parameters which were studied under both basal and stress conditions. In the present study the animals were chronologically younger than those used in our previous work. When compared to NPAM, the PAM showed increased anxiogenic-like responses in the plus-maze, increased basal corticosterone levels and decreased corticosterone responses to stress. The PAM also showed a decreased natural killer activity as well as decreased lymphoproliferative responses to mitogens. Moreover, the mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative responses of the PAM appeared to be more susceptible to stress. The data indicate that certain characteristics of the PAM are already present in animals of very young chronological age and provide new information for a more complete characterization of the PAM from a neuroimmunoendocrine viewpoint.

Functional responses to the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 in neonatal rats of both genders: influence of weaning.

We have studied behavioural, biochemical and endocrine responses to the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 (WIN) in neonatal rats, as well as the effects of weaning on such responses. We used preweanling rats (20 days of age), 25-day-old weaned rats (weaning at Day 22) and 25-day-old nonweaned rats of both sexes. The behavioural effects of WIN were assessed in the nociceptive tail immersion test and in the open field. We also analysed the effect of weaning on corticosterone responses to WIN (radioimmunoassay) as well as on WIN-stimulated [35S] GTPgammaS binding in periaqueductal grey (PAG) and striatum. The cannabinoid agonist induced a modest increase in pain thresholds, whereas the effect of the drug on open-field activity, particularly on vertical activity, was much more marked. The weaning process appeared to reduce the baseline nociceptive latencies of the female rats. No significant effect of weaning on the behavioural responses to WIN was found. However, the group of weaned females (but not males) showed a significantly reduced WIN-stimulated [35S] GTPgammaS binding in the striatum. The cannabinoid agonist significantly increased the corticosterone levels of 25-day-old rats with the effect being more marked in weaned than in nonweaned animals. The results suggest that the weaning process might produce some sexually dimorphic developmental changes in CB1 receptor function.