Masticatory hypofunction effects induced by BTXA injection of hippocampal neurons in developing rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In clinical practice, malocclusion is often encountered during the period of growth and development of individuals. In addition to nutritional imbalance, some studies have found that mastication affects learning and memory ability. Tooth loss and masticatory hypofunction have been suggested as risk factors of Alzheimer disease. However, relatively little research has been done in developing animals. The present study evaluated the relationship between masticatory hypofunction and neuropathological changes of the hippocampus in developing rats. DESIGN: Four-week-old Wistar rats were randomly divided into saline-injected and botulinum toxin type A (BTXA)-injected groups. After an experiment period of 4 weeks, the rats were sacrificed for evaluation of neuropathological changes in the hippocampus through Nissl staining and phosphorylated cyclic AMP (cAMP) response element binding protein (CREB) immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Nissl staining revealed a significant reduction in the density of neurons in the BTXA-injected rats. The BTXA-injected rats exhibited a decreased level of CREB phosphorylation. The degree of p-CREB immunoreactivity differed significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The BTXA-injected rats exhibited a reduction in neuron density and phosphorylated CREB, indicating that mastication might influence the learning and memory ability during the growth period. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that malocclusion be corrected as soon as possible during growth and development.

[Effects of Different Genres of Music on the Psycho-Physiological Responses of Undergraduates].

BACKGROUND: Undergraduate students face tremendous stressors from learning, interpersonal relationships, and life. Stress may cause adaptation exhaustion and stress-related disorders. While the results of recent clinical studies indicate that music interventions may alleviate stress, there is a dearth of research exploring the discrete effects of various genres of music on psycho-physiological status. PURPOSE: To explore the effects of listening to different genres of music on the psycho-physiological responses of undergraduates. METHODS: A one-group, pretest-posttest design was used. A total of 122 undergraduates were assigned to the following four music subgroups according to their musical preference: joyful, tense, sad, and peaceful. Students in each subgroup listened to the self-selected music for 15 minutes during the experiment. A physiological data acquisition systems, the State Anxiety Inventory, and the Visual Analogue Scale for anxiety and depression were used to measure the psycho-physiological responses of participants before, during, and after music listening. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0. RESULTS: Results: Depression significantly decreased in the peaceful music group compared to the sad music group after the intervention. Further, significant differences in heart rate variability were identified during the intervention among the groups. The change in low frequency (LF) in the joyful music group was lower than the other three groups; the change in high frequency (HF) in the peaceful music group was lower than in the tension and joyful music groups; and the change in LF/HF in the peaceful music group was lower than in the sad and joyful music groups. Additionally, the subsamples with high state anxiety experienced more change in HF while listening to tense music than to peaceful music, reflecting an upward trend after listening for 10 minutes. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings indicate that listening to different genres of music induces different psycho-physiological responses. In the present study, participants with high-state anxiety registered elevated parasympathetic activity after listening to 10 minutes of tense and sad music. Simultaneous listening effects were detected only in joyful and peaceful music, which reduced subjective anxiety and depression. The results of the present study advocate that music interveners and clinical care providers select joyful, peaceful, and tense music to help alleviate the anxiety and negative emotions of their patients. Furthermore, the psycho-physiological changes of these patients should be assessed after listening to this music.

[The application of relaxation techniques and biofeedback to an outpatient with depression disorder: a nurse's experience].

This paper reports on a nurse's experience helping alleviate psychosomatic symptoms in a psychiatric outpatient suffering from depression. It was found that the OPD patient had been suffering from depression as well as long-time tension and pain. Between April 10th and July 24th, 2008, the author employed holistic nursing assessment and collected data through both observation and interview. Three major care problems were identified, including ineffective individual coping, chronic pain, and sleep disturbance. Focusing nursing care on relaxation techniques and biofeedback, the author discussed the problems with the patient and then implemented relaxation training and biofeedback training sessions as well as nursing care plans, which averaged 45~60 minutes per time for 8 times. Sessions included interviews, relaxation techniques (e.g., progressive muscular relaxation, meditative relaxation, meditation, music and abdominal breathing) and visual feedback measured by a biofeedback device with a thermistor sensor. During sessions, the patient was clearly motivated to change and participated actively. Furthermore, the patient not only became gradually aware of both the inner feeling of relaxation and etiology of psychosomatic symptoms, but also learned relaxation strategies for coping with life stressors. After therapy, the patient's self-control over relaxation had improved considerably and care problems were resolved satisfactorily. Also, the patient could increasingly incorporate relaxation into daily life routines.