Search

In this research, a prepulse inhibition task was carried out in which subjects were treated with a psychostimulant, methylphenidate (MPH), acutely and chronically in a population of Wistar rats. The dataset contains all the data from a sample of 56 Wistar rats (females and males). These data include the prepulses, pulses and phase of the estrous cycle in which the females were in the different prepulse inhibition sessions.

Background: The utilization of methylphenidate (MPH) is experiencing a notable surge within the adult population. This growth can be attributed to two key factors: its recreational and cognitive enhancement purposes, as well as the rising prevalence of ADHD diagnoses within this population. This study examined acute and chronic oral MPH effects on attention in male and female Wistar rats. To this end, we used a prepulse inhibition (PPI) task, which is widely used to assess psychoactive drug effects in both humans and rodents. This task allowed us to evaluate changes in attention by analyzing sensorimotor gating associated with stimulus selection process. Methods: Animals were administered a clinically relevant dose of MPH (5 mg/kg) daily for seven days. The estrous cycle phases of the female rats were measured during behavioral sessions. The PPI task was conducted 20 min after drug administration on day 1 (acute), day 7 (chronic), and 48 h post-treatment. Results: Results indicated that both acute and chronic MPH treatment impaired PPI expression in male rats, but not in female rats, regardless of their estrous cycle phase. Furthermore, a differential effect of chronic MPH treatment on the PPI task was found in male rats. Specifically, on the seventh treatment day, the PPI effect was observed when animals undertook the PPI task for the first time but was impaired in those animals in which the initial PPI session occurred under the acute influence of the drug (day 1). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the impact of MPH on sensorimotor gating responses may vary based on sex and task experience, possibly leading to state-dependent effects in healthy individuals.

Psychological memory tests have traditionally relied on paper-based methods. However, the emergence of virtual reality tools, including adaptations of animal lab tests, has opened up new possibilities for evaluating and enhancing attention and memory processes. The impact of virtual environments on spatial memory remains a topic of ongoing debate. To contribute to this discussion, we conducted a comprehensive study with two primary objectives. Firstly, we aimed to develop a virtual reality tool that could effectively assess search strategies in gamers within virtual environments. To achieve this, we designed a virtual water maze inspired by those used in animal research. Secondly, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving participants to analyze how spatial memory strategies evolve in a virtual environment with increasing gaming experience. The results revealed that participants with more gaming experience exhibited faster and more precise learning in the virtual water maze, along with improved search strategies. Additionally, our study allowed for the evaluation of our software and enabled us to track changes in the efficacy of learning strategies. Overall, this study emphasizes the potential of virtual environments for both evaluation and cognitive stimulation purposes

Frustration tolerance is a skill related to emotional regulation processes and is important insofar as it affects people's social relationships and even health. Low levels of frustration tolerance in children have been associated with a greater number of externalizing symptoms such as aggression or anger. Despite its importance, there are a limited number of tasks that attempt to evaluate this construct objectively. Therefore, the aim of our work was the design of a computerized task, programmed as a videogame in order to assess frustration tolerance in children from 6 to 10 years old. The results obtained showed that the test had a good internal consistency and could be useful as an objective measure of frustration tolerance in children. In line with the literature, our data have shown no influence of gender or laterality of participants during the task and only 7% of the frustration measure could be explained by the influence of participants' age. On the other hand, the performance of the participants during the task has allowed us to classify them into six groups according to their performance, namely Low/High Frustration, Low/High Performance and Low/High Reaction Time. This test would permit to compare participants' performance with their reference group but also with their own results, facilitating the obtention of an objective assessment of frustration tolerance in young children.

An attention disturbance is a problem that affects many school-aged children. The assessment in children is usually report-based, and as a result, controversy surrounds the diagnosis. To solve this issue, the aim of this study was to develop a new tool to detect possible attention-related problems and impulsive behavior in 4- and 5-year-old children. This tool was developed as an Android app and could be used to provide an early indicator of possible future development problems. A sample of 103 children (48 girls and 55 boys) was randomly selected from primary schools and assessed by Pinky-Piggy, a videogame application based on a classical paradigm in experimental psychology. Data from this app were compared with a Child Neuropsychological Maturity Questionnaire. The subjects displayed different patterns of response to play a very simple game called Pinky-Piggy. The application discriminated between high-responders and low responders. The results showed a relationship between these two profiles and the levels of attention and neurodevelopment in each group. The tool could identify different types of profiles and demonstrated its potential to evaluate endophenotypes to predict attentional problems related to impulsive behavior. Additionally, it required less time and fewer tests to identify possible at-risk populations, thus assisting in clinical diagnosis.

Anxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder worldwide, causing a substantial economic burden due to the associated healthcare costs. Given that commercial anxiolytic treatments may cause important side effects and have medical restrictions for prescription and high costs, the search for new natural and safer treatments is gaining attention. Since lupin protein hydrolysate (LPH) has been shown to be safe and exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, key risk factors for the anxiety process and memory impairment, we evaluated in this study the potential effects of LPH on anxiety and spatial memory in a Western diet (WD)-induced anxiety model in ApoE−/− mice. We showed that 20.86% of the 278 identified LPH peptides have biological activity related to anxiolytic/analgesic effects; the principal motifs found were the following: VPL, PGP, YL, and GQ. Moreover, 14 weeks of intragastrical LPH treatment (100 mg/kg) restored the WD-induced anxiety effects, reestablishing the anxiety levels observed in the standard diet (SD)-fed mice since they spent less time in the anxiety zones of the elevated plus maze (EPM). Furthermore, a significant increase in the number of head dips was recorded in LPH-treated mice, which indicates a greater exploration capacity and less fear due to lower levels of anxiety. Interestingly, the LPH group showed similar thigmotaxis, a well-established indicator of animal anxiety and fear, to the SD group, counteracting the WD effect. This is the first study to show that LPH treatment has anxiolytic effects, pointing to LPH as a potential component of future nutritional therapies in patients with anxiety.

Surprising violations of outcome expectancies have long been known to enhance the associability of Pavlovian cues; that is, the rate at which the cue enters into further associations. The adaptive value of such enhancements resides in promoting new learning in the face of uncertainty. However, it is unclear whether associability enhancements reflect increased associative plasticity within a particular behavior system, or whether they can facilitate learning between a cue and any arbitrary outcome, as suggested by attentional models of conditioning. Here, we show evidence consistent with the latter hypothesis. Violating the outcome expectancies generated by a cue in an appetitive setting (feeding behavior system) facilitated subsequent learning about the cue in an aversive setting (defense behavior system). In addition to shedding light on the nature of associability enhancements, our findings offer the neuroscientist a behavioral tool to dissociate their neural substrates from those of other, behavior system- or valence-specific changes. Moreover, our results present an opportunity to utilize associability enhancements to the advantage of counterconditioning procedures in therapeutic contexts.

Attentional biomarkers in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are difficult to detect using only behavioural testing. We explored whether attention measured by a low-cost EEG system might be helpful to detect a possible disorder at its earliest stages. The GokEvolution application was designed to train attention and to provide a measure to identify attentional problems in children early on. Attention changes registered with NeuroSky MindWave in combination with the CARAS-R psychological test were used to characterise the attentional profiles of 52 non-ADHD and 23 ADHD children aged 7 to 12 years old. The analyses revealed that the GokEvolution was valuable in measuring attention through its use of EEG–BCI technology. The ADHD group showed lower levels of attention and more variability in brain attentional responses when compared to the control group. The application was able to map the low attention profiles of the ADHD group when compared to the control group and could distinguish between participants who completed the task and those who did not. Therefore, this system could potentially be used in clinical settings as a screening tool for early detection of attentional traits in order to prevent their development.

Sacubitril/valsartán es un inhibidor combinado del enzima neprilisina y del receptor de la angiotensina II. Empleado en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca sistólica ha demostrado reducir la mortalidad cardiovascular y los ingresos hospitalarios en comparación con enalapril. Además, presenta un perfil de seguridad comparable. Sin embargo, su tolerancia en poblaciones reales es hasta el momento desconocida. El objetivo primario de este trabajo es perfilar la seguridad y tolerancia de sacubitril/valsartán al ser introducido en una población real hospitalizada y compararlo, en primer lugar, con los resultados del estudio Sacubitril/Valsartan Versus Enalapril on Effect on NT-pro BNP in Patients Stabilized From an Acute Heart Failure Episode (PIONEER-HF), y en segundo lugar con una cohorte no seleccionada de pacientes ambulatorios...

Sacubitril/valsartán es un inhibidor combinado del enzima neprilisina y del receptor de la angiotensina II. Empleado en pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca sistólica ha demostrado reducir la mortalidad cardiovascular y los ingresos hospitalarios en comparación con enalapril. Además, presenta un perfil de seguridad comparable. Sin embargo, su tolerancia en poblaciones reales es hasta el momento desconocida. El objetivo primario de este trabajo es perfilar la seguridad y tolerancia de sacubitril/valsartán al ser introducido en una población real hospitalizada y compararlo, en primer lugar, con los resultados del estudio Sacubitril/Valsartan Versus Enalapril on Effect on NT-pro BNP in Patients Stabilized From an Acute Heart Failure Episode (PIONEER-HF), y en segundo lugar con una cohorte no seleccionada de pacientes ambulatorios..., Sacubitril/valsartan is safe when initiated during hospitalization in a clinical trial setting. Its safety in real-life population is not stablished. We compared the initiation of sacubitril/valsartan during hospitalization in a non-selected population, in Sacubitril/Valsartan Versus Enalapril on Effect on NT-proBNP in the Patients Stabilized From an Acute Heart Failure Episode (PIONEER-HF) trial, and in non-selected outpatients. Methods. Multicentre registry including 527 patients: 100 were started on sacubitril/valsartan during hospitalization (19.0%) and 427 as outpatients (81.0%). Clinical, analytical, and echocardiographic variables, previous therapies, and the starting dose of sacubitril/valsartan and its modification or suspension were collected throughout the follow-up...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is characterized by a devastating and progressive loss of memory, is the principal neurodegenerative disease in the elderly population worldwide. As a consequence, AD patients present neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety, causing sleeping difficulty, irritability, agitation, or aggressiveness. Previous studies have demonstrated that a high-fat diet, in addition to exacerbating AD, aggravates anxiety. We have demonstrated that Lupinus angustifolius protein hydrolysates (LPHs) have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, key factors for AD and anxiety. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the potential effects of LPHs on spatial memory and anxiety of a preclinical model of AD. ApoE−/− mice fed with a western diet were intragastrically treated with LPHs (or a vehicle) for 14 weeks. Spatial memory and anxiety were then assessed through the Morris water maze and elevated plus maze, respectively. The results did not show significant differences in spatial memory between groups. However, a significant increase (p < 0.05) in time in open arms, center time, the number of crossings, and a reduction of anxiety behavior were observed in LPH-treated mice. This is the first study showing that an LPH treatment causes anxiolytic effects, pointing to LPHs as a potential component of future nutritional therapies.

The concept of ADHD has changed widely through the history of mental health classification manuals. In the past three decades, the number of ADHD diagnoses has hugely increased worldwide. One of the reasons to explain this fact could be the lack of precision, differentiation and adjust of the criteria and indicators of this disease. Research has detected as well, some subjectivity bias in the traditional assessment (based in questionnaires and behavioral scales), which is affecting to the precision in the diagnose and to the further adjustment to the treatment. In this regard, these diagnoses are based in symptoms but not in etiology of the disorder. Therefore, different disorders will share the same treatment, regardless etiology. A different approach is based on the study of vulnerable traits associated with impulsivity and attentional deficit. In a quantitative fashion; these traits could be used to define a specific endophenotype. This view would allow us a more precise medical/psychological assessment focus on patient along the life spam, avoiding a diagnostic based on the number of symptoms. Here, we discuss about the differences between traditional diagnosis scales and the possibilities to find endophenotypes in order to address a specific treatment.

Este proyecto de investigación nace de la problemática que se discute en la actualidad en relación a la definición, evaluación y diagnóstico del TDAH. Nuestro primer objetivo fue crear un conjunto de pruebas informatizadas para evaluar de forma objetiva los dominios que se suponen afectados en el trastorno, analizando las propiedades de las mismas en una muestra de estudiantes de primaria (N= 184). El segundo objetivo analizó la definición de los criterios e indicadores del trastorno según el DSM 5 mediante las respuestas a un cuestionario de un grupo de participantes (N= 259). Los resultados sobre las pruebas desarrolladas muestran que cuentan con propiedades psicométricas adecuadas y que podrían ser estandarizadas en una muestra representativa de la población en el futuro. Los resultados del cuestionario indican que los criterios diagnósticos actuales no son suficientemente precisos y están influidos por un sesgo de subjetividad que afecta a la evaluación del trastorno.

Estudios recientes apoyan la idea de que el procesamiento de un estímulo en la inhibición latente puede variar durante el curso de la pre-exposición. Los mecanismos atencionales controlados son importantes en las primeras etapas de la pre-exposición, mientras que en las etapas posteriores los animales podrían adoptar un procesamiento automático del estímulo. Esta diferenciación entre ambos tipos de procesamiento podría implicar la activación de diferentes sistemas neuronales. En el presente estudio analizamos si una lesión en el estriado dorso-lateral o en la corteza prefrontal medial presentaba efectos selectivos sobre el procesamiento del futuro estímulo condicionado (EC). También analizamos en estas regiones la expresión de una neurotrofina dependiente de actividad, BDNF, incluyendo al estriado dorso-medial. Con este objetivo, los animales recibieron diferentes cantidades de exposición al futuro EC. Los resultados mostraron que una lesión en la corteza prefrontal medial aumentó la inhibición latente en animales bajo pre-exposición limitada al EC, pero no tenía ningún efecto en animales con una preexposición prolongada al EC. Los niveles más altos de expresión de BDNF se registraron en esta estructura cuando los animales recibieron una pre-exposición limitada. En contraste, la lesión del estriado dorso-lateral produjo una disminución de la inhibición latente, pero solo en animales con una exposición prolongada al futuro EC. Los niveles más altos de la expresión de BDNF también se registraron cuando los animales recibieron una pre-exposición prolongada. Estos resultados sugieren que el estriado dorsal y la corteza prefrontal medial desempeñan papeles esenciales en procesos controlados y automáticos. Los procesos atencionales automáticos parecen estar dañados por una lesión en el estriado dorso-lateral y facilitados por una lesión en la corteza prefrontal.

El objetivo general del presente trabajo fue analizar el papel de la dopamina en la modulación atencional de los procesos de aprendizaje asociativo. Para el desarrollo de este objetivo realizamos 3 series experimentales. La primera serie experimental (Experimentos 1a, 1b y 1c) desarrolló un procedimiento conductual que nos permitió el análisis de la modulación de los efectos de incremento y decremento atencional sobre el condicionamiento del miedo. Para ello realizamos una adaptación de la tarea de condicionamiento serial desarrollada por Wilson et al. (1992). Mediante ésta analizamos los efectos del número de ensayos de entrenamiento que nos permitiera optimizar la expresión de los efectos de incremento y reducción de atención sobre el condicionamiento. En la segunda serie experimental (Experimentos 2a, 2b, 3a y 3b) analizamos el papel que desempeña los receptores de dopamina tipo D1 y D2 en estos procesos moduladores. Para ello, mediante la aplicación sistémica de fármacos bloqueamos los receptores D1 (SCH-23390) y D2 (Sulpiride) en distintas fases del procedimiento experimental. Este hecho nos permitió analizar la implicación de estos receptores en los procesos de codificación (fase de sorpresa) y en los procesos de recuperación (fase de prueba) durante las variaciones en la atención a un estímulo condicionado. El objetivo de la tercera serie experimental fue establecer si los procesos atencionales implicados en la tarea descrita anteriormente están alterados en modelos animales de la enfermedad de Parkinson (EP). Con este objetivo analizamos si la lesión bilateral de Sustancia Nigra pars compacta (SNpc) 6OHDA y LPS alteraban los procesos de aprendizaje relacionados con de incremento/reducción atencional sobre el estímulo condicionado. Los resultados mostraron una implicación diferencial de los receptores D1 y D2 sobre la modulación atencional del aprendizaje de condicionamiento. Concretamente, el bloqueo de los receptores D1 afectó a los procesos de incremento a, The aim of this thesis was to assess the role of dopamine in the attentional modulation of associative learning processes. To develop this aim we performed three different experimental approaches. Firstly, we assessed the modulation of increased and decreased attentional effects on the fear conditioning behaviour (Experiments 1a, 1b and 1c). We previously optimized the number of training trials to measure the expression of the attentional processing based on the serial conditioning task designed by Wilson et al. (1992). Secondly, we analysed the role of dopamine receptors in the modulation of attentional processes by selective inhibition of D1 and D2 receptors by SCH-23390 (D1 antagonist) and Sulpiride (D2 antagonist) in different phases of the experimental desing (Experiments 2a, 2b, 3a and 3b). These facts allowed us to analyse the role of these receptors in the adquisition processes (surprise phase) and in the recovery processes (test phase) during the variations in the attention to a conditioned stimulus. Finally, we determinated how the attentional processes described above could be involved in Parkinson's disease (PD) (Experiment 4). We used two different animal models of PD by bilateral intranigral injection of 6-OHDA (neurotoxic model) or LPS (inflammatory model), which induced a dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Substance Nigra pars compacta (SNpc). We assessed whether both models showed similar or different changes in the learning process by increasing and/or decreasing the attention on the conditioned stimulus. Results showed that D1 and D2 receptors played different roles in the attentional modulation of conditioning learning. Specifically, D1 inhibition affected both attentional enhancement processes during coding phase (but not recovery) and decreased attentional processes during the test phase. However, D2 inhibition affected to attentional enhancement processes during both coding and recovery phase. In this line, animal models of Parkinson's disease

The Educational Research Congress in Chihuahua (CIECH) has been taken as the object of study in this article. First, some aspects about academic communities in the educational research field are pointed out. Afterwards, some Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques are used in order to set the relationships among authors according to their co-authorships and the interinstitutional relationships based on the institutional affiliation of authors. The actors with the most degree of centrality in the authors’ network, the most intense co-authorships’ relations and the principal interinstitutional links are shown. Finally, a strain between interinstitutional and inbreed links (co-authorship among authors members of the same institutions) is observed, which raises the Clark’s idea of a permanent straining between centrifugal and centripetal forces., El artículo hace del Congreso de Investigación Educativa en Chihuahua (CIECH) su objeto de estudio. En primer lugar, se apuntan algunos aspectos sobre comunidades académicas en el campo de la investigación educativa (IE). Posteriormente, se utilizan técnicas del análisis de redes sociales (ARS) para establecer las relaciones entre autores a partir de sus coautorías y las relaciones interinstitucionales a que da lugar su afiliación institucional. Se muestran los actores con mayor grado de centralidad en la red de autores, las relaciones de coautoría más intensas y los principales vínculos interinstitucionales. Finalmente, se constata una tensión entre estos últimos y los lazos endogámicos (coautoría entre autores adscritos a la misma institución), lo que plantea la idea de que las comunidades académicas de la IE del estado de Chihuahua están permanentemente tensionadas entre dinámicas centrífugas y centrípetas referidas por Burton Clark.

One of the most important events in Mexico’s educational research is the National Congress of Educational Research where, since 2011, the National Meeting of Graduate Students (ENEPE) has taken place. Following a brief review of the literature on training for educational research and academic congresses, we suggest that analyzing ENEPE will contribute relevant information on training for research. For this reason, we studied the last two publications of the meeting (2015 y 2017), focusing on the process of evaluating papers, the profile of speakers, and the revision of submissions that were not accepted. The results show that the students with the best results are affiliated with a small set of institutions, although “emerging” institutions are also present. In conclusion, attention is drawn to various challenges that ENEPE faces with respect to training educational researchers., Uno de los eventos más importantes para la investigación educativa mexicana es el Congreso Nacional de Investigación Educativa, en el que, desde 2011, tiene lugar el Encuentro Nacional de Estudiantes de Posgrado (ENEPE). Tras una breve revisión de la literatura en torno a la formación para la investigación educativa y los congresos académicos, planteamos que el análisis del ENEPE aporta información relevante sobre la formación para la investigación. Para ello abordamos las últimas dos ediciones del encuentro (2015 y 2017) a partir del proceso de dictaminación, el perfil de sus ponentes y la revisión de las contribuciones no aceptadas. Se constata que los estudiantes con mejores resultados se afilian a un pequeño conjunto de instituciones, aunque también se advierten instituciones “emergentes”. Por último, se apuntan algunos retos del ENEPE en lo que respecta a la formación de investigadores educativos.

Recent studies support the idea that stimulus processing in latent inhibition can vary during the course of preexposure. Controlled attentional mechanisms are said to be important in the early stages of preexposure, while in later stages animals adopt automatic processing of the stimulus to be used for conditioning. Given this distinction, it is possible that both types of processing are governed by different neural systems, affecting differentially the retrieval of information about the stimulus. In the present study we tested if a lesion to the dorso-lateral striatum or to the medial prefrontal cortex has a selective effect on exposure to the future conditioned stimulus (CS). With this aim, animals received different amounts of exposure to the future CS. The results showed that a lesion to the medial prefrontal cortex enhanced latent inhibition in animals receiving limited preexposure to the CS, but had no effect in animals receiving extended preexposure to the CS. The lesion of the dorso-lateral striatum produced a decrease in latent inhibition, but only in animals with an extended exposure to the future conditioned stimulus. These results suggest that the dorsal striatum and medial prefrontal cortex play essential roles in controlled and automatic processes. Automatic attentional processes appear to be impaired by a lesion to the dorso-lateral striatum and facilitated by a lesion to the prefrontal cortex.

Nuestros sentidos sensoriales reciben constantemente un sinfín de estímulos. Para poder regularizar el procesamiento de los mismos existen mecanismos de filtrado responsables de cribar la información más apropiada para cada situación. Esta función se encuentra, a su vez, modulada por factores básicos -auditivos, emocionales y asociativoscapaces de alterar ese filtrado. A lo largo de esta tesis estudiamos el fenómeno de la Inhibición Prepulso (IPP), mecanismo encargado de modular la respuesta refleja de sobresalto, tanto en humanos como en ratas. Generar una respuesta de sobresalto es sencillo, basta con presentar un sonido de alta intensidad para producir una contracción muscular y un fuerte parpadeo. Este sonido origina un estado de alerta para facilitar las acciones de huir o luchar en caso de que fuera necesario. Pero, si el sonido de alta intensidad va precedido por otro estímulo de menor magnitud, la respuesta de sobresalto disminuye. Esta reducción se debe a mecanismos de filtrado que impiden que se procese el estímulo de mayor intensidad hasta no haber completado el procesamiento del estímulo que le precede. Es a lo que llamamos IPP. Este fenómeno ha suscitado el interés de la comunidad neurocientífica puesto que se encuentra mermado en patologías psiquiátricas como la esquizofrenia o el trastorno bipolar, entre otros. Este déficit parece deberse a la hiperactividad dopaminérgica que sufre este tipo de pacientes. El primer estudio que presentamos hace referencia al déficit de IPP en una muestra de pacientes con esquizofrenia. Concretamente, realizamos dos registros de IPP, el primero de ellos se llevó a cabo tres días después del ingreso del paciente por haber sufrido una crisis. Este primer registro nos dio información sobre la IPP en un estado agudo de la enfermedad. La segunda medición se realizó tres meses después del alta médica, esto nos permitió analizar el efecto de la medicación sobre la IPP. Los resultados que obtuvimos apoyan los datos exhibidos po

El presente estudio investigativo documental sobre finanzas personales, estado del arte, pretende realizar una revisión de la literatura de los 10 últimos años, buscando establecer las tendencias y los diferentes puntos de vista acerca del tema, haciendo énfasis en el concepto de finanzas personales como determinante en la economía del individuo y en general de la sociedad, haciendo hincapié en los tópicos principales relacionados con la gestión de la economía del individuo como son el presupuesto, el ahorro, la inversión, el gasto, los impuestos, la jubilación, y en la importancia de la educación financiera como pilar del desarrollo personal y su relación con el entorno así como también se exploran las consecuencias de la incultura financiera que es ahora preocupación a nivel mundial -- Se contrasta el concepto de finanzas personales con las finanzas corporativas y se habla del porqué del resurgimiento de las finanzas personales -- Concluyéndose que la implementación de este tema en los currículos en los diferentes niveles desde la educación básica hasta la educación superior es determinante no solo para brindar las herramientas necesarias para lograr la adecuada toma de decisiones y el crecimiento de la economía personal, sino también como estrategia general para prevenir la aparición de nuevas crisis económicas -- Además se enfatiza en la relación de estas crisis con la falta de conocimientos generalizados a la hora de tomar decisiones financieras

Traditional diagnostic scales are based on a number of symptoms to evaluate and classify mental diseases. In many cases, this process becomes subjective, since the patient must calibrate the magnitude of his/her symptoms and therefore the severity of his/her disorder. A completely different approach is based on the study of the more vulnerable traits of cognitive disorders. In this regard, animal models of mental illness could be a useful tool to characterize indicators of possible cognitive dysfunctions in humans. Specifically, several cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia involve a dysfunction in the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system during development. These variations in dopamine levels or dopamine receptor sensibility correlate with many behavioral disturbances. These behaviors may be included in a specific phenotype and may be analyzed under controlled conditions in the laboratory. The present study provides an introductory overview of different quantitative traits that could be used as a possible risk indicator for different mental disorders, helping to define a specific endophenotype. Specifically, we examine different experimental procedures to measure impaired response in attention linked to sensorimotor gating as a possible personality trait involved in maladaptive behaviors.

The “Rubber Hand Illusion” is a procedure aimed to induce the sensation of an own hand through the efficient utilization of a false one in healthy people. Some modifications in original methods could weaken or even abolish the illusion. In addition, several personality traits could be involved in the intensity of subjective perception of the illusion, and some psychopathological traits could facilitate it. The neural substrate underlying to this cognitive phenomenon is very uncertain, even the current research have found several correlations between activity of some cerebral areas and the performance of illusion. The body awareness is an essential factor to a suitable interaction with the environment, and the disturbance of this process may cause serious mental diseases. The progress made at the Rubber Hand Illusion has helped to explore several fields where this procedure might be a good tool to detect some pathologies and their treatment.

La Inhibición latente es uno de los fenómenos de selección de estímulos que permite a los animales reducir la atención a estímulos que son irrelevantes. Actualmente existen dos modelos asociativos que explican el fenómeno de forma contraria. Los modelos basados en fallos en la adquisición se fundamentan en una reducción atencional a la hora de aprender las nuevas contingencias de los estímulos. Los de fallo en la recuperación se sustentan en un proceso de competición por la expresión de la respuesta. El presente trabajo tuvo por objetivo analizar este problema mediante el uso de agentes que bloquean receptores dopaminérgicos específicos. Concretamente, el presente estudio analizó la implicación de los receptores dopaminérgicos D1 y D2 en la IL. Para ello, se administró una dosis específica de antagonistas de D1 y D2 durante las fases de adquisición y condicionamiento (experimentos 1 y 2) y durante la fase de prueba (experimentos 3 y 4). Además, el estudio analizó la posible relación de estos receptores con factores moduladores de la IL, utilizando para ello el fenómeno de la especificidad contextual. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que la administración durante la fase de prueba permitió discriminar que los fallos que se generaron fueron debidos a la recuperación, y no a la adquisición.