Repeated treatments with a dopamine (DA) D2 receptor agonist result in the induction of DA D2 receptor supersensitivity, as evidenced by enhanced behavioral responses to subsequent D2 agonist treatments - a phenomenon known as priming of receptors. Priming of D2 receptors has been well-studied in otherwise intact (non-lesioned) rats. In contrast to D2 priming, repeated treatments with a DA D1 agonist are unable to prime D1 receptors unless nigrostriatal DA fibers are largely destroyed in early postnatal ontogeny. In order to determine if D2 receptors could be primed in rats in which nigrostriatal DA fibers were largely destroyed in early postnatal ontogeny, rats were (a) lesioned at 3 days after birth with 6-hydroxydopamine (67 μg in each lateral ventricle; desipramine, 20 mg/kg IP, 1 h; 6-OHDA), (b) treated daily for the first 28 days after birth with the D2 agonist quinpirole HCl (3.0 mg/kg IP), and (c) observed in adulthood for both quinpirole-induced and SKF 38393- (D1 agonist-) induced locomotor activity and stereotyped activities. In 6-OHDA-lesioned rats in which endogenous striatal DA was reduced by 99%, quinpirole did not produce enhanced locomotor or stereotyped activities. However, SKF 38393 produced increased locomotor and stereotyped activities even after the first dose of SKF 38393. These findings demonstrate that D2 receptors are not primed by ontogenetic quinpirole treatments of neonatally 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, although D2 agonist treatments do at least partially prime D1 receptors in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats.

Quinpirole-induced vertical jumping is a phenomenon first observed in rats treated from birth, once a day for 21 days or more, with the dopamine D 2 receptor agonist quinpirole. This quinpirole-induced behavioral sensitization is known as a priming process. To determine whether dopaminergic innervation influenced this priming phenomenon, groups of rats were lesioned at 3 days after birth with the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA; 67 μg in each lateral ventricle; desipramine pretreatment, 20 mg/kg ip, 1 h). Rats were additionally treated daily from birth with quinpirole HCl (3.0 mg/kg ip, salt form). Controls received saline vehicle in place of 6-OHDA and/or quinpirole. When rats were placed in individual observation cages (1 h acclimation) starting at 20 days after birth, acute quinpirole treatment produced vertical jumping in the quinpirole-primed group; and the effect persisted through the twenty-ninth day. In rats additionally lesioned with 6-OHDA, vertical jumping was enhanced at 20, 24, 26/27, and 28/29 day-with there being as much as a 32-fold increase in vertical jumping versus the group that was primed with quinpirole, but not lesioned with 6-OHDA. This finding indicates that an ontogenetic 6-OHDA lesion enhances quinpirole-induced vertical jumping in rats and that dopaminergic innervation may normally exert a suppressive effect on vertical jumping.

Repeated treatments of rats with the dopamine (DA) D2 receptor agonist quinpirole, consistently produce long-lived DA D2 receptor supersensitization, by the process that has been termed priming. Rats so-primed in ontogeny behaviorally demonstrate adulthood enhancement of low-dose quinpirole-induced yawning. Because 1) dopaminergic neurons originate in midbrain nuclei (substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area), and 2) noradrenergic neurons originate in pontine (locus coeruleus) and medullary areas, it might be presumed that these two monoaminergic systems are independent, not interdependent. However, in the present study we demonstrate that there was an attenuation of quinpirole-enhanced yawning at 8 weeks in rats that were 1) primed by repeated neonatal quinpirole HCl treatments (50 μg/kg per day SC) during the first ten days of postnatal ontogeny, and 2) lesioned at 3 days after birth with DSP-4 (N-2-chloroethyl-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine hydrochloride, 50 mg/kg SC). Dose-effect curves indicated a 23-45% reduction in yawning by DSP-4 treatment of quinpirole-primed rats, acutely treated as adults with quinpirole (25, 50, or 100 μg/kg). Effectiveness of DSP-4 is reflected by the 95% and 99% reductions in norepinephrine contents of frontal cortex and hippocampus, respectively (HPLC/ED method). The findings are supportive of a modulatory role of noradrenergic fibers on dopamine receptor priming (supersensitization) in rat brain.

Receptor priming is a recently discovered phenomenon by which receptor agonists produce abrupt and long-lived supersensitization of receptors. Induction of dopamine (DA) D2 receptor supersensitivity by the agonist quinpirole was discovered approximately 15 years ago, and was found to occur consistently if rats were treated repeatedly at daily or weekly or monthly intervals with low or high doses of quinpirole. In this review we summarize and discuss some of the major studies that underlie DA D2 receptor supersen-sitivity, describe behavioral processes that are known to be altered by DA D2 receptor supersensitivity, and discuss the importance of DA innervation on expression of enhanced behaviors. DA D2 receptor supersen-sitivity represents one of the neural mechanisms implicated in psychiatric disorders. Also, DA D2 receptor supersensitivity and increased DA D3 receptor expression are associated with motor dyskinesias, as in L-DOPA-treated Parkinson's disease patients. An understanding of receptor priming, a knowledge of the types of behavioral expression associated with DA D2 receptor supersensitivity, and an understanding of mechanisms associated with receptor supersen-sitization, can lead to improvements in the treatments of psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Factors associated with predisposition and vulnerability to neurodegenerative disorders may be described usefully within the context of gene-environment interplay. There are many identified genetic determinants for so-called genetic disorders, and it is possible to duplicate many elements of recognized human neurodegenerative disorders in either knock-in or knock-out mice. However, there are similarly, many identifiable environmental influences on outcomes of the genetic defects; and the course of a progressive neurodegenerative disorder can be greatly modified by environmental elements. Constituent cellular defense mechanisms responsive to the challenge of increased reactive oxygen species represent only one crossroad whereby environment can influence genetic predisposition. In this paper we highlight some of the major neurodegenerative disorders and discuss possible links of gene-environment interplay. The process of adult neurogenesis in brain is also presented as an additional element that influences gene-environment interplay. And the so-called priming processes (i.e., production of receptor supersensitization by repeated drug dosing), is introduced as yet another process that influences how genes and environment ultimately and co-dependently govern behavioral ontogeny and outcome. In studies attributing the influence of genetic alteration on behavioral phenotypy, it is essential to carefully control environmental influences.

I denna studie undersökte vi hypotesen att visuella subtila ledtrådar kan användas i augmented reality-glasögon för att påverka människors beslutsfattande. Det var baserat på den konceptuella visionen om att AR-glasögon en dag kan vara en del av vårt dagliga liv, och då kan påverka hur beslut fattas. För att undersöka detta genomfördes en litteraturstudie och ett valbaserat videoexperiment. 39 deltagare i olika åldrar deltog i experimentet. Deltagarna delades slumpmässigt upp i tre grupper med olika förutsättningar; en kontrollgrupp, en grupp som exponerades för subtila “priming”-villkor och en grupp som exponerades för subtila “point-of-decision”-villkor. Resultaten påvisade samband mellan subtil priming och beslutsfattande, men inga samband kunde styrkas       mellan subtila “point-of-decision”-villkor och beslutsfattande. / In this study we investigated the hypothesis that visual subtle cues can be used in Augmented Reality glasses to affect human decision making. This was based on the conceptual vision that AR-glasses might one day be a part of our daily life, and could then affect the way decisions are made. In order to investigate, a literature study and a video-based choice experiment was conducted. 39 participants of varied ages took part in       the experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition, subtle priming cues condition, or a subtle point-of-decision cues condition. The subtle priming cue was in the form of action words and smiley faces, and the subtle point-of-decision cues were in the form of flashing lights. The results showed evidence of a relation between subtle priming cues and the choices made by the participants, but no evidence of such relations were found between subtle point-of-decision cues and the choices made.

Sexismus ist ein weltweites Phänomen, das das Potential von Frauen in allen Bereichen des Lebens einschränkt. Um den negativen Konsequenzen von Sexismus entgegen zu wirken setzen sich manche Frauen für das Wohl aller Frauen ein; sie handeln kollektiv. In dieser Doktorarbeit geht es darum ob Kultur und Situationen solches kollektives Handeln beeinflussen und sich auf die Prävalenz von Sexismus auswirken. Im Bezug auf den Einfluss von Kultur nehmen wir an, dass das Selbstkonzept und das kulturelle Konstrukt „Gesicht" (aus der Phrase „das Gesicht wahren") das kollektive Handeln von Frauen in Japan, der Türkei und Deutschland beeinflussen (Manuskript #1). Übereinstimmend mit unseren Hypothesen beabsichtigen Frauen mit einem stärkeren unabhängigen Selbstkonzept auch stärker kollektiv zu handeln. Frauen, die sich stärker Sorgen darum machen, „das Gesicht zu verlieren" beabsichtigen hingegen weniger kollektiv zu handeln. Somit beeinflussen das Selbstkonzept und das Ausmaß indem Frauen darüber besorgt sind „das Gesicht zu verlieren", also zwei Konzepte aus der kulturvergleichenden Psychologie, die Intentionen von Frauen zum Wohle der Gruppe zu handeln. Im Bezug auf den Einfluss von Situationen auf Sexismus nehmen wir an, dass über Situationen hinweg systematisch variiert, für wie wahrscheinlich und akzeptabel Menschen Sexismus halten. Wir nehmen an, dass die wahrgenommene Wahrscheinlichkeit und Akzeptanz von Sexismus abhängig davon variieren, (a) ob Frauen anwesend sind, gegen die sich Sexismus richten kann, (b) in welchem Anteil Männer und Frauen anwesend sind, (c) abhängig vom Ort, und (d) abhängig davon, ob potentielle Sexisten z.B. betrunken oder gestresst sind (Manuskript #2). Unsere Hypothesen wurden größtenteils bestätigt. Von unseren Ergebnissen zur wahrgenommenen Häufigkeit von Sexismus im Privatleben ausgehend, sollten Interventionen zur Reduktion von Sexismus über den Arbeitsplatz hinaus gehen und auch das Privatleben miteinbeziehen. Im Bezug auf Primingeffekte eines Stereotyps haben wir Hypothesen von der Theorie des aktiven Selbst abgeleitet (Manuskript #3). Wir nehmen an, dass das Ausmaß von Überlappung zwischen dem Selbstkonzept der Versuchsteilnehmer und dem Stereotyp, der als Prime verwendet wird, beeinflusst wie effektiv die Primingprozedur ist. Wir gehen davon aus, dass das Ausmaß dieser Überlappung frühere inkonsistente Primingeffekte von Stereotypen erklären kann. Allerdings konnten wir den Originaleffekt nicht replizieren und fanden, mit einer Ausnahme, keine Nachweise für unsere Moderatoren und Mediatoren. Hier muss dementsprechend noch weitere theoretische und empirische Arbeit geleistet werden um die Randbedingungen von Primingeffekten von Stereotypen zu identifizieren. Sexismus ist ein weltweites Phänomen, das das Potential von Frauen lähmt. Diese Arbeit informiert über kulturelle und situationelle Faktoren, die man berücksichtigen muss, um die negativen Folgen von Sexismus erfolgreich zu bekämpfen.

En fixant des normes et des interdits, les valeurs morales participent du bon fonctionnement d'un groupe ou d'une société (Haidt & Kesebir, 2010 ; Janoff-Bulman, Sheikh, & Hepp, 2009). Lorsqu'une norme sociale ou morale est transgressée, l'individu est parfois pris du désir de sanctionner l'auteur de la transgression, même s'il n'en a pas lui-même souffert les conséquences (Chekroun & Brauer, 2008 ; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004). Ce type de sanction aurait pour fonction de maintenir l'ordre social et la coopération entre les individus (Fehr & Gächter, 2002 ; Ginits, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, & Fehr, 2008 ; Jensen, 2010). Afin de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, nous avons étudié le rôle joué par les valeurs morales dans le déclenchement de ces conduites punitives « désintéressées ». De nombreuses études ont mis en évidence la force motivationnelle dont sont pourvues les valeurs, poussant l'individu à agir en adéquation avec elles (e.g., Hertel & Kerr, 2001 ; Maio, Pakizeh, Cheung, & Rees, 2009). Partant de cet état de fait, nous avons postulé l'existence d'une deuxième composante motivationnelle propre aux valeurs morales, conduisant l'individu à les faire respecter en sanctionnant les personnes qui ne les respectent pas. Nous avons testé dans un premier temps cette hypothèse à travers l'impact du système moral individuel sur le jugement punitif dans le cadre de situations moralement ambivalentes dans lesquelles le protagoniste respectait une valeur morale (e.g., l'équité) aux dépens d'une autre (e.g., la loyauté). Les résultats suggèrent que plus les individus adhèrent à une valeur, plus ils souhaitent voir sanctionnées les personnes transgressant cette valeur. Dans un second temps, nous avons étudié à l'aide de différentes procédures d'amorçage l'influence momentanée que peuvent avoir les valeurs morales sur les tendances punitives lorsque le contexte les rend saillantes. Les effets de l'amorçage spécifique d'une valeur, la loyauté, ont été testés dans le cadre de situations fictives moralement ambivalentes ainsi que dans des conditions écologiques. Les résultats montrent que l'amorçage spécifique de la loyauté entraine une augmentation de la sévérité du jugement punitif ainsi qu'une baisse des tendances prosociales à l'égard d'une personne ayant agi de façon déloyale. L'apparition de ces effets semble néanmoins dépendre du niveau d'implication des individus vis-à-vis de la situation. Ce travail de recherche nous a aussi permis de constater que lorsqu'une valeur est accessible (de façon chronique ou temporaire), l'individu a davantage tendance à percevoir les événements à travers celle-ci. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats obtenus à travers cette série d'études mettent en évidence l'influence exercée par les valeurs morales, liée à leur niveau d'accessibilité et de désirabilité, entrainant les individus à les faire respecter en sanctionnant leurs transgresseurs. / Moral values take part in the effective functioning of a group or society by setting prescriptive and proscriptive norms (Haidt & Kesebir, 2010, Janoff-Bulman, Sheikh, & Hepp, 2009). When witnessing the violation of a social or moral norm, people sometimes wish to punish the transgressor, even if they do not suffer any negative consequences of the violation (Chekroun & Brauer, 2008 ; Fehr & Fischbacher, 2004). The function of this kind of sanction would be an upholding of the social order and cooperation between group members (Fehr & Gächter, 2002 ; Ginits, Henrich, Bowles, Boyd, & Fehr, 2008 ; Jensen, 2010). In order to better understand this phenomenon, we studied how moral values can trigger such third-party punishment. Numerous studies highlight the motivational nature of moral values, driving people to act in line with these ideals (e.g., Hertel & Kerr, 2001 ; Maio, Pakizeh, Cheung, & Rees, 2009). With this in mind, we suggested the existence of a second motivational component, specific to moral values, driving the individual to enforce them by punishing their transgressors. Firstly, we tested this hypothesis through the impact of the individual moral system on punitiveness in morally ambivalent situations describing a protagonist respecting a value (e.g., fairness) at the expense of another (e.g., loyalty). According to the results, the more participants agreed with a value, the more they wanted to see someone who violated the value being punished. Then, we studied the influence exerted by moral values on punitiveness when they are salient within the situation, using different priming procedures. We tested the priming effects of one specific value, loyalty, using morally ambivalent situations and ecological designs. According to the results, priming loyalty led to an increase of punishment severity and to a decrease of prosocial intentions toward a person who didn't act loyally. However, these effects seem to be moderated by the level of personal involvement vis à vis the situation. This research also revealed that when a value is accessible (chronically or temporarily), one tends to perceive the events through the value. All in all, the results gathered through this series of studies reveal the influence exerted by moral values, linked to their levels of accessibility and desirability, which drive people to enforce them by sanctioning their transgressors.

There are several strategies to enhance athletes’ physical abilities, both long-term and acutely. Two of these strategies are periodization, which often spans from months to years, and tapering, spanning several weeks. However, given the timeframe of efficacy from the aforementioned strategies, they are better suited to a few competitions rather than on a weekly basis. Later research has proposed a “delayed potentiation” strategy, which spans from 6 - 48 hours. However, research in support of its efficacy is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of delayed potentiation in sub-elite female soccer players.Thirty-one sub-elite female football players were divided into two groups (age: 21.2 ± 2.9 years, bodyweight: 61.7 ± 6.3 kg, height: 168.2 ± 6.8 cm & 1RM trap-bar deadlift: 96.1 ± 10.8). The intervention group performed 6 x 4 sets of loaded trap-bar jumps. Variables examined 24 hours after intervention were countermovement jump performance, 10 and 20-m sprint. An ANCOVA was conducted to determine a statistically significant difference between the two groups, controlling for pre-test scores. The ANCOVA revealed no significant difference between intervention and control group for post-test countermovement-jump, 10 and 20-m sprint controlling for pre-test scores (p = 0.69, d = 0.14, p = 0.58, d = 0.19 and p = 0.61, d = 0.17 respectively.) Thus, delayed potentiation did not significantly affect sub-elite female soccer players' explosive performance in the lower extremities.

Negativ verzerrte kognitive Denkschemata sind typisch für Depressionen und auch bei der Emotionsverarbeitung nachweisbar. Depressionen können durch Kindheitstraumata und dysfunktionale Einstellungen begünstigt werden; auch bei dem Vorliegen von Kindheitstraumata wurden Veränderungen in der Emotionswahrnehmung ermittelt. Diese Studie untersucht Zusammenhänge zwischen Kindheitstraumata beziehungsweise dysfunktionalen Einstellungen und der automatischen Emotionsbewertung mittels eines affektiven Priming Experimentes und der kontrollierten Emotionsbewertung mittels Bouhuys Faces Experiment in einer Stichprobe von 45 depressiven Patienten. Es konnten Beziehungen zwischen Emotionsbewertung und Kindheitstraumata beziehungsweise dysfunktionalen Einstellungen belegt werden: Kindheitstraumata könnten auf kontrollierter Verarbeitungsebene die positive Bewertung emotionaler Gesichter absenken. Dysfunktionale Einstellungen könnten die negative Bewertung von Gesichtern im Allgemeinen sowie von ambigen Gesichtern verstärken und die positive Bewertung ambiger Gesichter vermindern. Auf der automatischen Verarbeitungsebene konnten keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge zwischen der Emotionsevaluation und Kindheitstraumata oder dysfunktionalen Einstellungen gefunden werden. Die Ergebnisse der Studie legen nahe, dass bei der Therapie von Depressiven die Erkennung und Aufarbeitung traumatischer Kindheitserfahrungen, die Schulung der Fähigkeiten zur Emotionsinterpretation und die Änderung negativer kognitiver Denkschemata wichtige Herausforderungen darstellen.