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Biomedical subjects

M Laudenslager

Publications and source records attributed to M Laudenslager.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Inflammatory and hormonal measures predict neuropsychological functioning in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Abnormalities of inflammatory and hormonal measures are common in SLE patients. Although cognitive dysfunction has been documented in SLE patients, the biological mechanism of these deficits has not been clarified. The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between inflammatory and hormonal activity and measures of learning, fluency, and attention in systemic lupus erythematosus patients without neuropsychiatric symptoms (non-CNS-SLE), patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and healthy controls (HC). Fifteen non-CNS-SLE patients, 15 RA patients and 15 HC participants similar in age, education, and gender (female) were compared on tests of cognition, depression, and plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol. Non-CNS-SLE patients demonstrated lower learning and poorer attention. Furthermore, non-CNS-SLE and RA patients had significantly lower levels of DHEA and DHEA-S than HC participants. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrates that DHEA-S and IL-6 accounts for a unique portion of the variance in subject performance on measures of learning and attention after controlling for depression and corticosteroid treatment. This data highlights the value of hierarchical analyses with covariates, and provides evidence in humans of a relationship between peripheral cytokine levels and cognitive function.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Behavioral and autonomic responses to peer separation in pigtail macaque monkey infants.

Brief maternal separations of young nonhuman primates have been used extensively to study the behavior and physiology of attachment, loss, and bereavement. The physiological responses to the loss of alternative attachment figures, such as peers, is less well documented in nonhuman primates. This study examined both autonomic and behavioral responses of peer-reared pigtail macaque infants to separation. Eight infants were removed from their mothers at birth and reared in four peer pairs. At 6 months of age, each monkey was implanted with a multichannel biotelemetry device which transmitted heartrate, body temperature, EEG, EMG, and EOG. Blood was collected twice weekly for immunological assessment. Behavioral and physiological data, including sleep, were collected for 1 week of baseline, 2 weeks of separation, and 1 week of reunion. Behavioral and physiological results indicated agitation but not depression following separation from their peer attachment figures. We found reduced mitogenic responses to pokeweed consequent to peer separation, suggestive of altered B-cell function. REM variables were the only sleep measures affected by the separation, and were suggestive of agitation but not depression.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

On the physiology of grooming in a pigtail macaque.

Several functions of social grooming have been proposed, including building affiliative bonds between group members, and reducing tension or anxiety. In this case study, heart rate (HR) of a single adult female pigtail macaque living in a social group was monitored in several behavioral contexts to examine the relationship between grooming and HR level, an indicator of autonomic nervous system activity. The subject was implanted as a part of another study with a multichannel telemetry system which monitored several physiological variables. Physiological and behavioral data were collected over a nine day period. Heart rate during agonistic interactions was significantly higher than during other categories of behavior, and sleep HR significantly lower. When the subject received grooming from others, HR was significantly lower than during self grooming or initiating grooming to others, as well as during other behaviors. HR showed significant declines during bouts of receiving groom (up to 20 bpm), but not during bouts of initiating or self grooming. Following aggression, HR decline was greatest while receiving grooming. There were also HR differences for methods of grooming: stroking but not other methods related to decreases in HR.

Aggression↗
PubMed1986

Long-term follow-up of previously separated pigtail macaques: group and individual differences in response to novel situations.

A follow-up study of monkeys who experienced maternal separations as infants 2.5-4.9 years earlier was performed. Matched pairs of previously separated and nonseparated control monkeys were observed individually in four unfamiliar situations, and their behavioral responses and plasma cortisol levels were measured. Results indicated that previously separated animals displayed more disturbance than did their matched controls, and levels of disturbance were significantly correlated with the degree of behavioral and physiological disturbance displayed during the original maternal separations. The results support the idea that the perception of the maternal separation may be a significant factor in whether long-term behavioral deficits exist in social and emotional functioning.

Affective Symptoms↗