Mary F. Dent - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mary F. Dent

Research paper thumbnail of The effect of prenatal exposure to cocaine on a two-choice water maze task

Research paper thumbnail of Dose-Dependent Effects of Prefrontal Dopamine on Behavioral State in Rats

An inverted-U mechanism has been proposed to explain findings that both under-and overstimulation... more An inverted-U mechanism has been proposed to explain findings that both under-and overstimulation of dopamine (DA) receptors in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) result in working memory impairments. Dopamine release in the mPFC is also associated with the mediation of other behavioral processes such as affective regulation, reward, and nociception. The present studies investigated mPFC DA dosedependent effects on the performance of tasks that tap these other processes, including delayed alternation in the T maze for working memory, a water maze task for escape, the elevated plus maze for anxiolytic/anxiogenic effects, place preference conditioning for reward effects, the tail flick test for nociception, and a measure of locomotor activity for general arousal. Injection of 5 g of DA improved working memory, was anxiolytic in the plus maze, and increased pain sensitivity, but did not have any effects on water maze escape, place preference or locomotor activity. Doses of 10 g and 20 g impaired working memory and substantially decreased pain sensitivity, but did not affect plus maze behavior or locomotor activity. The 20-g dose also enhanced water maze escape. Taken together, these findings suggest a profile of two distinct behavioral states induced by low or high levels of mPFC DA: a low level facilitates foraging functions such as working memory and exploratory behaviors, with increased pain sensitivity, while higher levels facilitate stress-related adaptations, such as escape from threat and reduced pain sensitivity. These findings are concordant with behavioral flexibility views of mPFC DA functions.

Research paper thumbnail of Pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders

Oxford handbook of anxiety and related …, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Attitudes, knowledge, and training of medical residents regarding adolescent health issues

Journal of adolescent …, Jan 1, 1991

This study examined attitudes, knowlectge, and training relating to adolescent health issues, of ... more This study examined attitudes, knowlectge, and training relating to adolescent health issues, of medical residents in six different specialities who provide care to adolescents, at a southern, rural medical school without an organized curriculum in adolescent medicine. An original IS-item questionnaire was developed which examined four broad healthcare categories: general medicine, sexuality, high-risk behaviors, and development. Of 118 residents 91 (77%) responded. For any health care area, residents reported managing fewer than 10 adolescent patients and often fewer than 3 patients. However, they reported comfort and confidence and little desire for additional training in most of these areas. There were few differences between specialties or year of training. Almost one-half 142%) believed that pediatric care should end by age 16 years; 32% ihought it should end at age ib years. However, there was little support for pediatricians providing prenatal care to pregnant teens. These findings are useful for planning curriculum in ambulatory adolescent health and developing strategies for encouraging residents to understand and embrace the challenge of adolescent health care.

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of number of trials per day, retention interval, gender and time of day on acquisition of a two-choice, win-stay water-escape working memory task in the rat

Journal of neuroscience methods, Jan 1, 1991

A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to examine the effects of gender, trials/day (TPD), and... more A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to examine the effects of gender, trials/day (TPD), and retention inte~,al (RII on acquisition of a two-choice win-stay water-escape task in 4-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats. Variations of this task have previously been shown to be sensitive to changes in working memory that occur with age or to follow treatment with an anxiolytic or with cognitive enhancers (Comer and Moore, in press) in males or to estrogen in ovariectomized females . Both training with 1 TPD and with a 5-rain RI, time between tin information "run" and a test "'run", reduced errors during acquisition as compared to giving 3 TPD and a l-rain RI (P < 0.05 in till casesJ. Males made fewer errors than did females (P < 0.05). The three effects were additive: males trained with 1 TPD and a 5-rain RI performed best and females trained with 3 TPD and a l-min R1 performed worst. Also, rats given 1 TPD made fewer acquisiti(m errors when trained 2 h before the lights were turned off than when trained during the middle of the light p(~rlion of the light/dark cycle (P < 0.05). Finally, when given 3 TPD, the rats, especially the females, performed significantly worse on their third trial ( P < 0.05). It was concluded that two-choice win-stay water-escape is a very sensitive assay of working memory with much potential for neurobehavioral research.

Research paper thumbnail of Association between current lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer survivors

Psychology & …, Jan 1, 2004

The purpose of the present study was to compare cancer survivors on three different lifestyle beh... more The purpose of the present study was to compare cancer survivors on three different lifestyle behaviors (ie, physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&amp;amp;amp;amp;V) consumption, and smoking) and examine the association between these lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of ...

Research paper thumbnail of The effect of prenatal exposure to cocaine on a two-choice water maze task

Research paper thumbnail of Dose-Dependent Effects of Prefrontal Dopamine on Behavioral State in Rats

An inverted-U mechanism has been proposed to explain findings that both under-and overstimulation... more An inverted-U mechanism has been proposed to explain findings that both under-and overstimulation of dopamine (DA) receptors in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) result in working memory impairments. Dopamine release in the mPFC is also associated with the mediation of other behavioral processes such as affective regulation, reward, and nociception. The present studies investigated mPFC DA dosedependent effects on the performance of tasks that tap these other processes, including delayed alternation in the T maze for working memory, a water maze task for escape, the elevated plus maze for anxiolytic/anxiogenic effects, place preference conditioning for reward effects, the tail flick test for nociception, and a measure of locomotor activity for general arousal. Injection of 5 g of DA improved working memory, was anxiolytic in the plus maze, and increased pain sensitivity, but did not have any effects on water maze escape, place preference or locomotor activity. Doses of 10 g and 20 g impaired working memory and substantially decreased pain sensitivity, but did not affect plus maze behavior or locomotor activity. The 20-g dose also enhanced water maze escape. Taken together, these findings suggest a profile of two distinct behavioral states induced by low or high levels of mPFC DA: a low level facilitates foraging functions such as working memory and exploratory behaviors, with increased pain sensitivity, while higher levels facilitate stress-related adaptations, such as escape from threat and reduced pain sensitivity. These findings are concordant with behavioral flexibility views of mPFC DA functions.

Research paper thumbnail of Pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders

Oxford handbook of anxiety and related …, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Attitudes, knowledge, and training of medical residents regarding adolescent health issues

Journal of adolescent …, Jan 1, 1991

This study examined attitudes, knowlectge, and training relating to adolescent health issues, of ... more This study examined attitudes, knowlectge, and training relating to adolescent health issues, of medical residents in six different specialities who provide care to adolescents, at a southern, rural medical school without an organized curriculum in adolescent medicine. An original IS-item questionnaire was developed which examined four broad healthcare categories: general medicine, sexuality, high-risk behaviors, and development. Of 118 residents 91 (77%) responded. For any health care area, residents reported managing fewer than 10 adolescent patients and often fewer than 3 patients. However, they reported comfort and confidence and little desire for additional training in most of these areas. There were few differences between specialties or year of training. Almost one-half 142%) believed that pediatric care should end by age 16 years; 32% ihought it should end at age ib years. However, there was little support for pediatricians providing prenatal care to pregnant teens. These findings are useful for planning curriculum in ambulatory adolescent health and developing strategies for encouraging residents to understand and embrace the challenge of adolescent health care.

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of number of trials per day, retention interval, gender and time of day on acquisition of a two-choice, win-stay water-escape working memory task in the rat

Journal of neuroscience methods, Jan 1, 1991

A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to examine the effects of gender, trials/day (TPD), and... more A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to examine the effects of gender, trials/day (TPD), and retention inte~,al (RII on acquisition of a two-choice win-stay water-escape task in 4-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats. Variations of this task have previously been shown to be sensitive to changes in working memory that occur with age or to follow treatment with an anxiolytic or with cognitive enhancers (Comer and Moore, in press) in males or to estrogen in ovariectomized females . Both training with 1 TPD and with a 5-rain RI, time between tin information "run" and a test "'run", reduced errors during acquisition as compared to giving 3 TPD and a l-rain RI (P < 0.05 in till casesJ. Males made fewer errors than did females (P < 0.05). The three effects were additive: males trained with 1 TPD and a 5-rain RI performed best and females trained with 3 TPD and a l-min R1 performed worst. Also, rats given 1 TPD made fewer acquisiti(m errors when trained 2 h before the lights were turned off than when trained during the middle of the light p(~rlion of the light/dark cycle (P < 0.05). Finally, when given 3 TPD, the rats, especially the females, performed significantly worse on their third trial ( P < 0.05). It was concluded that two-choice win-stay water-escape is a very sensitive assay of working memory with much potential for neurobehavioral research.

Research paper thumbnail of Association between current lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of life in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer survivors

Psychology & …, Jan 1, 2004

The purpose of the present study was to compare cancer survivors on three different lifestyle beh... more The purpose of the present study was to compare cancer survivors on three different lifestyle behaviors (ie, physical activity, fruit and vegetable (F&amp;amp;amp;amp;V) consumption, and smoking) and examine the association between these lifestyle behaviors and health-related quality of ...