rita messing - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by rita messing

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1971

The effect of lesions of the lateral hypothalamus on feeding and spontaneous locomotor activity w... more The effect of lesions of the lateral hypothalamus on feeding and spontaneous locomotor activity was investigated. Lateral hypothalamic lesions produced aphagia and adipsia but did not prevent the increase in locomotor activity characteristic of starvation. In addition, both food deprivation and lateral hypothalamic self-starvation potentiated amphetamine-induced behavioral arousal. However, the lesions did abolish incentive-motivated activity to a stimulus signaling food. These results suggest a dissociation between the neural mechanisms mediating arousal and regulatory behaviors.

PubMed, 1975

Rats treated with Lilly 110140, a specific inhibitor of serotonin re-uptake in brain, are less se... more Rats treated with Lilly 110140, a specific inhibitor of serotonin re-uptake in brain, are less sensitive to electroshock. Lilly 110140 antagonizes the hyperalgesia following injections of p-chlorophenylalanine and potentiates morphine analgesia. Naloxone blocks the analgesia following morphine, but has no effect on Lilly 110140-induced analgesia. Brain serotonin neurons may, at least in part, mediate analgesia.

The effect of infusion of small concentrations of D-Ala-D-Leu-enkephalin on electrical responses ... more The effect of infusion of small concentrations of D-Ala-D-Leu-enkephalin on electrical responses to stimulation of the in vitro hippocampal slice preparation was investigated. Concentrations of enkephalin as low as 10 nM dramatically increased the magnitude of the population spike response of pyramidal cell neurons to stimulation of their Schaffer-commissural afferents. This effect had a rapid onset and was quickly eliminated when the peptide was removed from the perfusion medium. Enhancement of the population spike was blocked by the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone, which, by itself, did not affect either synaptic potentials or the population response. In contrast even relatively high concentrations of the enkephalin produced no detectable effect on either the synaptic potentials recorded in the dendrites or the antidromic response of the pyramidal cells to stimulation of their axons. These findings suggest that enkephalin attenuates the effect of either a feedback or feed-forward inhibitory system which is usually activated by stimulation of the Schaffer-commissural pathways.

PubMed, 1988

The organometal neurotoxin trimethyltin (TMT) damages limbic forebrain, and impairs acquisition o... more The organometal neurotoxin trimethyltin (TMT) damages limbic forebrain, and impairs acquisition of lever-directed behaviors in an autoshaping task, in which a lever is presented according to a random time schedule, and rats learn to associate its presentation/retraction with food delivery (Cohen et al., 1987). This impairment is evident only if a sufficiently long delay of reinforcement is interposed between lever retraction (which occurs either automatically after 15 sec, or immediately upon a touch response) and food pellet delivery. Paradoxically, rats given a higher (7.5 mg/kg) dose show a smaller acquisition impairment, perhaps because they are generally more reactive to the lever than controls. These rats sustain a larger hippocampal lesion (measured by wet weight of the structure). The experiment reported here was done to investigate (1) an autoshaping deficit related to hippocampal weight loss, and (2) biochemical changes in hippocampus which might be related to behavioral impairments. Rats were treated with water vehicle or TMT four weeks before autoshaping using a 6 sec reinforcement delay. In addition to lever touching, touches of the food trough were measured. The timing of trough-touching behaviors within a trial was used as an indication of the strength of the association formed between the lever and the site of food delivery. Following autoshaping rats were adrenalectomized and killed for measurement of cytosolic [3H]corticosterone binding in hippocampus. As before, rats treated with 6.0 mg TMT/kg showed a deficit in acquisition of lever-directed behaviors. Also, as hypothesized, the proportion of total trough-directed behaviors made during the 6 sec reinforcement delay intervals (when reinforcement probability was high) diverged significantly from control values as learning progressed. These rats also showed a reduction in hippocampal weight compared with controls, but significant decreases in hippocampal steroid binding were observed only in groups given the low and median dose of TMT. Further, steroid binding was correlated with lever-directed behaviors. It thus appears that lever and trough behaviors can be used to simultaneously assess different aspects of impairment in associative learning which are accompanied by differential cell loss and biochemical deficit.

Attention Perception & Psychophysics, Jul 1, 1971

Page 1. RITA B. MESSINGt and BYRON A. CAMPBELLtt Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey 0854... more Page 1. RITA B. MESSINGt and BYRON A. CAMPBELLtt Princeton University. Princeton, New Jersey 08540 Summation of pain produced ... CARLIN. S., WARD. WD GERSHON. A. &. INGRAHAM. R. Sound stimulation and its effect on dental sensation threshold. Science. 1962. ...

Life Sciences, Apr 1, 1984

Prenatal exposure of rats to 0.2 mg LAAM/kg/day but not to 0.05 mg LAAM/kg/day resulted in faster... more Prenatal exposure of rats to 0.2 mg LAAM/kg/day but not to 0.05 mg LAAM/kg/day resulted in faster hot-plate escape latencies in 6 mo old offspring. No differences in tail-flick latencies were observed at 7 mo of age in offspring exposed to either dose of LAAM prenatally. Subsequent testing of littermates at 16 mo of age revealed that the greater sensitivity to the hot-plate observed in rats prenatally exposed to LAAM is apparently a result of neonatal withdrawal rather than a primary' consequence of the drug. The data are discussed in relation to possible effects of drug or withdrawal on central nervous system development.

Journal of Agromedicine, 2005

The purpose of this case series is to assess long-term sequelae of arsenic exposure in a cohort a... more The purpose of this case series is to assess long-term sequelae of arsenic exposure in a cohort acutely exposed to arsenic in drinking water from a well dug into a landfill containing arsenical pesticides. Ten of the 13 individuals (or next of kin) in the initial study agreed to participate in the follow-up study. Next of kin provided questionnaire data and released medical information on the three individuals who had died. The remaining seven cohort members were assessed by an interview, questionnaire, detailed physical examination and sensory nerve testing. Available medical records were obtained and reviewed. Sensory testing was performed using an automated electrodiagnostic sensory Nerve Conduction Threshold (sNCT) evaluation. Sensory complaints and electrodiagnostic findings consistent with polyneuropathy were found in a minority (3/7) of subjects 28 years after an acute toxic arsenic exposure. Two of the seven patients examined (1 of 3 with neuropathic findings) also had hyperkeratotic lesions consistent with arsenic toxicity and one of the patients had hyperpigmentation on their lower extremities possibly consistent with arsenic toxicity.

Journal of environmental health, 2005

For this article, records of the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) syste... more For this article, records of the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system were reviewed to identify and describe acute, unplanned releases of agricultural chemicals and associated injuries related to aerial application during 1995-2002. Records of aerial-application accidents from the National Transportation Safety Board were also reviewed. Of the 54,090 events in the HSEES system for 1995-2002, 91 were identified as aerial-application events. The most commonly released substance was malathion. There were 56 victims; 12 died, and 34 required treatment at a hospital. A higher percentage of HSEES aerial-applicator events involved injury and death than did other HSEES transportation events. The relatively high number of injuries and fatalities underscores the need for precautions such as monitoring and limiting pilot cumulative exposures to pesticides, and using appropriate personal protective equipment and decontamination equipment. Emergency responders should...

Behavioral and Neural Biology, 1979

Naloxone enhanced retention when systemically administered to male F344 rats after training in a ... more Naloxone enhanced retention when systemically administered to male F344 rats after training in a one-trial inhibitory avoidance task. Further, the memoryenhancing ability of naloxone appears to be opiate receptor dependent, because it was antagonized by morphine. Naloxone also improved retention of rats in an active avoidance task, indicating that the effect of naloxone is not task specific. The influence of naloxone on retention was time dependent in both tasks. The results showed that the drug must be present for a considerable period beginning soon after the onset of memory consolidation in order to be effective. For inhibitory avoidance, it was necessary to administer naloxone immediately after training, and because of its short duration of action, again 30 min later. In the active avoidance task, naloxone was effective only when given both immediately before and, as in the inhibitory avoidance task, within 30 rain after the eight acquisition trails. These results provide strong evidence that naloxone influences memory and suggest that endogenous opioid systems are involved in memory storage processes.

Life Sciences, 1980

Life Sciences, Vol. 26, pp. 337-345 PerSamon Press Printed in the i7. SA ENKEPHALINS INTERFERE WI... more Life Sciences, Vol. 26, pp. 337-345 PerSamon Press Printed in the i7. SA ENKEPHALINS INTERFERE WITH ACC~UISITION OF AN ACTIVE AVOIDANCE RESPONSE Henk Rigter~, Tracy J. Hemen, Ritn B. Messtag, Joe L. Mertinez Jr., Bentriz J. Vasquez, Robert A. Jensen, John ...

Environmental Health, 2010

International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health

Over the past century, industrialization and urban practices have resulted in the contamination o... more Over the past century, industrialization and urban practices have resulted in the contamination of the Great Lakes ecosystem-the world's largest surface freshwater system-that provides drinking water and recreation to more than 40 million residents. In 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes and surrounding areas. Funded by GLRI, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry initiated the Biomonitoring of Great Lakes Populations (BGLP) program. The objective of the program is to assess human exposure to legacy and emerging contaminants in the Great Lakes by measuring the body burden of contaminants in potentially susceptible populations. The BGLP program consists of a series of cross-sectional studies carried out collaboratively with states that are funded through ATSDR. The first BGLP Program (BGLP-I) began in 2010 and was completed in September 2015 through cooperative agreements with state health departments in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York. The three state programs targeted susceptible adult populations living in designated areas of contamination. Contaminants measured in all populations include mercury, lead, mirex, hexachlorobenzene, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and selected polychlorinated biphenyl congeners. In addition, some chemicals of emerging concern, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, were measured in several populations. The biomonitoring results helped guide public health actions to mitigate chemical exposures in these vulnerable Great Lakes populations. We provide an overview of the BGLP-I program's study populations, designs, and general methods. This overview provides a lead-in for subsequent manuscripts that present human biomonitoring data for legacy and emerging contaminants in culturally diverse susceptible populations-i.e., shoreline anglers, sport anglers, American Indians, and Burmese immigrants-residing in seven areas of concern.

Chemosphere, 2018

The decades-long disposal of manufacturing waste containing perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in l... more The decades-long disposal of manufacturing waste containing perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in landfills resulted in contamination of groundwater serving as the drinking water supply for the eastern Twin Cities metropolitan region. While measures were taken to reduce the levels of PFAS in the drinking water, questions remained about possible non-drinking water pathways of exposure in these communities. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) investigated whether PFAS in water used for yard and garden irrigation results in elevated concentrations of PFAS in soil and home-grown produce. In 2010, samples of outdoor tap water, garden soil, and garden produce were collected at homes impacted by the contamination and analyzed for several PFAS. Perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) was the primary PFAS present in water, followed by perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA). Although PFBA, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were present in 100% of soil samples at higher conc...