Behavioural and physiological effects of binge eating: A systematic review and meta-analysis of animal models.

Binge eating is defined as eating abnormally large amounts in a brief period of time. Many animal studies have examined the behavioural and physiological effects of binge eating of high-fat, high-sugar foods to model the consequences of human binge eating. The present systematic review of 199 rodent studies sought to identify the behavioural and physiological consequences of binge eating and determine whether changes were specific to binge eating or to general effects of exposure to a palatable diet.

A bench-to-bedside narrative review of the sleep-social-oxytocin nexus.

Although recognition of the significant reciprocal interplay between sleep and social processes has grown over the past two decades, theoretical frameworks conceptualising this interplay have predominantly focused on psychosocial factors. The current lack of attention to putative neurobiological substrates and physiological mechanisms that may facilitate the dynamics of sleep-social relationships limits interdisciplinary research into sleep and clinical treatment of sleep problems and disorders. Thus, this narrative review hypothesises that the neuropeptide oxytocin represents a promising candidate physiological substrate underpinning sleep-social interplay, and integrates the endogenous oxytocin system into a novel tripartite biopsychosocial framework-the sleep-social-oxytocin nexus.

Emerging medications and pharmacological treatment approaches for substance use disorders.

Medications to treat substance use disorders (SUDs) remain suboptimal or, in the case of stimulants and cannabis, non-existent. Many factors have contributed to this paucity, including the biological complexity of addiction, regulatory challenges, and a historical lack of enthusiasm among pharmaceutical companies to commit resources to this disease space. Despite these headwinds, the recent opioid crisis has highlighted the devastating consequences of SUDs for both individuals and society, stimulating urgent efforts to identify novel treatment approaches.

A sleepy cannabis constituent: cannabinol and its active metabolite influence sleep architecture in rats.

Medicinal cannabis is being used worldwide and there is increasing use of novel cannabis products in the community. Cannabis contains the major cannabinoids, Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), but also an array of minor cannabinoids that have undergone much less pharmacological characterization. Cannabinol (CBN) is a minor cannabinoid used in the community in "isolate' products and is claimed to have pro-sleep effects comparable to conventional sleep medications.

Sex differences in the social motivation of rats: Insights from social operant conditioning, behavioural economics, and video tracking.

Background: Social behaviour plays a key role in mental health and wellbeing, and developing greater understanding of mechanisms underlying social interaction-particularly social motivation-holds substantial transdiagnostic impact. Common rodent behavioural assays used to assess social behaviour are limited in their assessment of social motivation, whereas the social operant conditioning model can provide unique and valuable insights into social motivation. Further characterisation of common experimental parameters that may influence social motivation within the social operant model, as well as complementary methodological and analytical approaches, are warranted.

Quiet wakefulness: the influence of intraperitoneal and intranasal oxytocin on sleep-wake behavior and neurophysiology in rats.

Study Objectives: Exogenous administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin exerts diverse effects on various neurobehavioral processes, including sleep and wakefulness. Since oxytocin can enhance attention to social and fear-related environmental cues, it should promote arousal and wakefulness. However, as oxytocin can attenuate stress, reduce activity, and elicit anxiolysis, oxytocin might also prime the brain for rest, and promote sleep.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of animal models of binge eating - Part 1: Definitions and food/drink intake outcomes.

Binge eating involves consuming excessive amounts of food within a discrete period of time and is associated with significant impairments in binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. While research on clinical binge eating has provided valuable aetiological insights, animal models allow for closer examination of environmental, biological, and developmental risk factors. Numerous animal models of binge eating exist and differ widely in operational definitions of bingeing, animal characteristics and methodological parameters.

Sucrose intake by rats affected by both intraperitoneal oxytocin administration and time of day.

Rationale: Daily limited access to palatable food or drink at a fixed time is commonly used in rodent models of bingeing. Under these conditions, entrainment may modulate intake patterns. Oxytocin is involved in circadian patterns of intake and, when administered peripherally, reduces sucrose intake.

The influence of oxytocin-based interventions on sleep-wake and sleep-related behaviour and neurobiology: A systematic review of preclinical and clinical studies.

The oxytocin (OXT) system has garnered considerable interest due to its influence on diverse behaviours. However, scant research has considered the influence of oxytocin on sleep-wake and sleep-related behaviour and neurobiology. Consequently, the objective of this systematic review was to assess the extant preclinical and clinical evidence for the influence of oxytocin-based interventions on sleep-wake outcomes.

Acute alcohol exposure dose-dependently alleviates social avoidance in adolescent mice and inhibits social investigation in adult mice.

Background: Motivations for alcohol consumption often focus on ethanol's purported prosocial effects: social enhancement and reduction of socially focused anxiety. Despite substantial research supporting prosocial effects, contrary research exists demonstrating alcohol-elicited antisocial and asocial behaviours. Additionally, evidence typically fails to delineate whether alcohol-induced prosocial effects are due to alcohol expectancies or pharmacological actions of ethanol.

Oxytocin and vasopressin inhibit hyper-aggressive behaviour in socially isolated mice.

Despite the high prevalence of aggression across a wide range of disorders, there is a severe lack of pharmacological treatments. Recent rodent studies have shown both centrally and peripherally administered oxytocin is effective in reducing territorial aggression, an adaptive form of aggression not reflective of pathological hyper-aggression. The current study tested i.

Contexts Paired with Junk Food Impair Goal-Directed Behavior in Rats: Implications for Decision Making in Obesogenic Environments.

The high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic diseases calls for greater understanding of the factors that drive excess energy intake. Calorie-dense palatable foods are readily available and often are paired with highly salient environmental cues. These cues can trigger food-seeking and consumption in the absence of hunger.