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The acquired immobility response during the "forced swim test (FST)" is not a rodent model of depression, but the test has some validity in predicting a compound's antidepressant potential. Nevertheless, 60% of the about 600 papers that were published annually the past 2 years label the rodent's immobility response as depression‐like behaviour, but the relative contribution per country is changing. When the Editors‐in‐Chief of 5 journals publishing most FST papers were asked for their point of view on labelling immobility as depression‐like behaviour and despair, they responded that they primarily rely on the reviewers regarding scientific merit of the submission. One Editor informs authors of the recent NIMH notice (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice‐files/NOT‐MH‐19‐053.html) which encourages investigators to use animal models "for" addressing neurobiological questions rather than as model "of" specific mental disorders. The neurobiological questions raised by use of the FST fall in two categories. First, research on the role of endocrine and metabolic factors, with roots in the 1980s, and with focus on the bottom‐up action of glucocorticoids on circuits processing salient information, executive control and memory consolidation. Second, recent findings using novel technological and computational advances that have allowed great progress in charting top‐down control in the switch from active to passive coping with the inescapable stressor executed by neuronal ensembles of the medial prefrontal cortex via the peri‐aquaductal grey. It is expected that combining neural top‐down and endocrine bottom‐up approaches will provide new insights in the role of stress‐coping and adaptation in pathogenesis of mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: An increasing number of studies suggest possible beneficial effects of exercise in alleviating ADHD functional outcomes. The current study provides a quantitative meta-analysis of the available studies investigating this relationship. Method: Studies reporting on the effects of physical exercise on motor skills and executive functions in children with ADHD were identified through Cochrane, PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science databases. Ten publications were selected. Random-effects model was used to calculate effect sizes. Results: There was a significant effect of exercise on ADHD functional outcomes (g = 0.627). Longer exercise intervention duration was consistently associated with larger effect sizes. Effect sizes were not related to exercise intensity, mean age of participants, or gender distribution. Conclusion: Results suggest that exercise has a modest positive impact on ADHD functional outcomes, such as executive functions and motor skills, with longer interventions yielding better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study covers a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of self-reported deviant or disruptive personality traits: anger, aggression, hostility, antisocial traits, psychopathy, and impulsivity in forensic populations worldwide. A computer-based search of titles was carried out using the PubMed electronic database for articles published in English that included a self-report instrument for personality characteristics in combination with a forensic population (i.e. detained in remand, sentenced and/or in enforced treatment, or on parole). The final sample consisted of 39 studies (N = 11,716) that together used 17 different instruments and reported on 32 subscales or constructs that fitted our current interest. Results showed significantly higher levels of self-reported antisocial and psychopathic features in forensic samples, including a significant effect of the assessment instrument and subscale used. No significant differences were found for self-reported impulsivity, anger, aggression, or hostility in forensic populations compared to norm scores of non-forensic samples. Possible explanations, including suggestions that forensic populations are prone to providing socially desirable answers on self-report questionnaires, possibly to gain advantages such as a lower prison sentence or to avoid enforced treatment, are discussed, as well as limitations, and suggestions for future research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Whereas animal models indicate that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in anxiety-related behaviour, little is known about BDNF in patients with an anxiety disorder. We tested the hypothesis that serum BDNF levels are low in patients with an anxiety disorder as compared to healthy controls. We further examined the associations of gender and some of the clinical characteristics of anxiety with BDNF levels. Methods. Serum BDNF levels were determined in 393 unmedicated, non-depressed patients with social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalised anxiety disorder (66.7% females) and in 382 healthy controls (62.0% females). Results. Overall, there were no differences in BDNF levels among patients and controls, regardless of type of anxiety disorder. Analyses stratified by gender revealed that female patients had lower levels of BDNF relative to female controls ( P < 0.05, d = 0.19), which was stronger in female patients with > 1 anxiety disorder ( P < 0.01, d = 0.32). BDNF levels were similar among male patients and controls and unrelated to the clinical characteristics of anxiety. Conclusion. Our results mirror preclinical findings indicating that gender plays a role in the association between BDNF and anxiety and suggest that BDNF might play a role in the pathophysiology of anxiety in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]