Luiz Henrique Junqueira Dieckmann

Cocaine use affects approximately 13.4 million people, or 0.3% of the world's population between 15 and 64 years of age. Several authors have described drug addiction as a disease of the brain reward system. Given that the cholinergic system impacts reward mechanisms and drug self-administration, acetylcholine (ACh) might play an important role in the cocaine addiction process. We evaluated the efficacy of biperiden (a cholinergic antagonist) in reducing craving and the amount used, and ...

CONTEXTO: A disfunção sexual é frequente entre pacientes com esquizofrenia, sendo relatada como um dos mais incômodos efeitos adversos dos antipsicóticos, e está diretamente relacionada com adesão ao tratamento. OBJETIVOS: a) avaliar a acurácia da Escala de Experiência Sexual do Arizona (ASEX) para identificar a disfunção sexual; b) avaliar a frequência da disfunção sexual em uma amostra de pacientes do espectro da esquizofrenia em tratamento com antipsicóticos; e c) investigar o efeito ...

OBJECTIVES: 1 - Verify the prevalence of depressive symptoms in first to fourth-year medical students using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). 2 - Establish correlations between target factors and higher or lower BDI scores. 3 - Investigate the relationship between the prevalence of depressive symptoms and the demand for psychological care offered by the Centro Universitário Lusíada. METHOD: Cross-sectional study of 290 first to fourth-year medical students; implementation of the BDI, ...

Even though dopamine plays a central role in the reward system, other neurotransmitters are involved in the search for reinforcement. Cholinergic and dopaminergic systems together seem to coordinate the reinforcing function underlying drug consumption and addiction. Preclinical models including neurochemical and behavioral studies have shown effects of cholinergic agonists and antagonists on cocaine reinforcement. Recently, a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized study showed that ...