Phencyclidine-induced depressions of cerebellar purkinje neurons

Local administration of phencyclidine (PCP) by pressure ejection elicited a dose-dependent slowing of the spontaneous discharge of cerebellar Purkinje neurons. Ketamine also depressed firing and was much less potent than PCP. Effects of both PCP and ketamine were antagonized by local or parenteral administration of antipsychotic drugs. The similarities between the electrophysiological and behavioral actions of phencyclidine suggest that alterations in neuronal discharge may underlie its psychotomimetic properties.     

Polygraphic, clinical and therapeutic markers of dopamine-dependent depressions

Among patients referred for areactive depression who were polygraphically recorded after at least 2 weeks without any pharmacological treatment, some were found to present qualitative sleep symptoms similar to those already described in clinically diagnosed parkinsonian patients. A therapeutic trail with a dopamine agonist (Piribedil) was followed, in all of these patients, by a dramatic and rapid improvement of mood. As compared to areactive depressive patients whose sleep recordings were free of these qualitative abnormalities, some quantitative sleep criteria, mainly related to REM sleep, permit to diagnose this group of dopamine dependent depression (DDD). These data, together with the beneficial effect of Piribedil, favor a role of DA in the genesis of this type of depression. Some clinical signs now appear as sufficient to diagnose these DDD. The interest of this study is that all the patients (now 48), among whom no clinical parkinsonian symptoms were found, diagnosed according to the reported polygraphic criteria were cured following this treatment.     

The anterior buccal mandibular depressions: ontogeny and phylogeny

The frequency of an anterior buccal depression in the mandible (ABMD), or a mental fossa, is reported on 970 human mandibles of various groups and different ages, as well as in 38 mandibles of nonhuman primates. The ontogenetic and phylogenetic significance of the results relevant to development of a chin in Homo sapiens is discussed. The ABMD is also compared with the occurrence of a lingual mandibular depression.     

Miocene ostracods of Chuya and Kurai depressions of the southeastern Altai

Ostracods from the lacustrine–alluvial beds of intermontane troughs of the Altai Mountains are examined. Ostracods similar in species composition are recorded in the Lower–Middle Miocene of southeastern Kazakhstan. Changes in species composition and abundance of ostracods in the section of boreholes caused by changes in paleogeographical conditions of water bodies are analyzed. A new species of the genus Candona is described. For the previously known ostracod species, figures are provided.