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Introduction: Sexual addiction is known as a disorder that afflicts a person with difficulty in controlling or delaying sexual behaviors. To prevent social, physical, and psychological consequences, validated screening tests are needed to diagnose this disorder. One of these tests is established by Carnes with the name of sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R). In this study, SAST-R has been translated and verified in the Persian language. Methods: The original screening test was translated into the Persian language and also back-translated for matching by two separate expert teams. The data was collected through an online survey of 1268 participants who were in the age range of 18 to 65 years (Mean±SD 29.44±6.90), and 56.1% and 43.9% of the population were women and men, respectively. Three questionnaires, including the SAST-R, the hypersexual behavior consequences scale, and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale as the principal, convergent, and divergent tests were administered to the participants. Results: The reliability of the test's internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.883), split-half (Cronbach α=0.779), and Guttman (lambda coefficients were between 0.773 to 0.883) tests were used. In addition, 4 methods of content validity (sexual hyperactivity specialist approved), convergent structure validity (P<0.001, R=0.731), the validity of divergent structure (P<0.09, R=-0.132), and factor validity (comparative fit index=0.884, goodness of fit index=0.873, root mean square error of approximation=0.047) were measured and confirmed the validity of the test. Conclusion: The Persian version of SAST-R is a reliable preclinical tool to assess the severity of sexual desire in patients. Highlights: The Persian version of sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R) serves as a dependable pre-clinical instrument for evaluating the intensity of sexual desire in patients.Expose various subsets of the original questionnaire that explore different aspects, such as understanding sexual orientation.Proposed cutting-off scores as the guidelines for clinicians to distinguish various aspects of the original questionnaire. Plain Language Summary: This study translated and validated the sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R) in Persian. The study involved 1,268 participants who completed the translated test and other questionnaires. Results showed that the Persian version of the SAST-R is a reliable tool for assessing the severity of sexual desire in patients. It demonstrated good internal consistency, reliability, and validity. This validated screening test is important for diagnosing sexual addiction in Persian-speaking individuals, enabling healthcare professionals to identify and support those struggling with the disorder.

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Several spinal motor output and essential rhythmic behaviors are controlled by supraspinal structures, although their contribution to neuronal networks for respiration and locomotion at birth still requires better characterization. As preparations of isolated brainstem and spinal networks only focus on local circuitry, we introduced the in vitro central nervous system (CNS) from neonatal rodents to simultaneously record a stable respiratory rhythm from both cervical and lumbar ventral roots (VRs).Electrical pulses supplied to multiple sites of brainstem evoked distinct VR responses with staggered onset in the rostro-caudal direction. Stimulation of ventrolateral medulla (VLM) resulted in higher events from homolateral VRs. Stimulating a lumbar dorsal root (DR) elicited responses even from cervical VRs, albeit small and delayed, confirming functional ascending pathways. Oximetric assessments detected optimal oxygen levels on brainstem and cortical surfaces, and histological analysis of internal brain structures indicated preserved neuron viability without astrogliosis. Serial ablations showed precollicular decerebration reducing respiratory burst duration and frequency and diminishing the area of lumbar DR and VR potentials elicited by DR stimulation, while pontobulbar transection increased the frequency and duration of respiratory bursts. Keeping legs attached allows for expressing a respiratory rhythm during hindlimb stimulation. Trains of pulses evoked episodes of fictive locomotion (FL) when delivered to VLM or to a DR, the latter with a slightly better FL than in isolated cords.In summary, suprapontine centers regulate spontaneous respiratory rhythms, as well as electrically evoked reflexes and spinal network activity. The current approach contributes to clarifying modulatory brain influences on the brainstem and spinal microcircuits during development. Novel preparation of the entire isolated CNS from newborn rats unveils suprapontine modulation on brainstem and spinal networks. Preparation views (A) with and without legs attached (B). Successful fictive respiration occurs with fast dissection from P0-P2 rats (C). Decerebration speeds up respiratory rhythm (D) and reduces spinal reflexes derived from both ventral and dorsal lumbar roots (E).

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Correct operation of neuronal networks depends on the interplay between synaptic excitation and inhibition processes leading to a dynamic state termed balanced network. In the spinal cord, balanced network activity is fundamental for the expression of locomotor patterns necessary for rhythmic activation of limb extensor and flexor muscles. After spinal cord lesion, paralysis ensues often followed by spasticity. These conditions imply that, below the damaged site, the state of balanced networks has been disrupted and that restoration might be attempted by modulating the excitability of sublesional spinal neurons. Because of the widespread expression of inhibitory GABAergic neurons in the spinal cord, their role in the early and late phases of spinal cord injury deserves full attention. Thus, an early surge in extracellular GABA might be involved in the onset of spinal shock while a relative deficit of GABAergic mechanisms may be a contributor to spasticity. We discuss the role of GABA A receptors at synaptic and extrasynaptic level to modulate network excitability and to offer a pharmacological target for symptom control. In particular, it is proposed that activation of GABA A receptors with synthetic GABA agonists may downregulate motoneuron hyperexcitability (due to enhanced persistent ionic currents) and, therefore, diminish spasticity. This approach might constitute a complementary strategy to regulate network excitability after injury so that reconstruction of damaged spinal networks with new materials or cell transplants might proceed more successfully.

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INTRODUCTION: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the most common debilitating mental disorders with a prevalence rate of 2% to 3% in the general population. Previous studies have indicated abnormalities in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of OCD patients; thus, we decided to use transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) to decline these patients' symptoms. METHODS: A total of 24 patients with OCD participated in this study with the hope of improvement after the application of tDCS. The subjects were randomly assigned to three groups of Sham, Right DLPFC, and Left DLPFC. tDCS was applied for five consecutive days and in each session, patients were subjected to 2 mA current flow for two 15 minutes followed by a 10-minute rest in between (every session lasted for 40 minutes). RESULTS: Subsequently, the changes in obsessive-compulsive level and cognitive functions were evaluated via Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) by comparing the results before (pre-test) and after (post-test) tDCS treatment. CONCLUSION: Ultimately, the scores of the Yale-Brown scale in the Left DLPFC group showed significant changes after treatment with tDCS (mean difference compared to the sham group: -6.18 and P≤0.05). Hereupon, this study demonstrated that transcranial direct current stimulation may cause improvements in symptoms of OCD.

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spinal cord injury (SCI) is a traumatic damage that can causes a loss of neurons around the lesion site and resulting in locomotor and sensory deficits. Currently, there is widely attempts in improvement of treatment strategy and cell delivering to the central nervous system (CNS). The usage of hyaluronic acid (HA), the main components of the ECM in CNS tissue and neural stem cells (NSCs) niche, is a good selection that can increase of viability and differentiation of NSCs. Importantly, we demonstrate that encapsulation of human embryonic stem cell derived-neural stem cells (hESC-NS) in HA-based hydrogel can increased differentiation these cells into oligodendrocytes and improved locomotor function.

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A large number of treatment approaches have been used for spinal cord injury improvement, a medically incurable disorder, and subsequently stem cell transplantation appears to be a promising strategy. The main objective of this study is to ascertain whether combinational therapy of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) together with lithium chloride improves cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation in a rat spinal contusion model, or not. Contusive spinal cord injury was implemented on Wistar male rats. Experimental groups comprised of: control, hNSCs transplanted, lithium chloride (Li), and hNSCs and lithium chloride (hNSCs + Li). In every experimental group, locomotor activity score and motor evoked potential (MEP) were performed to evaluate motor recovery as well as histological assessments to determine mechanisms of improvement. In accordance with our results, the hNSCs + Li and the Li groups showed significant improvement in locomotor scores and MEP. Also, Histological assessments revealed that transplanted hNSCs are capable of differentiation and migration along the spinal cord. Although NESTIN-positive cells were proliferated significantly in the Lithium group in comparison with control and the hNSCs + Li groups, the quantity of ED1 cells in the hNSCs + Li was significantly larger than the other two groups. Our results demonstrate that combinational therapy of hNSCs with lithium chloride and lithium chloride individually are adequate for ameliorating more than partial functional recovery and endogenous repair in spinal cord-injured rats.

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