For centuries, emotions and feelings have been considered a domain of poets, writers, novelists, or psychologists who have tried to explore their secretive natures. They have been debating the crucial question of what they are, without providing any exhaustive answer except magnificent descriptions of them or sophisticated psychodynamic interpretations.

Libido is the drive to have a sexual activity. Gonadal hormones play a major role in activating and maintaining libido in both men and women. Other hormones, though, interact with them in influencing sexuality, such as prolactin and also brain neurotransmitters. The role of hormones declines with age and sexuality becomes more mind-induced. Nevertheless, some aspects of sexuality remain linked to hormones. For example, a reduction of central arousability is typical of hypogonadal state. However, it is not clear at what level of androgen deficiency the loss of libido begins and if adequate external stimuli can overcome a partial deficiency.

The study of the psychobiological bases of boredom has been limited by the vagueness of its clinical constructs and the difficulties in applying adequate experimental models. The theoretical background of previous research mainly has been based upon cognitive and behavioral psychology by using neuropsychological constructs, such as arousal, attention, motivation, sensation-seeking, and the reward system. Recently acquired data depict a complex and fragmentary picture. In this article, the author presents a review of the literature as well as some personal considerations on this intriguing topic.

The origins of the word “shame” recall the concept of the infraction of integrity both as scandal and as individualization. The human experience of shame stretches along a continuum from modesty to disabling interpersonal terror. Unlike other basic affects, its emergence is a fundamental moment in the process of self-awareness and self-object differentiation. Neglected by psychiatry because it was regarded as a moral concept, today it is possible to hypothesize that it has a biologic basis that one can attempt to describe in terms of corticothalamic pathways. In this respect, like other affects, it could be considered as a cognitive shortcut to activate specific and evolutionally useful behavioral patterns, such as concealment or a request for affiliation. It is fairly ubiquitous in psychopathology, but is clinically much more structured in its abnormal expressions in anxiety disorders, particularly social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, and even in bipolar mood disorder. In schizophrenia it has been described as being one stage in the construction of delusion. Its presence is connected to interpersonal relationship (altruism) though it seems absent in autism. The assessment of shame experiences in psychiatric patients could be useful for both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic strategies, and could provide a categorization of a new psychopathology based on abnormal affects.

Emotional reactivity in infancy and early childhood may play a role in the regulation of brain plasticity and hemispheric organization, which has possible implications vulnerability to psychopathology. Empiric findings demonstrate the role of attachment patterns in emotional reactivity modulation and limbic circuitry shaping.

The diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)–associated cognitive-motor disorder—either minor cognitive-motor disorder (MCMD) or HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD)—is fraught with potential pitfalls for the clinician. Before making such a diagnosis, clinicians should exclude other etiologies by using neuroimaging, lumbar puncture, and serum chemistries to screen for opportunistic and non-opportunistic infections of the brain and meninges. Clinicians should also consider psychoneurotoxicity (caused from the use of psychoactive substances and prescribed medications) and psychopathology, such as mood, anxiety, and other disorders. In addition, a thorough medical history and physical examination, including a complete neurologic and neuropsychiatric mental status examination, are necessary for an accurate diagnosis. There is also a need for standardized neuropsychological and functional status tests, since the diagnostic criteria for these disorders are partly based on these criteria. Treatment targets should include subclinical cognitive-motor impairment and neuroprotection, as well as MCMD and HAD. Currently, zidovudine remains the best proven treatment for these disorders, but other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, as well as nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors, show promise, and selected agents from these classes are being tested in clinical trials. Other areas that should be investigated are the modulation of inflammatory mediators (such as tumor necrosis factor α), neurotransmitter manipulation (especially of dopamine), and nutritional interventions.

The obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum is a group of related disorders that appear to share symptomatology, neurobiology, and treatment response with obsessive-compulsive disorder. To collect data on the appreciation of the OC spectrum concept among clinicians, 800 participants completed a questionnaire to help determine their understanding and appreciation of this concept, at a workshop on the OC spectrum.