Objective: To investigate the effect of the Feldenkrais method versus core stability exercises on pain, disability, quality of life and interoceptive awareness in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain. Design: A single-blinded, randomised, controlled trial. Setting: Outpatient, sports medicine clinic of Mazandaran medical university. Participants: Sixty patients with chronic non-specific low back pain randomised equally into the Feldenkrais method versus core stability exercises groups. Intervention: Intervention group received Feldenkrais method consisting of training theoretical content and supervised exercise therapy two sessions per week for five weeks. Control group received educational programme and home-based core stability exercises for five weeks. Outcome measures: All patients were examined by World Health Organization’s Quality of life Questionnaire, McGill Pain Questionnaire, Oswestry Disability Questionnaire and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Questionnaire. All outcomes were measured at baseline and the end of the intervention Results: There were statistically significant differences between groups for quality of life ( P = 0.006, from 45.51 to 60.49), interoceptive awareness ( P > 0.001, from 2.74 to 4.06) and disability ( P = 0.021, from 27.17 to 14.5) in favour of the Feldenkrais method. McGill pain score significantly decreased in both the Feldenkrais (from 15.33 to 3.63) and control groups (from 13.17 to 4.17), but there were no between-groups differences ( P = 0.16). Conclusion: Feldenkrais method intervention gave increased benefits in improving quality of life, improving interoceptive awareness and reducing disability index.

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Rationale Acute restraint stress (ARS) is an experimental paradigm used for the induction of rodent models of stress-produced neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. β-carbolines and serotonin (5-HT) systems are involved in the modulation of depression and anxiety behaviors. Objective This study was designed to examine the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of cinanserin (5-HT2 receptor antagonist) on harmaline-induced responses on depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in the ARS mice. Methods For i.c.v. infusion, guide cannula was surgically implanted in the left lateral ventricle of mice. The ARS model was conducted via movement restraint at a period of 4 h. Depression- and anxiety-related behaviors were evaluated by forced swim test (FST) and elevated plus maze (EPM), respectively. Results The results displayed that the ARS mice showed depressive- and anxiety-like responses. I.p. administration of different doses of harmaline (0.31, 0.625 and 1.25 mg/kg) or i.c.v. microinjection of cinanserin (1, 2.5, and 5 μg/mouse) blocked depression- and anxiogenic-like behaviors in the ARS mice. Furthermore, co-administration of harmaline (1.25 mg/kg; i.p.) and cinanserin (5 μg/mouse; i.c.v.) prevented the depression- and anxiogenic-like effects in the ARS mice. We found a synergistic antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of harmaline and cinanserin in the ARS mice. Conclusions These results propose an interaction between harmaline and cinanserin to prevent depressive- and anxiogenic-like behaviors in the ARS mice.

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