Dutch Hunger Winter

during World War II, a Nazi-imposed famine in the Netherlands from October 1944 to May 1945, the effects of which were later associated with an increased risk of mental illness in the offspring born to Dutch women who were pregnant at the time. In particular, evidence from epidemiological studies of the Dutch Hunger Winter and of a similarly severe famine in China from 1959 to 1961 suggests that prenatal exposure to maternal starvation and nutritional deficiency plays a role in an offspring’s later development of schizophrenia. Also called Hunger Winter. See also fetal programming.

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Psychology term of the day

December 26th 2024

anticholinergic effects

side effects that are characteristic of anticholinergic drugs and are also associated with other agents (e.g., tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that exert antagonist effects at muscarinic receptors. They include dry mouth, blurred vision, urinary hesitancy or retention, and constipation. Similar antagonistic effects may occur at nicotinic receptors as well. Depending on the specific receptors involved, these effects may also be called antimuscarinic effects or antinicotinic effects.