Interleaved rather than repetitive practice is associated with superior retention of motor skills. It has been argued that this results from improved post-practice consolidation reflected in greater offline gains following interleaved practice. The magnitude of this offline benefit has been associated with greater recruitment of supplementary motor area (SMA) during encoding. The present study administered

High impulsivity characterizes a myriad of neuropsychiatric diseases, and identifying targets for neuropharmacological intervention to reduce impulsivity could reveal transdiagnostic treatment strategies. Motor impulsivity (impulsive action) reflects in part the failure of “top-down” executive control by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The present study profiled the complete set of mRNA molecules

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that selectively affects upper and lower motoneurons. Dismantlement of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is an early pathological hallmark of the disease whose cellular origin remains still debated. We developed an in vitro NMJ model to investigate the differential contribution of motoneurons and muscle cells expressing ALS-causing

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neuronal dementia with progressive memory loss. Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides has major effect in the neurodegenerative disorder, which are thought to promote mitochondrial dysfunction in AD brains. Anti-AD drugs acting upon the brain are generally difficult to develop, often cause serious side effects or lack therapeutic efficacy. Numerous studies have shown the beneficial

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social communication deficits and repetitive/stereotyped behaviours. We evaluated the effects of a chronic treatment with the immunomodulator drug Fingolimod (FTY720 - a non-selective Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor ligand) in an ASD model, the BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) mouse strain. In adult BTBR males, chronic FTY720 treatment

The arcuate nucleus (ARH) is an important hypothalamic area for the homeostatic control of feeding and other metabolic functions. In the ARH, proopiomelanocortin- (POMC) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons play a key role in the central regulation of metabolism. These neurons are influenced by circulating factors, such as leptin and growth hormone (GH). The objective of the present

Motor imagery (MI) is the mental simulation of an action without any apparent muscular contraction. By means of transcranial magnetic stimulation, few studies revealed a decrease of short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) within the primary motor cortex. However, this decrease is ambiguous, as one would expect greater inhibition during MI to prevent overt motor output. The current study investigated

Ocular dominance plasticity beyond the critical period has been demonstrated in adult humans in recent investigations of short-term monocular deprivation (MD). To our knowledge, all previous research adopted non-natural synthetic stimuli in testing perceptual ocular dominance before and after the MD. However, it is recognized that complex natural stimuli may engage cortical mechanisms substantially

Inflammatory damage following ICH is often attributed to microglia/macrophage activation. In many diseases, IL-4 has been proven to switch microglia/macrophages from the pro-inflammatory to the anti-inflammatory subtype. However, the role and underlying mechanism of IL-4 in ICH, especially in neuroprotection, remain unknown. In our study, we constructed a microglia/macrophage polarization model in

Demyelination significantly affects brain function. Several experimental methods, each inducing varying levels of myelin and neuronal damage, have been developed to understand the process of myelin loss and to find new therapies to promote remyelination. The present work investigates the effect of one such method, lysolecithin administration, on the white matter tracts in the olfactory system. The

Astrocytes, a major type of glial cell, are known to play key supportive roles in brain function, contributing to ion and neurotransmitter homeostasis, maintaining the blood-brain barrier and providing trophic and metabolic support for neurons. Besides these support functions, astrocytes are emerging as important elements in brain physiology through signaling exchange with neurons at tripartite synapses

Many studies have investigated the perception of tactile pleasantness over a range of stroking velocities. On average, pleasantness is low at slow (e.g. 0.3 cm/s) and fast (e.g. 30 cm/s) stroking velocities, but is rated highest at velocities between 1-10 cm/s. On a group level, this results in an inverted-U shape pleasantness ratings curve, which is described statistically by a negative quadratic

Bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure can affect cognitive functions of rodents and humans. However, whether information inputs for these functions in the brain are perturbed by BPA remains unclear. Here, visual perception in rats was assessed by testing their ability to discriminate between vertical and horizontal grating. We found that BPA exposure (1 mg/kg/day) during gestation and lactation markedly decreased

The extent of the networks that control the genesis and modulation of hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (SPW-Rs), which are involved in memory consolidation, remains incompletely understood. Here, we performed a detailed in vivo analysis of single cell firing in the lateral supramammillary nucleus (lSuM) during theta and slow oscillations, including SPW-Rs, in anesthetized rats. We classified neurons

Monoamine neuronal system abnormality is hypothesized to be the neurochemical pathology in depression, as is supported by the efficacy of conventional anti-depressants. The learned helplessness paradigm generates depression-like (LH) and non-depression-like (non-LH) behavioral models. Examination of the neurochemical states accompanying such distinct behavioral phenotypes can facilitate investigations

Accumulating evidence points to a significant link between disrupted circadian rhythms and neuronal disfunctions, though the molecular mechanisms underlying this connection are virtually unexplored. The transcript Homer1a, an immediate early gene related to postsynaptic signaling, has been demonstrated to exhibit robust circadian oscillation in the brain, which supports the hypothesis that Homer1a

The ability to perceive differences in environmental contrast is critical for navigating complex environments safely. People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) report a multitude of visual and cognitive deficits which may impede safe obstacle negotiation and increase fall risk. Enhancing obstacle contrast may influence the content of visual information acquired within complex environments and thus target

The transcriptional coactivator peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a critical regulator of genes involved in neuronal metabolism, neurotransmission, and morphology. Reduced PGC-1α expression has been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. An understanding of PGC-1α’s roles in different cell types will help determine the functional consequences

Long non-coding RNA MALAT1 was previously revealed to express abnormally in animal and cellular models of stroke, suggesting its indispensable role in stroke. The aims of the present study were to further investigate the functions of MALAT1 and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Oxygen glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation (OGD/R) challenge was used in human brain microvascular endothelial

Noise-induced hidden hearing loss (NIHHL), one of the family of conditions described as noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), is characterized by synaptopathy following moderate noise exposure that causes only temporary threshold elevation. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) mediate several essential regulatory functions in a wide range of biological processes and diseases, but their roles in NIHHL remain

The growing presence of artificial lighting across the globe presents a number of challenges to human and ecological health despite its societal benefits. Exposure to artificial light at night, a seemingly innocuous aspect of modern life, disrupts behavior and physiological functions. Specifically, light at night induces neuroinflammation, which is implicated in neuropathic and nociceptive pain states

Object prehension typically includes a transport phase (reaching) and a grip phase (grasping). Within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), grasping movements have been traditionally associated to a lateral activation, although recent monkey evidence suggests also a medial involvement. Here, we wanted to determine whether grasping-related activities are present in the human dorsomedial parietal cortex

Individuals with pain report higher sensory disturbances during sensorimotor conflicts compared to pain-free individuals. In the pain field, it is frequently assumed that disturbances arise from a discordance between sensory and efference copies (defined as sensory-motor conflict), while in the sensorimotor control field they are considered to result from the incongruence between sensory modalities

Sleep deprivation (SD) is a common issue in today’s society. Sleep is essential for proper cognitive functions, including learning and memory. Furthermore, sleep disorders can alter pain information processing. Meanwhile, hippocampal nicotinic receptors have a role in modulating pain and memory. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of dorsal hippocampal (CA1) nicotinic receptors on behavioral

tiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs generated by angiogenin-mediated tRNA cleavage during cellular stress. Some tiRNAs were shown to be cytoprotective, while other reports indicate that the generation of tiRNAs is cytotoxic. We used rat model of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury to study the generation and regulation of tiRNAs following in vivo I/R and the impact of neuroprotective therapy

In this study we focused on gene expression and behavioral differences in mice with brain-specific Commd1 knockout. Commd1 is an imprinted gene with preferential maternal expression, residing within a larger genomic region previously found to affect sensorimotor gating. In this study, individuals harboring a conditional Commd1 mutant allele were bred with Syn1-Cre animals, paying special attention

Wallerian degeneration (WD) and axon regeneration generally take place following peripheral nerve injury (PNI). Schwann cells (SCs) and macrophages play major role in WD. SCs, acting as repair cells and primary signal mediators, dedifferentiate and proliferate to remove the debris, form Büngner’s bands and secrete trophic factors during these processes. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly

The human right inferior frontal cortex (IFC) plays a critical role in response inhibition. It has also been demonstrated that the IFC is heterogeneous and that the ventral part of the IFC (vIFC) is more critical to inhibition of prepotent response tendency. Recent areal parcellation analyses based on resting-state functional connectivity have revealed that the right vIFC consists of multiple functional

Synaptic plasticity, such as long term potentiation (LTP) and long term depression (LTD), underlies the cellular mechanism of learning and memory. Chemical-induced LTP, which facilitates biochemical analysis of molecular changes in brain slices or neuronal cultures, has been accepted as an in vitro model to explore synaptic plasticity. Chemical-induced LTP, by either forskolin and rolipram or glycine

Interoceptive inputs are ascending information from the internal body. Cortical activities have been shown to be elicited by interoceptive inputs from the heartbeat at approximately 200–600 ms after the R wave, and sensory processing is modulated by the heartbeat within the time window. However, the influence of interoceptive inputs and their timing on corticospinal excitability has not yet been fully

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a relatively rare neurological disease that is usually associated with antibodies to the acetylcholine receptor (AChR). These antibodies (Abs) cause loss of the AChRs from the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), resulting in muscle weakness, that can be life-threatening. Another form of the disease is caused by antibodies to muscle specific kinase (MuSK) that result in impaired

Recently, alterations of complexity due to brain disorders have been demonstrated using brain entropy (BEN), while the changes of brain complexity in stroke, a common cerebrovascular disease, remain unclear. In this research, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed to explore the alterations of brain complexity using BEN in twenty stroke patients with motor deficits

Sleep loss or insomnia is among the contributing factors of cognitive deficit, the underlying mechanisms of which remain largely elusive. The endocannabinoid (eCB) system plays a role in sleep, while it is unknown if it is involved in the regulation of memory retrieval by sleep deprivation. In addition, it still controversial how rapid-eye-movement sleep deprivation (REMSD) affects the spatial memory

In this study, we investigated the potential role of C-X-C chemokine receptor type (CXCR) 5 in neurocognitive function in a mouse model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). Adult male C57BL/6J mice received intracereboroventricular injections of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against CXCR5 or scrambled control siRNA. After 3 days, SAE was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP, n=16 per

GABAB-receptors (GABAB-Rs) are metabotropic, G protein-coupled receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA. Their activation induces slow inhibitory control of the neuronal excitability mediated by pre- and postsynaptic inhibition. Presynaptically GABAB-Rs reduce GABA and glutamate release inhibiting presynaptic Ca2+ channels in both inhibitory and excitatory synapses while postsynaptic GABAB induces robust

Background Recent studies have demonstrated that programmed necrosis (necroptosis) is a delayed component of ischemic neuronal injury and our previous study has shown that pannexin 1 channel is involved in cerebral ischemic injury and cellular inflammatory response. Here, we examined whether the pannexin 1 channel inhibitor, 10panx, could reduce focal ischemic brain injury in rats by inhibiting cellular

Causal factors of psychiatric diseases are unclear, due to gene×environment interactions. Evaluation of consequences, after a dopamine-transporter (DAT) gene knock-out (DAT-KO), has enhanced understanding the pathological dynamics of several brain disorders, such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity and Bipolar-Affective disorders. Recently, our attention has shifted to DAT hypo-functional (heterozygous

The cerebellum is involved in the coordination of movement. Its cellular composition is dominated by GABAergic neuronal types, and glial cells are known to express functional receptors. GABAergic signaling regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration during neurodevelopment. However, little is known about the functional expression of GABA receptors in the cerebellar white matter (WM)

In the olfactory system, the endocannabinoid system (ECS) regulates sensory perception and memory. A major structure involved in these processes is the anterior piriform cortex (aPC), but the impact of ECS signaling in aPC circuitry is still scantly characterized. Using ex vivo patch clamp experiments in mice and neuroanatomical approaches, we show that the two major forms of ECS-dependent synaptic

Although the recognition of facial expressions seems automatic and effortless, discrimination of expressions can still be error prone. Common errors are often due to visual similarities between some expressions (e.g., fear and surprise). However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying such a confusion effect. To address this question, we recorded the magnetoencephalography (MEG) while

The fact that neurobiological research is reliant upon laboratory-reared rodents is well known. The following paper discusses this topic broadly, but also aims to highlight other species used in the study of the nervous system and the evolution of animal species usage from the end of World War II through recent investigations. Attention is drawn to the dramatic reduction in the diversity of species

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent type of dementia affecting older people. The identification of biomarkers is increasingly important and would be crucial for future therapy. Here, we demonstrated that in AD erythrocytes: i) the anion transporter band3 is highly phosphorylated; ii) the lyn kinase is phosphorylated and activated; iii) the tyrosine phosphatase activity is downregulated,

Here we investigated effects of intramuscular (i.m.) heating-needle stimulation on persistent muscle nociception evoked by i.m. injection of different doses (50-200 µl) of complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) in rats. Paw withdrawal reflexes evoked by noxious mechanical and heat stimulation as well as hind limb swelling were determined prior to and two weeks after the CFA injection. The unilateral injection

The Src family kinase (SFK) is a subfamily of non-receptor tyrosine kinases. The SFK member Fyn is enriched at synaptic sites in the limbic reward circuit and plays a pivotal role in the regulation of glutamate receptors. In this study, we investigated changes in phosphorylation and function of the two key SFK members (Fyn and Src) and SFK interactions with a metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor

Autism Spectrum Disorder and epilepsy are two neurodevelopmental disorders that have a high comorbidity rate, suggesting that a common neurodevelopmental mechanism exists. However, to date there is no conclusive way to predict whether a child will develop either syndrome or both and to what degree associated phenotypes will be affected. Failure to consistently identify predictive patterns of ASD and/or

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by neurodegeneration of nigrostriatal neurons, resulting in dopamine (DA) stimulated motor deficits. Like brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), 7,8-dihydroxyflavone (DHF) is an agonist of the tropomyosin receptor kinase-B (TrkB) receptor and stimulates the same secondary cascades that promote neuronal growth, survival and differentiation. We used our progressive

Mechanisms initiated by traumatic brain injury (TBI), leading to the development of progressive secondary injury are poorly understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a proposed role in orchestrating the post-injury aftermath as a single miRNA can control the expression of several genes. We hypothesized that the post-injury level of circulating brain-enriched miR-124-3p explains the extent of post-TBI cortical

Myeloid zinc finger 1 (MZF1) belongs to the Kruppel family of zinc-finger transcription factors. Recent studies have demonstrated that in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, MZF1 is involved in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. However, the role of MZF1 in inflammatory pain still remains unknown. In the present study, the mechanism of MZF1 in chronic inflammatory pain was investigated

Protein and miRNA enrichment within extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been shown to have putative diagnostic value. However, whether a combination of both will be more advantageous is unknown. EVs were enriched from serum samples obtained from patients with sporadic AD (n=13), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n=10), vascular dementia (VaD) (n=10)

Our choices are often informed by temporally integrating streams of sensory information. This has been well demonstrated in the visual and auditory domains, but the integration of tactile information over time has been less studied. We designed an active touch task in which subjects explored a spheroid-shaped object to determine its inclination with respect to the horizontal plane (inclined to the

Rotational uncertainty refers to the fact that the reaction time (RT) for identifying an upright stimulus is longer when the target stimulus is presented in a sequence of stimuli with different orientations (SU condition) than upright stimuli only (AU condition). Up until now, the rotational uncertainty effect has been only revealed by behavior measures, and its underlying neural mechanism remains

Survivals after prenatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) usually suffer long-lasting cognitive defects. Reduced blood-oxygen supplies and the following reperfusion cause mitochondrial injury. Damaged mitochondria could be replaced by mitochondrial biogenesis program and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α (PGC-1α) is the specific up-regulator. The objective of this study was to determine

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling has been shown to be involved in regulating both intact and injured peripheral nerves. Therefore, it is critical to understand how Hh signaling is regulated in the peripheral nerve. One of the transcription factors of the Hh signaling pathway, Gli3, functions as both a repressor and an activator of Hh signaling activity. However, it remains unclear whether Gli3 is involved in

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor neuron loss and gliosis in the spinal cord, brain stem and cortex. The Notch signaling pathway has been reported to be dysfunctional in neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS. However, the exact mechanism is still unclear. Here, we detected Notch signaling activation in proliferating glial cells, Notch

We recently demonstrated that NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are capable of ion-flux independent signaling through conformational change in the NMDAR intracellular domain resulting in long-term depression of synaptic transmission (LTD). Here we show that PSD-95 overexpression blocks agonist induced conformational movement in the NMDAR intracellular domain as well as LTD that is NMDAR-dependent and ion-flux