Article
Psychology, Biological
Saeed Naghibi, Mohammad Shariatzadeh Joneydi, Ali Barzegari, Azam Davoodabadi, Amirhossein Ebrahimi, Elham Eghdami, Narges Fahimpour, Mahmood Ghorbani, Ehsan Mohammadikia, Mozhgan Rostami, Ali-Akbar Salari
Summary: The study demonstrated that treadmill exercise could reduce depression-related behaviors in rats with Alzheimer-like disease, with varying effects in males and females. Exercise decreased body weight, food intake, depression symptoms, and inflammatory cytokines, while increasing anti-inflammatory factors and BDNF levels.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Vishwa Goudar, Barbara Peysakhovich, David J. Freedman, Elizabeth A. Buffalo, Xiao-Jing Wang
Summary: Learning-to-learn refers to the progressive acceleration of solving a series of problems with shared structure. This study demonstrates that in recurrent neural networks, learning-to-learn emerges through the reuse and refinement of a neural state subspace underlying schema formation. It is a core process of knowledge acquisition, attracting attention in both neuroscience and artificial intelligence. The study trained a recurrent neural network model on arbitrary sensorimotor mappings dependent on the prefrontal cortex, showing an exponential time course of accelerated learning. The emergence and reuse of a schema within a low-dimensional population activity subspace facilitate learning by restricting connection weight changes.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Michael Noback, Gongliang Zhang, Noelle White, James C. Barrow, Gregory V. Carr
Summary: Social isolation is a growing public health concern that increases the risk of psychiatric disorders later in life. Studies on isolation in mice have shown neurological abnormalities in the brain, but the mechanism linking isolation experience to these phenotypes is unclear. New research indicates that transcription factors like Delta FosB and FosB are upregulated in the cortex and hippocampus of isolated mice, providing a potential link between post-weaning social isolation and associated neurological abnormalities.
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Lilya Andrianova, Steliana Yanakieva, Gabriella Margetts-Smith, Shivali Kohli, Erica S. Brady, John P. Aggleton, Michael T. Craig
Summary: The connectivity and interplay between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are important for cognitive processes, but the existence of a direct glutamatergic projection from the anterior cingulate cortex to the hippocampus has been questioned. In this study, multiple methods were used to validate a recent finding of this projection, but no evidence of such a projection was found.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrea Cardenas, Alexander Papadogiannis, Eugene Dimitrov
Summary: Our study revealed that injection of CFA induced inflammatory pain leading to decreased thermal thresholds in both male and female mice. However, only male mice showed anxiety-like behavior and cognitive deficits, while females were unaffected. Additionally, our findings suggest that dysregulation of the top-down control of locus ceruleus's activity by the medial prefrontal cortex may contribute to sex differences in cognitive effects associated with inflammatory pain.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
C. E. Matisz, M. Patel, N. S. Hong, R. J. McDonald, A. J. Gruber
Summary: Chronic inflammatory diseases are often associated with anxiety in humans. This study found that prolonged gut inflammation is sufficient to induce anxiety-related behaviors in mice. The research suggests that chronic inflammation may affect memory consolidation processes, leading to the generalization of negative associations and fearful responses in inappropriate contexts.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jamshid Faraji, Hamid Lotfi, Alireza Moharrerie, S. Yaghoob Jafari, Nasrin Soltanpour, Rosa Tamannaiee, Kameran Marjani, Shabnam Roudaki, Farhad Naseri, Reza Moeeini, Gerlinde A. S. Metz
Summary: The early environment plays a critical role in brain development, and the type of stimulation (physical or social) can have different effects. In this study, male and female rats were subjected to physical and social environmental enrichment, and it was found that physical stimulation improved motor and cognitive functions, as well as the expression of BDNF in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, the combination of physical and social enrichment had better effects on females, with increased functional and structural changes, as well as elevated levels of oxytocin and BDNF expression in the mPFC.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Evelyn Ordones Sanchez, Debra A. Bangasser
Summary: Impulsivity is a common symptom in various psychiatric disorders, and early life stress has been found to affect impulsive behaviors and brain circuits associated with impulsivity, which is essential for developing treatments aimed at reducing impulsivity symptoms in psychiatric disorders.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Aaron Y. Lai, Paolo Bazzigaluppi, Christopher D. Morronel, Mary E. Hill, Bojana Stefanovic, JoAnne McLaurin
Summary: Mid-life hypertension is a major risk factor for developing dementia later in life. This study found that transient hypertension can cause irreversible brain damage, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. The observed cognitive deficits may be linked to the vulnerability of the connectivity between these two brain regions. This research provides a mechanistic link between transient hypertension and long-term dementia risk.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Toya Okonogi, Takuya Sasaki
Summary: Studying rodent models has revealed the intricate relationship between neuronal oscillations in the brain and emotional behavior as well as psychiatric disorders. Specifically focusing on theta-range (4-12 Hz) oscillations offers insights into potential therapeutic interventions for ameliorating psychiatric symptoms and disorders in both rodents and humans.
FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Zhiqian Yu, Kazuko Ueno, Ryo Funayama, Mai Sakai, Naoki Nariai, Kaname Kojima, Yoshie Kikuchi, Xue Li, Chiaki Ono, Junpei Kanatani, Jiro Ono, Kazuya Iwamoto, Kenji Hashimoto, Kengo Kinoshita, Keiko Nakayama, Masao Nagasaki, Hiroaki Tomita
Summary: This study investigated the transcriptional profiles in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to understand the clinical and biological differences of schizophrenia between males and females. The results showed that females with schizophrenia had more significantly changed genes compared to males, and these changes were mainly related to mitochondrial, ATP- and metal ion-binding relevant biological processes. The differentially expressed genes related to schizophrenia in females were involved in midbrain dopaminergic and GABA-ergic neurons and microglia. Additionally, analysis of a murine model revealed that the methylation and transcriptional expression of the ACSBG1 locus potentially impact the sex differences in gene transcription.
MOLECULAR NEUROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Elif Funda Sener, Halime Dana, Reyhan Tahtasakal, Zuhal Hamurcu, Serpil Taheri, Nesrin Delibasi, Ecmel Mehmetbeyoglu, Zeynep Yilmaz Sukranli, Fatma Dal, Esra Tufan, Asli Okan Oflamaz, Zuleyha Doganyigit, Yusuf Ozkul, Minoo Rassoulzadegan
Summary: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by repetitive behaviors, lack of social interaction and communication. The risk gene CC2D1A has been identified in patients with ASD. In this study, we found that heterozygous Cc2d1a mice exhibited impaired autophagy in the hippocampus, resulting in alterations in autophagy markers in different brain regions. We also observed variations in gene expression levels and suggested that aberrations in autophagy may contribute to synapse alteration in the ASD brain.
PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Shirelle X. Liu, Tenille K. Fredrickson, Natalia Calixto Mancipe, Michael K. Georgieff, Phu V. Tran
Summary: Fetal-neonatal iron deficiency (ID) causes long-term neurocognitive and affective dysfunctions, with sex-specific effects that are poorly understood at the molecular level. In this study using a rat model, both ID and prenatal choline treatment induced sex-specific transcriptome alterations in the adult rat hippocampus. ID induced changes in gene networks related to enhanced neuroinflammation, while choline supplementation partially rescued ID-induced dysregulation and had both beneficial and adverse effects on hippocampal gene expression.
Article
Neurosciences
Quentin Leyrolle, Fanny Decoeur, Cyril Dejean, Galadriel Briere, Stephane Leon, Ioannis Bakoyiannis, Emilie Baroux, Tony-Lee Sterley, Clementine Bosch-Bouju, Lydie Morel, Camille Amadieu, Cynthia Lecours, Marie-Kim St-Pierre, Maude Bordeleau, Veronique De Smedt-Peyrusse, Alexandran Sere, Leslie Schwendimann, Stephane Gregoire, Lionel Bretillon, Niyazi Acar, Corinne Joffre, Guillaume Ferreira, Raluca Uricaru, Patricia Thebault, Pierre Gressens, Marie-Eve Tremblay, Sophie Laye, Agnes Nadjar
Summary: Westernized dietary habits leading to reduced intake of n-3 PUFAs may be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and disruptions in brain functional connectivity. Lifelong n-3 PUFA deficiency can interfere with oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination processes, resulting in long-term detrimental effects on white matter organization and hippocampus-prefrontal functional connectivity. Promoting developmental myelination through clemastine could rescue memory deficits in n-3 PUFA deficient animals.
Article
Neurosciences
D. Monteiro-Fernandes, N. Sousa, O. F. X. Almeida, I. Sotiropoulos
Summary: Fluctuations in sex steroids and adrenal steroids can influence Tau hyperphosphorylation and accumulation, impacting neuronal function and plasticity. Interactions between protective male sex hormones and adrenal and sex steroids may exacerbate Tau pathology and contribute to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease. These findings are crucial for understanding the mechanisms underlying AD and the impact of stress on neural plasticity.
