Article
Neurosciences
Simon Borgognon, Eric M. Rouiller
Summary: The premotor (PM) and primary motor (M1) cortical areas contribute to the corticorubral pathway that transmits voluntary motor commands. Motor disorders and injuries lead to a decrease in corticorubral projections from PM and M1. The red nucleus may promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury, Parkinson's disease, and primary motor cortex injury by reducing direct cortical influence.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Alina Rojas Albert, Winifried Backhaus, Jose A. Graterol Perez, Hanna Braass, Gerhard Schoen, Chi-Un Choe, Jan Feldheim, Marlene Boenstrup, Bastian Cheng, Goetz Thomalla, Christian Gerloff, Robert Schulz
Summary: Imaging studies have shown that the contralesional cortices are involved in recovery after motor stroke. Analyzing cortical thickness can capture changes in cortical anatomy that are related to recovery and treatment gains. This study investigates whether cortical thickness obtained in the acute phase after stroke can explain outcome variability. The results suggest that the baseline cortical anatomy of selected contralesional cortices can explain outcome variability after severe stroke, contributing to the concept of structural brain reserve for promoting recovery.
Article
Neurosciences
Erik J. Plautz, Scott Barbay, Shawn B. Frost, Ann M. Stowe, Numa Dancause, Elena V. Zoubina, Ines Eisner-Janowicz, David J. Guggenmos, Randolph J. Nudo
Summary: Recovery of motor function after stroke is accompanied by reorganization of movement representations in spared cortical motor regions. We examined this assumption by measuring changes in motor representations in squirrel monkeys after a focal infarct in the primary motor cortex. The results showed that there were significant changes in the motor maps of the monkeys at 2 and 3 weeks postinfarct, with contraction in the ventral premotor cortex and expansion in the dorsal premotor cortex.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Ryan M. Glanz, Greta Sokoloff, Mark S. Blumberg
Summary: This research investigates the changes in the primary motor cortex during development in rats. Using neural decoding, it was found that the complexity and uniqueness of the movement information in M1 increases as the activity becomes continuous. Additionally, the representation in M1 at this stage is more susceptible to damage.
Article
Neurosciences
Jackson Brougher, Camilo A. Sanchez, Umaymah S. Aziz, Kiree F. Gove, Catherine A. Thorn
Summary: The experiment showed that VNS can significantly increase the representation of task-relevant muscle movements in the motor map, while reducing task-irrelevant representations; VNS may increase the density of tyrosine hydroxylase fibers in intact motor cortices, but this effect is not dependent on DA depletion.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Andrea Casarotto, Elisa Dolfini, Luciano Fadiga, Giacomo Koch, Alessandro D'Ausilio
Summary: This study investigated the role of the PMv-M1 functional connectivity in driving grasping actions, and found that PMv-M1 cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (cc-PAS) specifically modulated precision grip but not power grip. These findings suggest an important role of the PMv-M1 functional connectivity in the neural mechanisms underlying grasping actions.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Donald Huang, Yao-Ying Ma
Summary: This study found that cocaine can induce hyperexcitability in the motor cortex of rats with cocaine addiction, and specific layers of neurons may serve as a novel target for preventing drug relapse.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Gabrielle Todd, Caroline D. Rae, Janet L. Taylor, Nigel C. Rogasch, Jane E. Butler, Michael Hayes, Robert A. Wilcox, Simon C. Gandevia, Karl Aoun, Adrian Esterman, Simon J. G. Lewis, Julie M. Hall, Elie Matar, Jana Godau, Daniela Berg, Christian Plewnia, Anna-Katharina Von Thaler, Clarence Chiang, Kay L. Double
Summary: Research has found that increased thickness of the substantia nigra in healthy older adults may be associated with changes in excitability of motor cortical circuitry. This finding has important implications for understanding brain changes in healthy older adults at risk of Parkinson's disease.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Sophia Bakola, Kathleen J. Burman, Sylwia Bednarek, Jonathan M. Chan, Natalia Jermakow, Katrina H. Worthy, Piotr Majka, Marcello G. P. Rosa
Summary: The study investigated cortical projections to the caudomedial frontal cortex in marmosets, revealing differences in labeled neurons distribution within different areas of 6M, suggesting homologues of SMA and pre-SMA. This indicates that marmosets can be valuable models for studying movement planning and control due to conservation of cortical motor control circuit in simian primates.
Article
Biology
Irene Navarro Lobato, Adrian Aleman-Zapata, Anumita Samanta, Milan Bogers, Shekhar Narayanan, Abdelrahman Rayan, Alejandra Alonso, Jacqueline Van der Meij, Mehdi Khamassi, Zafar U. Khan, Lisa Genzel
Summary: This study found that increasing plasticity in the prelimbic cortex of the brain improves one-trial memory but also leads to increased interference in semantic-like memory. Additionally, this manipulation results in shorter non-REM sleep bouts, smaller delta-waves, and decreased neuronal firing rates. In contrast, interactions between the hippocampus and cortex during wake and REM sleep, as well as oscillatory coupling during non-REM sleep, are enhanced.
Editorial Material
Neurosciences
Michael S. A. Graziano
Summary: In a new study by Gordon et al., it was found that the human motor cortex does not have a traditional body map. Instead, there are integrative zones separating body-part-specific areas, which may reflect the statistical structure of human motor skills.
Article
Neurosciences
Liqiang Chen, Samuel Daniels, Yerim Kim, Hong-Yuan Chu
Summary: The intrinsic excitability of pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) in the primary motor cortical layer was greatly decreased in parkinsonism, specifically affecting M1 PTNs but not intratelencephalic neurons (ITNs). The decreased excitability may be associated with impaired function of sodium channels and potassium channels, leading to abnormal firing patterns in parkinsonian state.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Lingdi Fu, Lorenzo Rocchi, Ricci Hannah, Guizhi Xu, John C. Rothwell, Jaime Ibanez
Summary: The study highlights the importance of timing in inducing plastic changes in corticospinal excitability (CSE) by associating peripheral nerve stimulation with electromyogram (EMG) activity just before movement initiation. Furthermore, it demonstrates that background voluntary muscle activity can abolish the effect on CSE, suggesting that synapses inactive at rest but anticipating movement play a crucial role in plasticity induction.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Leonardo Lupori, Sara Cornuti, Raffaele Mazziotti, Elisa Borghi, Emerenziana Ottaviano, Michele Dei Cas, Giulia Sagona, Tommaso Pizzorusso, Paola Tognini
Summary: Exposing animals to an enriched environment (EE) has significant effects on brain structure, function, and plasticity, which are believed to be mediated by signals from the gut microbiota. This study reveals differences in gut bacterial composition and higher levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in EE mice compared to standard rearing (ST) mice. Depletion of gut microbiota in EE mice reduces SCFA levels and prevents activation of brain plasticity. Treatment with SCFA in ST mice mimics the effects of EE on brain plasticity. Importantly, transferring the gut microbiota from EE mice to ST mice activates brain plasticity. Therefore, changes in gut microbiota due to environmental enrichment play a crucial role in regulating brain plasticity.
Article
Neurosciences
Yongrong Wang, Shuai Feng, Rui Yang, Wensheng Hou, Xiaoying Wu, Lin Chen
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the learning-relative hemodynamic modulation of cortical plasticity induced by long-term motor training. The results showed that cortical hemodynamic activations exhibited an expansion-renormalization trend during continuous motor training, and the enhancement of functional connectivity may be maintained after amplitude renormalization. TMS findings suggested neural facilitations on the descending motor pathway after certain level of learning stages, and the learning could transfer to enhance performance in similar tasks.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Craig S. Anderson, Anthony Rodgers, H. Asita de Silva, Sheila Ouriques Martins, Catharina J. M. Klijn, Bimsara Senanayake, Ruth Freed, Laurent Billot, Hisatomi Arima, Nguyen Huy Thang, Wan Asyraf Wan Zaidi, Tinatin Kherkheulidze, Kolawole Wahab, Urs Fisher, Tsong-Hai Lee, Christopher Chen, Octavio Pontes-Neto, Thompson Robinson, Jiguang Wang, Sharon Naismith, Lili Song, Floris H. Schreuder, Richard Lindley, Mark Woodward, Stephen MacMahon, Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, Clara K. Chow, John Chalmers
Summary: The study investigates the effects of a novel Triple Pill on the prevention of recurrent stroke, cardiovascular events, and cognitive impairment in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. The trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, and the results suggest that the Triple Pill has the potential to optimize secondary prevention.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Pedro Cougo, Bruno Besen, Daniel Bezerra, Rodrigo de Carvalho Moreira, Carlos Eduardo Brandao, Emmanuel Salgueiro, Alex Balduino, Octavio Pontes-Neto, Victor Cravo
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between social distancing, stroke admissions, and stroke mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings showed that there was a negative correlation between the level of social distancing and stroke admissions during the pandemic. Additionally, higher levels of social distancing and COVID-19 admissions were associated with higher in-hospital mortality for stroke.
JOURNAL OF STROKE & CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Rui Kleber Martins-Filho, Guilherme Rodrigues, Raul Ferreira da Costa, Rodrigo de Souza Castro, Maria Clara Zanon Zotin, Millene R. Camilo, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto
Summary: This study supports the view of apathy as a distinct syndrome from depression and suggests that white matter disruption is an important pathway to the development of apathy in stroke patients.
CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Biology
T. R. da Silva, G. J. Luvizutto, L. G. Martins, R. D. M. da Costa, J. T. de Souza, F. C. Winckler, L. C. A. Sartor, G. P. Modolo, N. C. Ferreira, J. C. S. Rodrigues, R. G. Kanda, M. O. Fogaroli, G. F. Borges, G. R. S. Rizzatti, P. W. Ribeiro, D. S. Pires, D. B. Favoretto, L. R. Aguiar, S. G. Z. Bazan, L. E. G. Betting, L. C. O. Antunes, H. R. C. Nunes, V. M. Pereira, T. G. S. Edward, O. Pontes-Neto, A. B. Conforto, R. Bazan
Summary: There is a high demand for stroke rehabilitation in the Brazilian public health system, but most studies on rehabilitation for unilateral spatial neglect (USN) after stroke have been conducted in high-income countries. This study analyzed the recruitment of USN patients in a multi-center noninvasive brain stimulation clinical trial in Brazil and provided recommendations for future study designs. The study found that cognitive impairment, low socioeconomic status, and difficulty accessing treatment due to transportation issues were the main barriers to recruiting stroke survivors with USN for the clinical trial.
BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Lucas Oliveira Maia, Dimitri Daldegan-Bueno, Isabel Wiessner, Draulio B. Araujo, Luis Fernando Tofoli
Summary: A growing body of evidence suggests that ayahuasca may have therapeutic effects on conditions other than depression, such as grief, eating disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, and severe physical illnesses. Preliminary studies also indicate potential benefits for individual and collective health in long-term ayahuasca users. Further rigorous investigation is necessary to explore ayahuasca's therapeutic potential in these conditions.
EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Leonardo Roever, Andre Rodrigues Duras, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto
FRONTIERS IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Karina Fonseca de Souza Leite, Mariana Gaspar Botelho Funari de Faria, Rubia Laine de Paula Andrade, Keila Diane Lima de Sousa, Samuel Ribeiro dos Santos, Kamila Santos Ferreira, Carlos Eduardo Menezes de Rezende, Octavio Marques Pontes Neto, Aline Aparecida Monroe
Summary: This study analyzed the impact of implementing care protocols on the prognosis of patients with acute ischemic stroke. The results showed that implementing care protocols can improve the effectiveness of reperfusion therapy and the clinical prognosis of patients, but there is still a need to reduce post-thrombolysis complications and mortality.
ARQUIVOS DE NEURO-PSIQUIATRIA
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Pedro Henrique Rodrigues da Silva, Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Maria Clara Zanon Zotin, Octavio Marques Pontes Neto, Renata Ferranti Leoni, Anil M. Tuladhar
Summary: This study evaluated the mediating roles of cortical thickness and brain connectivity in the relationship between WMH and IPS in cSVD patients. Significant associations were found between WMH volume and topography with cortical thickness, brain connectivity, and IPS performance. Cortical thickness and brain structural and functional connectivity were shown to mediate the association of WMH volume and location with IPS scores. Frontal cortical thickness, functional sensorimotor network, and posterior thalamic radiation tract were identified as essential mediators of WMH and IPS in this clinical group.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Pedro Henrique Rodrigues da Silva, Frank-Erik de Leeuw, Maria Clara Zanon Zotin, Octavio Marques Pontes Neto, Renata Ferranti Leoni, Anil M. Tuladhar
Summary: The relationship between brain disconnection caused by White Matter Hyperintensity (WMH) lesions and psychomotor speed dysfunction in cerebral Small Vessel Disease (cSVD) patients is still unknown. This study explored the association between different volumes and locations of WMH and psychomotor speed dysfunction, and found that global WMH volume was associated with psychomotor speed performance, but tract-specific WMH volume was not. The study also identified specific brain areas and fiber tracts that are related to psychomotor speed, and showed that lesion location influenced these associations.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Lu Ma, Xin Hu, Lili Song, Xiaoying Chen, Menglu Ouyang, Laurent Billot, Qiang Li, Alejandra Malavera, Xi Li, Paula Munoz-Venturelli, Asita de Silva, Nguyen Huy Thang, Kolawole W. Wahab, Jeyaraj D. Pandian, Mohammad Wasay, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto, Carlos Abanto, Antonio Arauz, Haiping Shi, Guanghai Tang, Sheng Zhu, Xiaochun She, Leibo Liu, Yuki Sakamoto, Shoujiang You, Qiao Han, Bernard Crutzen, Emily Cheung, Yunke Li, Xia Wang, Chen Chen, Feifeng Liu, Yang Zhao, Hao Li, Yi Liu, Yan Jiang, Lei Chen, Bo Wu, Ming Liu, Jianguo Xu, Chao You, Craig S. Anderson
Summary: Implementing a goal-directed care bundle that focuses on early intensive blood pressure lowering, strict glucose control, antipyrexia, and rapid reversal of anticoagulation can improve outcomes for patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage. This approach resulted in improved functional recovery and reduced serious adverse events in patients.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Chen Chen, Menglu Ouyang, Sheila Ong, Luyun Zhang, Guobin Zhang, Candice Delcourt, Grant Mair, Leibo Liu, Laurent Billot, Qiang Li, Xiaoying Chen, Mark Parsons, Joseph P. Broderick, Andrew M. Demchuk, Philip M. Bath, Geoffrey A. Donnan, Christopher Levi, John Chalmers, Richard I. Lindley, Sheila O. Martins, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto, Paula Munoz Venturelli, Veronica Olavarria, Pablo Lavados, Thompson G. Robinson, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Gang Li, Xia Wang, Lili Song, Craig S. Anderson
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the effect of intensive blood pressure lowering on the size of cerebral infarction in patients with acute ischemic stroke after thrombolysis. The results showed that intensive blood pressure lowering to a systolic target of 130-140 mm Hg within 24-36 hours did not increase the size of cerebral infarction.
Article
Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications
Aline Viol, Gandhimohan M. Viswanathan, Oleksandra Soldatkina, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Heloisa Onias, Draulio de Araujo, Philipp Hoevel
Summary: By comparing resting-state functional brain networks before and after ingestion of Ayahuasca, it is found that the psychedelic brew increases information similarity between brain regions, especially between the limbic system and frontal cortex. This finding suggests that Ayahuasca may enhance the statistical correlations between brain regions to maintain network resilience.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-COMPLEXITY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Luiz Fernando Rodrigues de Oliveira, Millene Rodrigues Camilo, Luisa Franciscatto, Guilherme Gozzoli Podolsky-Gondim, Frederico Fernandes Alessio Alves, Rui Kleber do Vale Martins, Francisco Antunes Dias, Koji Tanaka, Benedicto Oscar Colli, Octavio Marques Pontes-Neto
Summary: This study evaluated the outcomes of patients with MMCAI treated with decompressive craniectomy in a Brazilian academic tertiary stroke center. The study found that, with a proper protocol, the surgery can improve the survival rate and functional outcomes of patients.
ARQUIVOS DE NEURO-PSIQUIATRIA
(2023)
Editorial Material
Clinical Neurology
Sebastien Baillieul, Renaud Tamisier, Millene Rodrigues Camilo, Octavio Marques Pontes-Neto
Article
Clinical Neurology
Joao Brainer Clares de Andrade, Jay P. Mohr, Fabricio Oliveira Lima, Joao Jose Freitas de Carvalho, Levi Coelho Maia Barros, Octavio Marques Pontes-Neto, Gabriel Queiroz de Abreu, Gisele Sampaio Silva
Summary: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between in-hospital daily aspirin dose (IAD) and hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The study found that an increased IAD was associated with intracerebral hematoma in high-risk HT patients. Therefore, stratifying the risk of HT may lead to individualized daily aspirin dose choices.
