Neuroscience
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Maternal immune activation can result in different behavioral abnormalities and brain dysfunction, depending on the nature of the inflammogen and the timing of the challenge. Few studies report the possible link between prenatal exposure to inflammation and mood disorders. Here we aimed to evaluate the effects of a single low lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection to the dam at gestational day 9 on the offspring behavior and hippocampal function. ⋯ In addition, LPS mice had reduced serotonin and noradrenaline levels in the hippocampus and diminished Reelin immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus, while their adult hippocampal neurogenesis was not affected. Results presented here support specific long-term effects of the response to a bacterial immunogen early in pregnancy, as opposed to different effects previously reported of viral immunogens and/or responses in late pregnancy. Our work adds to recent reports and stresses the relevance of considering prenatal exposure to a maternal immune response as a risk factor for mood disorders.
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Meta Analysis
Gray matter correlates of migraine and gender effect: A meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies.
An increasing number of neuroimaging studies have revealed gray matter (GM) anomalies of several brain regions by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies in migraineurs. However, not all the studies reported entirely consistent findings. Our aim is to investigate concurrence across VBM studies to help clarify the structural anomalies underpinning this condition. ⋯ This is the first quantitative whole-brain VBM meta-analysis in migraine showing strong evidence of brain GM anomalies within the pain-processing neural network. Further longitudinal investigations are needed to determine whether these structural anomalies are reversible with effective treatment on migraine.
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Emotional memories represent the core of human and animal life and drive future choices and behaviors. Early research involving brain lesion studies in animals lead to the idea that the auditory cortex participates in emotional learning by processing the sensory features of auditory stimuli paired with emotional consequences and by transmitting this information to the amygdala. Nevertheless, electrophysiological and imaging studies revealed that, following emotional experiences, the auditory cortex undergoes learning-induced changes that are highly specific, associative and long lasting. ⋯ Here, we discuss three major perspectives created by these data. In particular, we analyze the possible roles of the auditory cortex in emotional learning, we examine the recruitment of the auditory cortex during early and late memory trace encoding, and finally we consider the functional interplay between the auditory cortex and subcortical nuclei, such as the amygdala, that process affective information. We conclude that, starting from the early phase of memory encoding, the auditory cortex has a more prominent role in emotional learning, through its connections with subcortical nuclei, than is typically acknowledged.
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Expression of the neuronal membrane glycoprotein M6a (GPM6A), the proteolipid protein (PLP/DM20) family member, is downregulated in the hippocampus of chronically stressed animals. Its neuroplastic function involves a role in neurite formation, filopodium outgrowth and synaptogenesis through an unknown mechanism. Disruptions in neuroplasticity mechanisms have been shown to play a significant part in the etiology of depression. Thus, the current investigation examined whether GPM6A expression is also altered in human depressed brain. ⋯ Disruption of coordinated gene expression as well as abnormalities in GPM6A and GPM6B expression and expression of the components of GPM6A complexes were detected in the brain of depressed suicides.
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Understanding the role of brain regions in anatomical neural networks with Parkinson's disease (PD) is essential for improving the clinical protocol or finding new targets for deep brain stimulation (DBS). Although numerous changes have been reported in local functional studies, few studies have reported on the anatomical network of the entire brain. ⋯ Results revealed that the areas including the striatum, globus pallidus, amygdala, prefrontal lobe, thalamus, hippocampus, visual cortex, insula, etc., showed relatively notable drifts in their own patterns. The present study also demonstrated that the current targets of DBS shared a common feature: their centrality values being relatively low in the normal brain while intensely drifting with PD.