Neuroscience
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Temporal lobe epilepsy in human and animals is attributed to alterations in brain function especially hippocampus formation. Changes in synaptic activity might be causally related to the alterations during epileptogenesis. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) as one of the non-selective ion channels has been shown to be involved in synaptic transmission. ⋯ SE induced an upregulation of TRPV1 mRNA and protein content in the whole hippocampal extract, as well as its distribution in both CA1 and CA3 regions. Activation and inhibition of TRPV1 receptors (via capsaicin 1μM and capsazepine 10μM, respectively) did not influence basal synaptic transmission in CA1 and CA3 regions of control slices, however, capsaicin increased and capsazepine decreased synaptic transmission in both regions in tissues from epileptic animals. Taken together, these findings suggest that a higher expression of TRPV1 in the epileptic condition is accompanied by alterations in basal synaptic transmission.
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The ability to adjust behavioral responses to cues in a changing environment is crucial for survival. Activity in the medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) is thought to both represent rules to guide behavior as well as detect and resolve conflicts between rules in changing contingencies. ⋯ However, exactly what is signaled by mPFC and how this impacts neural signals in mDS is not well known. In this review, we will summarize what is known about neural signals of rules and set shifting in both prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum, as well as provide questions and directions for future experiments.