Neuroscience
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Absence Epilepsy (AE) is associated with recurrent losses of awareness and synchronous bilateral spike-wave discharges (SWDs). While seizures do not generally continue into adulthood, cognitive and behavioral comorbidities persist. One preclinical model used to investigate AE is the Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS) which consistently have bilateral SWDs and similar behavioral profiles. ⋯ Deficits in VD and RL were not associated with differences in correct or incorrect response latency, or reward collection latency, suggesting impairments are not due to alterations in locomotor activity or motivation. Together, these data suggest that GAERS have impaired behavioral flexibility and identify some sex-dependent differences. Thus, GAERS may be suitable for assessing the potential benefit of antiepileptic drugs on comorbid behavioral and cognitive deficits.
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Hypnotizability is a psychophysiological trait associated with morphofunctional brain peculiarities and with several cognitive, sensorimotor and cardiovascular correlates. Behavioral and EEG studies indicate stronger functional equivalence (FE) between motor imagery and action in the individuals with high hypnotizability scores (Highs). We hypothesized that stronger FE leading to greater proneness to ideomotor behavior could be due to greater cortical excitability of the motor cortex. ⋯ Thus, the Highs' greater cortical excitability could sustain their greater FE and proneness to ideomotor behavior. In cognitive neuroscience these findings are relevant to the physiological interpretation of the response to sensorimotor suggestions by participants in the ordinary state of consciousness. In the clinical field they can predict the efficacy of mental training based on motor imagery and, possibly, the degree of imagery-induced cortical plasticity.
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The objective of this study was to examine the interactive effects of exercise and low-level inhibition of GABAA receptors on the recovery of motor function and BDNF expression in the primary motor cortex (M1) of a stroke rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: sham (SHAM), control (CON), exercise (EX), bicuculline (BIC), and bicuculline plus exercise (BICEX) groups. All rats, except those in the SHAM group, underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgery to induce an ischemic stroke. ⋯ Furthermore, BDNF protein level in the ipsilateral M1 was significantly higher in the BICEX group than in other groups. This study indicated that exercise combined with low-level inhibition of GABAA receptors after stroke could facilitate the recovery of motor function accompanied by BDNF upregulation in the ipsilateral M1. Therefore, this study provides a novel insight of pharmacological neuromodulation into stroke rehabilitation.
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Itch (pruritus), specifically chronic itch associated with disease conditions, significantly impairs the patient's quality of life. At present, the mechanisms underlying this aversive experience are still unclear, and the effective treatment of itch is largely unmet. Here, we report that intragastrical administration of bulleyaconitine A (BLA), which has been used for treating chronic pain for 30 years in China, inhibited itch-like behaviors induced by intradermal injection of histamine and chloroquine in mice and rats, dose-dependently. ⋯ The behavioral change was accompanied with the potentiation of C-fiber synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn. Both the itch sensitization and synaptic potentiation were substantially attenuated by intragastrical BLA. Together, BLA was effective in inhibiting histamine-dependent and histamine-independent itches, and the mechanisms underlying these effects were involved but not limited to the inhibition of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP)-GRPR signaling in the spinal dorsal horn.
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Multiple species display robust behavioral variance among individuals due to different genetic, genomic, epigenetic, neuroplasticity and environmental factors. Behavioral individuality has been extensively studied in various animal models, including rodents and other mammals. Fish, such as zebrafish (Danio rerio), have recently emerged as powerful aquatic model organisms with overt individual differences in behavioral, nociceptive and other CNS traits. Here, we evaluate individual behavioral differences in mammals and fish, emphasizing the importance of cross-species analyses of intraspecies variance in experimental models of normal and pathological CNS functions.