Neuroscience
-
Visual aesthetics influence consumers' perception, acquisition, and usage of products, but the level of significance that a commercial product's visual aesthetics hold for each consumer varies from one person to another. Such individual difference is referred to as the centrality of visual product aesthetics (CVPA). Previous research has revealed that female adults scored higher than male adults in the self-reported CVPA scale. ⋯ By contrast, the results revealed a negative correlation between the male participants' CVPA scores and their GMV in the left mOFC. Collectively, these findings suggest that the level of significance that a commercial product's visual aesthetics hold for consumers may be associated with the rewards that they are able to receive from them. These findings also provide empirical evidence about the neuroanatomical correlates of self-reported values.
-
The role of leptin in neuroprotection has recently been recognized. However, there are few reports on the use of imaging methods to dynamically evaluate the neuroprotection role of leptin. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), which is a method used to measure non-Gaussian water diffusion, can reflect the real water diffusion in brain tissues. ⋯ In addition, the pathological results showed that less cell and organelle injury occurred in the leptin group. Our findings indicate that leptin can effectively reduce hypoxic-ischemic brain edema, and DKI can be more sensitive than conventional diffusivity metrics for visualizing the microstructural changes of HIE. This provides a new clue for the treatment and evaluation of HIE.
-
Studies have shown that obesity-induced hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia could cause increased hippocampal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and impaired cognition-related proteins expression, resulting in learning and memory impairment. Meanwhile, aerobic exercise could activate hippocampal nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) reducing ER stress. This study investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms of this effect. ⋯ Results showed that the expression levels of glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3), fatty acid transport protein 1 (FATP1), ER stress biomarkers (GRP78, p-PERK, p-IRE1α and p-eIF2α), ER stress-mediated apoptosis biomarkers (caspase-12, CHOP and Bax/Bcl-2), and the activity of NLRP3-IL-1β inflammatory pathway were significantly increased under high glucose and PA conditions, accompanied with depressed p38/ERK-CREB pathway and decreased levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and synaptophysin (SYN). On the other hand, both 4-PBA and TBHQ reduced ER stress and reversed the expression of the above-mentioned proteins. Our findings suggest that high glucose and PA could induce excessive ER stress and apoptosis via promoting the overexpression of GLUT3 and FATP1, and ER stress could suppress BDNF and SYN expression through negatively regulating p38/ERK-CREB pathway and positively regulating NLRP3-IL-1β pathway, which could be reversed by activated Nrf2-HO-1 pathway.
-
Prestin (SLC26a5) is an integral membrane motor protein in outer hair cells (OHC) that underlies cochlear amplification. As a voltage-dependent protein, it relies on intrinsic sensor charge to respond to transmembrane voltage (receptor potentials), thereby effecting conformational changes. The protein's electromechanical actively is experimentally monitored as a bell-shaped nonlinear capacitance (NLC), whose magnitude peaks at a characteristic voltage, Vh. ⋯ A variety of biophysical forces can influence the distribution of charge, gauged by shifts in Vh, including prior holding voltage or membrane potential. Here we report that the effectiveness of prior voltage augments during the delivery of prestin to the membranes in an inducible HEK cell line. The augmentation coincides with an increase in prestin density, maturing at a characteristic membrane areal density of 870 functional prestin units per square micrometer, and is likely indicative of prestin-prestin cooperative interactions.
-
The rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm seems to be one of the most appropriate for patients using P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) applications, since non-ocular movements are required. However, according to previous works, the use of different locations for each stimulus may improve performance. Thus, the aim of the present work is to explore how spatial overlap between stimuli influences performance in controlling a visual P300-based BCI. ⋯ Significant differences in accuracy were found between the 0% overlapped condition and all the other conditions, and between 33.3% and higher overlap (66.7% and 100%). These results can be explained due to a modulation in the non-target stimulus amplitude signal caused by the overlapping factor. In short, the stimulus overlap provokes a modulation in performance using a P300-based BCI; this should be considered in future BCI proposals in which an optimal surface exploitation is convenient and potential users have only residual ocular movement.