Neuroscience
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The association of neuroticism and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) development remains unclear. In this study, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) to explore the potential role of neuroticism in CSVD development. ⋯ This research suggests a potential correlation between certain aspects of neuroticism and CSVD, with further studies needed to better understand the causal relationship and its implications for patient intervention.
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We used the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis to explore the origin of inter-trial variance within the UCM, which by definition does not affect the salient performance variable, during accurate two-finger force production. Specifically, we tested several hypotheses on two main sources of variance within the UCM, variability in the sharing patterns between the fingers across trials and covaried variability in finger forces within individual trials. We also explored effects on unintentional changes in the structure of variance during preparation for a quick force change and during force drift without visual feedback. ⋯ Changing the initial magnitude of variance along the UCM was reflected in its magnitude during anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to the force pulse and following the unintentional force drift. We interpret the results assuming a hierarchical control with two commands, reciprocal and coactivation. The results support the scheme with two contributing factors to variance along the UCM, likely associated with feed-forward and feedback mechanisms.
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Bayesian brain theory, a computational framework grounded in the principles of Predictive Processing (PP), proposes a mechanistic account of how beliefs are formed and updated. This theory assumes that the brain encodes a generative model of its environment, made up of probabilistic beliefs organized in networks, from which it generates predictions about future sensory inputs. The difference between predictions and sensory signals produces prediction errors, which are used to update belief networks. In this article, we introduce the fundamental principles of Bayesian brain theory, and show how the brain dynamics of prediction are associated with the generation and evolution of beliefs.
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Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are widely expressed throughout the central nervous system. They are linked to G-protein coupled receptors and are known to modulate synaptic transmission. The data regarding their expression in auditory structures are not systematic and mainly originate from physiological studies where expression was used to support physiological findings. ⋯ In the AC, the staining was more intense near the surface and diminished toward white matter. We also found that the overall expression level of mGluR2/3 was increased significantly in aged animals in all auditory structures tested. Collectively, our detailed immunostaining findings suggest that the group II mGluRs are widely expressed throughout the central auditory system and their contribution to auditory processing increases with age.
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The cerebrospinal fluid-contacting nucleus(CSF-contacting nucleus) is a pair of unique nuclei in the brain parenchyma which has long been demonstrated to play an important role in pain signal processing. However, the mechanisms by which the CSF-contacting nucleus intervenes in pain is unclear. The NRG1-ErbB4 signaling plays an important role in the nervous system and has been shown to be involved in the regulation of pain. ⋯ With immunofluorescence staining and Western blot, the NRG1-ErbB4 signaling in the CSF-contacting nucleus showed upregulated during the acute pain phase. And, activating NRG1-ErbB4 signaling in the CSF-contacting nucleus specifically by intracranial injection of drugs, the naïve mice displayed thermal hyperalgesia while inhibiting this signaling by intracranial injection could reverse the hyperalgesia caused by CSF-contacting nucleus activation, and execute an analgesic effect during the painful phase in mice. Our study suggested that the CSF-contacting nucleus plays a regulatory role in thermal pain in mice via NRG1-ErbB4 signaling.