The European journal of neuroscience
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To investigate face individuation (FI), a critical brain function in the human species, an oddball fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) approach was recently introduced (Liu-Shuang et al., Neuropsychologia, 2014, 52, 57). In this paradigm, an image of an unfamiliar "base" facial identity is repeated at a rapid rate F (e.g., 6 Hz) and different unfamiliar "oddball" facial identities are inserted every nth item, at a F/n rate (e.g., every 5th item, 1.2 Hz). This stimulation elicits FI responses at F/n and its harmonics (2F/n, 3F/n, etc.), reflecting neural discrimination between oddball versus base facial identities, which is quantified in the frequency domain of the electroencephalogram (EEG). ⋯ This review also includes an in-depth analysis of the paradigm's methodology, with guidelines for designing future studies. A large-scale group analysis compiling data across 130 observers provides insights into the oddball FPVS FI response properties. Overall, we recommend the oddball FPVS paradigm as an alternative approach to behavioral or traditional event-related potential EEG measures of face individuation.
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Mice missing either Reelin or Disabled-1 (Dab1) exhibit dorsal horn neuronal positioning errors and display heat hypersensitivity and mechanical insensitivity. Reelin binds its receptors, apolipoprotein E receptor 2 and very low-density lipoprotein receptor, leading to the recruitment and phosphorylation of Dab1 and activation of downstream pathways that regulate neuronal migration. Previously, we reported that 70% of Dab1 laminae I-II neurons co-expressed LIM-homeobox transcription factor 1-beta (Lmx1b). ⋯ Interestingly, both Reelin- and Dab1-labeled dorsal horn neurons sustain similar positioning errors in mutant mice. After noxious thermal and mechanical stimulation, Reelin, Lmx1b, and Reelin-Lmx1b neurons expressed Fos in laminae I-II and the lateral reticulated area in wild-type mice and, therefore, participate in nociceptive circuits. Together, our data suggest that disruption of the Reelin-signaling pathway results in neuroanatomical abnormalities that contribute to the nociceptive changes that characterize these mutant mice.
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Sex is an important variable in biomedical research. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly utilized as a powerful new model organism in translational neuroscience and pharmacology. ⋯ We also emphasize the growing utility of zebrafish models in translational neuropharmacological research of sex differences, fostering future CNS drug discovery and the search for novel sex-specific therapies. Finally, we highlight the interplay between sex and environment in zebrafish models of sex-environment correlations as an important strategy of CNS disease modeling using this aquatic organism.
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Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease with clinical manifestations that involve motor, cognitive and psychiatric deficits. Cross-sectional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have described the main cortical and subcortical macrostructural atrophy of HD. However, longitudinal studies characterizing progressive atrophy are lacking. ⋯ The longitudinal surface-based analysis showed widespread cortical thinning with volumetric decreases in the superior frontal lobe, while a subcortical volumetric decrease occurred in the caudate, putamen and thalamus with shape deformation on the anterior, medial and dorsal side. Functional capacity and motor status decline correlated with caudate progressive atrophy, while cognitive decline correlated with left superior frontal and right paracentral progressive atrophy. These results provide new insights into progressive volumetric and surface-based morphometric atrophy of gray matter in HD.
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Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) are a mechanism of endogenous descending pain modulation and are deficient in a large proportion of chronic pain patients. However, the pathways involved remain only partially determined with several cortical and brainstem structures implicated. This study examined the role of the dorsal reticular nucleus (DRt) and infralimbic (ILC) region of the medial prefrontal cortex in DNIC. ⋯ Intra-ILC lidocaine had no effect on spinal neuronal responses to dynamic brush, punctate mechanical, evaporative cooling and heat stimuli in sham and SNL rats. However, differential effects were observed in relation to the expression of DNIC; intra-ILC lidocaine blocked activation of DNIC in sham rats but restored DNIC in SNL rats. These data suggest that the ILC is not directly involved in mediating DNIC but can modulate its activation and that DRt involvement in DNIC requires opioidergic signalling.