Search results for " autonomic system"
showing 10 items of 245 documents
Rats bred for low intrinsic aerobic exercise capacity link obesity with brain inflammation and reduced structural plasticity of the hippocampus.
2021
Abstract BACKGROUND Increasing evidence shows obesity and poor metabolic health are associated with cognitive deficits, but the mechanistic connections have yet to be resolved. We studied rats selectively bred for low and high intrinsic aerobic capacity in order to test the association between low physical fitness, a genetic predisposition for obesity, and brain health. We hypothesized that low-capacity runner (LCR) rats with concurrently greater levels of adiposity would have increased hippocampal inflammation and reduced plasticity compared to the more physically fit high-capacity runner (HCR) rats. METHODS We examined markers for inflammation and brain plasticity in the hippocampi of LCR…
The Influence of Treated and Untreated Subclinical Hypothyroidism on Metabolic Profile in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
2021
Background. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and hypothyroidism are the most common endocrinological disorders among women of reproductive age. Since hypothyroidism occurs more frequently in PCOS patients, it is vital to explain its clinical impact. Aim. To evaluate the impact of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and its treatment on the metabolic profile of patients with PCOS. Methods. 190 women with PCOS phenotype A were enrolled in the case-control study. They were divided into three groups: 38 women with PCOS and subclinical hypothyroidism, 76 women with PCOS and SCH under thyroid replacement therapy, and 76 women with PCOS and normal thyroid function (control group). Serum lipids, fasti…
Craniopharyngiomas in Children - Experience of Consecutive 152 Operated Cases
2020
Context Craniopharyngiomas (CPH) are benign tumors, rarely encountered in children, representing 5-6% of all intracranial tumors. Objective This study aimed to analyze the surgical management and quality of life in a series of CPH pediatric cases. Design This was a multicenter study performed over a 25-year period (1994 - 2019) in Bucharest. Subjects and methods 152 children (0-17 years old) were treated for CPH. Preoperative manifestations were intracranial hypertension, endocrine dysfunction, visual impairment, ataxia, intellectual performance decrease. Results Considering all surgical approaches used, we advocate for pterional approach to best fit in CPH. We achieved gross-total removal …
Physical exercise neuroprotects ovariectomized 3xTg-AD mice through BDNF mechanisms.
2014
Postmenopausal women may be more vulnerable to cognitive loss and Alzheimer's disease (AD) than premenopausal women because of their deficiency in estrogens, in addition to their usually older age. Aerobic physical exercise has been proposed as a therapeutic approach for maintaining health and well-being in postmenopausal women, and for improving brain health and plasticity in populations at high risk for AD. To study the neuroprotective mechanisms of physical exercise in a postmenopausal animal model, we submitted previously ovariectomized, six-month old non-transgenic and 3xTg-AD mice to three months of voluntary exercise in a running wheel. At nine months of age, we observed lower grip s…
Exercise-induced euphoria and anxiolysis do not depend on endogenous opioids in humans
2021
Abstract A runner's high describes a sense of well-being during endurance exercise characterized by euphoria and anxiolysis. It has been a widespread belief that the release of endogenous opioids, such as endorphins, underlie a runner's high. However, exercise leads to the release of two classes of rewarding molecules, endocannabinoids (eCBs) and opioids. In mice, we have shown that core features of a runner's high depend on cannabinoid receptors but not opioid receptors. In the present study, we aimed to corroborate in humans that endorphins do not play a significant role in the underlying mechanism of a runner's high. Thus, we investigated whether the development of two core features of a…
Linguistic multifeature MMN paradigm for extensive recording of auditory discrimination profiles
2011
We studied whether a multifeature mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm using naturally produced speech stimuli is feasible for studies of auditory discrimination accuracy of adult participants. A naturally produced trisyllabic pseudoword was used in the paradigm, and MMNs were recorded to changes that were acoustic (changes in fundamental frequency or intensity) or potentially phonological (changes in vowel identity or vowel duration). All the different changes were presented in three different word segments (initial, middle, or final syllable). All changes elicited an MMN response, but the vowel duration change elicited a different response pattern than the other deviant types. Changes in vo…
Detecting impaired language processing in patients with mild cognitive impairment using around‐the‐ear cEEgrid electrodes
2021
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the term used to identify those individuals with subjective and objective cognitive decline but with preserved activities of daily living and an absence of dementia. Although MCI can impact functioning in different cognitive domains, most notably episodic memory, relatively little is known about the comprehension of language in MCI. In this study, we used around-the-ear electrodes (cEEGrids) to identify impairments during language comprehension in patients with MCI. In a group of 23 patients with MCI and 23 age-matched controls, language comprehension was tested in a two-word phrase paradigm. We examined the oscillatory changes following word onset as a fu…
Amygdala response to anticipation of dyspnea is modulated by 5-HTTLPRgenotype
2015
Dyspnea anticipation and perception varies largely between individuals. To investigate whether genetic factors related to negative affect such as the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism impact this variability, we investigated healthy, 5-HTTLPR stratified volunteers using resistive load induced dyspnea together with fMRI. Alternating blocks of severe and mild dyspnea ("perception") were differentially cued ("anticipation") and followed by intensity and unpleasantness ratings. In addition, volunteers indicated their anticipatory fear during the anticipation periods. There were no genotype-based group differences concerning dyspnea intensity and unpleasantness or brain activation during perception of sever…
Effect of synchronized or desynchronized music listening during osteopathic treatment: An EEG study
2013
While background music is often used during osteopathic treatment, it remains unclear whether it facilitates treatment, and, if it does, whether it is listening to music or jointly listening to a common stimulus that is most important. We created three experimental situations for a standard osteopathic procedure in which patients and practitioner listened either to silence, to the same music in synchrony, or (unknowingly) to different desynchronized montages of the same material. Music had no effect on heart rate and arterial pressure pre- and posttreatment compared to silence, but EEG measures revealed a clear effect of synchronized versus desynchronized listening: listening to desynchroni…
Children with dyslexia reveal abnormal native language representations: Evidence from a study of mismatch negativity
2011
Although a deficit perceiving phonemes, as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN), is apparent in developmental dyslexia (DD), studies have not yet addressed whether this deficit might be a result of deficient native language speech representations. The present study examines how a native-vowel prototype and an atypical vowel are discriminated by 9-year-old children with (n 5 14) and without (n 5 12) DD. MMN was elicited in all conditions in both groups. The control group revealed enhanced MMN to the native-vowel prototype in comparison to the atypical vowel. Children with DD did not show enhanced MMN amplitude to the native-vowel prototype, suggesting impaired tuning to native language s…