Search results for " striatum"
showing 10 items of 114 documents
A restricted population of CB1 cannabinoid receptors with neuroprotective activity.
2014
The CB1 cannabinoid receptor, the main molecular target of endocannabinoids and cannabis active components, is the most abundant G protein-coupled receptor in the mammalian brain. Of note, CB1 receptors are expressed at the synapses of two opposing (i.e., GABAergic/inhibitory and glutamatergic/excitatory) neuronal populations, so the activation of one and/or another receptor population may conceivably evoke different effects. Despite the widely reported neuroprotective activity of the CB1 receptor in animal models, the precise pathophysiological relevance of those two CB1 receptor pools in neurodegenerative processes is unknown. Here, we first induced excitotoxic damage in the mouse brain b…
Lateral differences in GABA binding sites in rat brain.
1988
An asymmetric distribution of GABA binding sites was found in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, cerebellar hemispheres, striatum, and thalamus. Higher levels of [3H]GABA binding were observed in the left-side of most brain areas and in a greater percentage of adult rats, but the opposite asymmetry was found in the thalamus. A similar left-right difference in cerebral hemispheres was also found in five day-old rats, suggesting the genetic predetermination of asymmetry.
Oxytocin reverses ethanol consumption and neuroinflammation induced by social defeat in male mice
2020
Abstract Oxytocin (OXT) modulates social interactions, attenuates stressful responses and can decrease drug-seeking and taking behaviors. In previous studies, we observed that social defeat (SD) induced a long-lasting increase in ethanol intake and neuroinflammation in male mice. We also know that OXT blocks the increase in cocaine reward induced by SD. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to evaluate the effect of 1 mg/kg of OXT administered 30 min before each episode of SD on ethanol consumption and the neuroinflammatory response in adult male mice. Three weeks after the last SD, mice underwent oral ethanol self-administration (SA) procedure, and striatal levels of the two chemokines …
Distinct patterns of Fos immunoreactivity in striatum and hippocampus induced by different kinds of novelty in mice.
2010
In this study the immediate-early gene Fos was used to investigate the response to different novel stimuli in a wide array of brain regions including the hippocampus, the rhinal cortex, the frontal cortex and different components of the striatal complex. Independent groups of CD-1 mice were exposed to three different novelty conditions: (1) novel environment (empty open field); (2) complex novel environment (i.e. open field containing objects); and (3) identity-based detection of novel objects. We observed that a complex novel environment and a knowledge-based novelty modulated Fos levels in both the dorsal and the ventral components of the striatum, while Fos immunoreactivity in the medial…
Influence of spatial information on responses of tonically active neurons in the monkey striatum.
2006
Influence of spatial information on responses of tonically active neurons in the monkey striatum. J Neurophysiol 95: 2975–2986, 2006. First published February 8, 2006; doi:10.1152/jn.01113.2005. Previous studies have demonstrated that tonically active neurons (TANs) in the primate striatum play an important role in the detection of rewarding events. However, the influence of the spatial features of stimuli or actions required to obtain reward remains unclear. Here, we examined the activity of TANs in the striatum of monkeys trained to make spatially directed movements elicited by visual stimuli presented ipsilaterally or contralaterally to the moving arm. Among 181 neurons responding to the…
Loss of striatal type 1 cannabinoid receptors is a key pathogenic factor in Huntington's disease.
2010
Endocannabinoids act as neuromodulatory and neuroprotective cues by engaging type 1 cannabinoid receptors. These receptors are highly abundant in the basal ganglia and play a pivotal role in the control of motor behaviour. An early downregulation of type 1 cannabinoid receptors has been documented in the basal ganglia of patients with Huntington's disease and animal models. However, the pathophysiological impact of this loss of receptors in Huntington's disease is as yet unknown. Here, we generated a double-mutant mouse model that expresses human mutant huntingtin exon 1 in a type 1 cannabinoid receptor-null background, and found that receptor deletion aggravates the symptoms, neuropatholog…
Involvement of Nitric Oxide in Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic System Degeneration : A Neurochemical Study.
2009
The present study was undertaken to explore the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) experimental model of Parkinson's disease (PD) in rats. The effect of pharmacological manipulation of the NO system was evaluated on striatal dopamine (DA) level decrease produced by the toxin. 7-nitroindazole (7-NI, 50 mg/kg i.p.; n= 5) pretreatment significantly restored the striatal DA contents. Conversely, 40 mg/kg i.p. of molsidomine (MOL, n= 5), an NO donor, significantly worsened the neurodegeneration (n= 5) and completely counteracted the neuroprotective effect of 7-NI (n= 5). Thus, a crucial role for NO in 6-OHDA induced neurodegeneration is suggested together with a p…
Linking personality and brain anatomy: a structural MRI approach to reinforcement sensitivity theory
2019
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) proposes a widely used taxonomy of human personality linked to individual differences at both behavioral and neuropsychological levels that describe a predisposition to psychopathology. However, the body of RST research was based on animal findings, and little is known about their anatomical correspondence in humans. Here we set out to investigate MRI structural correlates (i.e. voxel-based morphometry) of the main personality dimensions proposed by the RST in a group of 400 healthy young adults who completed the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). Sensitivity to punishment scores correlated positively with the gr…
Understanding Cannabinoid Psychoactivity with Mouse Genetic Models
2007
Marijuana and its main psychotropic ingredient Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exert a plethora of psychoactive effects through the activation of the neuronal cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which is expressed by different neuronal subpopulations in the central nervous system. The exact neuroanatomical substrates underlying each effect of THC are, however, not known. We tested locomotor, hypothermic, analgesic, and cataleptic effects of THC in conditional knockout mouse lines, which lack the expression of CB1 in different neuronal subpopulations, including principal brain neurons, GABAergic neurons (those that release γ aminobutyric acid), cortical glutamatergic neurons, and neurons expres…
Aspirin protects striatal dopaminergic neurons from neurotoxin-induced degeneration: an in vivo microdialysis study.
2006
The effect of aspirin on dopaminergic neuronal damage induced by in vivo infusion of 1-methyl-4-phenylpiridinium iodide (MPP(+)) and 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) was studied in rats, using microdialysis. Rat striata were perfused with 1 mM MPP(+) or 6-OHDA for 10 min, causing peak levels of dopamine (DA) in the dialytic fluid, after 40 min. After 24 h, 1 mM MPP(+) was perfused again for 10 min and DA levels measured in the dialytic fluid, as an index of neuronal cell integrity. Pretreatment with Aspidol (lysine acetylsalicylate), 180 mg/kg i.p., 1 h before MPP(+) or 6-OHDA perfusion, did not modify DA extracellular output, on day 1, but restored MPP(+)-induced DA release on day 2, indicating …