Search results for "CORTEX"
showing 10 items of 1827 documents
Vesicular Storage and Release of Cholinergic False Transmitters
1979
Publisher Summary Several analogues of choline are known, which are taken up by cholinergic nerve terminals and released in the acetylated form on stimulation. Such compounds are thus precursors of cholinergic false transmitters. This chapter discusses two compounds, N-methyl-N-2-hydroxyethylpyrrolidiniu (mPCh) and homocholine (HCh), using guinea-pig cortex and the electric organ of Torpedo marmorata. In the experiments with cortex, the false transmitter precursors were injected into the tissue and released transmitters collected in Locke solution applied to the surface of the cortex in plastic sleeves. Free vesicles and those attached to external membranes were isolated from tissue subjace…
Emotion regulation strategies modulate the effect of adverse childhood experiences on perceived chronic stress with implications for cognitive flexib…
2020
Exposure to early life adversity is associated with chronic stress and a range of stress-related health problems in adulthood. Since chronic stress debilitates activity in the prefrontal cortex (pFC), maladaptive regulatory strategies in response to stress have been proposed as one explanation for the impact of early life adversity on health outcomes in adulthood. We conducted a study to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on cognitive flexibility, a key executive function implicated in activity in the pFC, in a sample of adults (N = 486). Additionally, we investigated whether perceptions of chronic stress in adulthood would mediate the influence of ACEs on cognitive …
AISF position paper on liver disease and pregnancy.
2016
Abstract The relationship between liver disease and pregnancy is of great clinical impact. Severe liver disease in pregnancy is rare; however, pregnancy-related liver disease is the most frequent cause of liver dysfunction during pregnancy and represents a severe threat to foetal and maternal survival. A rapid differential diagnosis between liver disease related or unrelated to pregnancy is required in women who present with liver dysfunction during pregnancy. This report summarizes the recommendation of an expert panel established by the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF) on the management of liver disease during pregnancy. The article provides an overview of liver disea…
Satb2 Regulates Callosal Projection Neuron Identity in the Developing Cerebral Cortex
2008
SummarySatb2 is a DNA-binding protein that regulates chromatin organization and gene expression. In the developing brain, Satb2 is expressed in cortical neurons that extend axons across the corpus callosum. To assess the role of Satb2 in neurons, we analyzed mice in which the Satb2 locus was disrupted by insertion of a LacZ gene. In mutant mice, β-galactosidase-labeled axons are absent from the corpus callosum and instead descend along the corticospinal tract. Satb2 mutant neurons acquire expression of Ctip2, a transcription factor that is necessary and sufficient for the extension of subcortical projections by cortical neurons. Conversely, ectopic expression of Satb2 in neural stem cells m…
Chronic exposure to glucocorticoids induces suboptimal decision-making in mice.
2021
AbstractAnxio-depressive symptoms as well as severe cognitive dysfunction including aberrant decision-making (DM) are documented in neuropsychiatric patients with hypercortisolaemia. Yet, the influence of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis on DM processes remains poorly understood. As a tractable mean to approach this human condition, adult male C57BL/6JRj mice were chronically treated with corticosterone (CORT) prior to behavioural, physiological and neurobiological evaluation. The behavioural data indicate that chronic CORT delays the acquisition of contingencies required to orient responding towards optimal DM performance in a mouse Gambling Task (mGT). Specifically, CORT-treat…
Brain processing during mechanical hyperalgesia in complex regional pain syndrome: a functional MRI study.
2005
Complex Regional Pain Syndromes (CRPS) are characterized by a triad of sensory, motor and autonomic dysfunctions of still unknown origin. Pain and mechanical hyperalgesia are hallmarks of CRPS. There are several lines of evidence that central nervous system (CNS) changes are crucial for the development and maintenance of mechanical hyperalgesia. However, little is known about the cortical structures associated with the processing of hyperalgesia in pain patients. This study describes the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to delineate brain activations during pin-prick hyperalgesia in CRPS. Twelve patients, in whom previous quantitative sensory testing revealed the presence…
Age at First Episode Modulates Diagnosis-Related Structural Brain Abnormalities in Psychosis.
2016
Brain volume and thickness abnormalities have been reported in first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, it is unclear if and how they are modulated by brain developmental stage (and, therefore, by age at FEP as a proxy). This is a multicenter cross-sectional case-control brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. Patients with FEP (n = 196), 65.3% males, with a wide age at FEP span (12-35 y), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 157), matched for age, sex, and handedness, were scanned at 6 sites. Gray matter volume and thickness measurements were generated for several brain regions using FreeSurfer software. The nonlinear relationship between age at scan (a proxy for age at FEP in patients) and…
Verbal learning and memory and their associations with brain morphology and illness course in schizophrenia spectrum psychoses.
2012
The California Verbal Learning Test and structural brain imaging were administered to 57 subjects with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 94 controls in a general population sample. Cases had lower semantic cluster scores. Poorer verbal memory strategies were associated with longer duration of illness and heavier use of antipsychotic medication. After controlling for duration of illness, sex, and total gray matter, poorer verbal memory was associated with lower gray matter volume in the cingulate cortex, juxtapositional lobule, right superior temporal gyrus, and precuneus. After controlling for use of antipsychotic medication, there was an association between higher serial clustering and …
Social and emotional functions in three patients with medial frontal lobe damage including the anterior cingulate cortex
2006
INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to explore social and emotional functions in patients with medial frontal damage including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). METHODS: Three patients with medial frontal lobe lesions primarily involving the ACC performed tasks on motivational decision making, emotional facial expression recognition, and social cognition, including theory of mind (ToM). Their performance on these tasks was compared with age and education matched healthy controls. RESULTS: Patient performance on the motivational decision making and social situations tasks did not differ from controls. Selective emotional facial expression recognition impairment for fear was evident in…
Music and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters
2011
The importance of music in our daily life has given rise to an increased number of studies addressing the brain regions involved in its appreciation. Some of these studies controlled only for the familiarity of the stimuli, while others relied on pleasantness ratings, and others still on musical preferences. With a listening test and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, we wished to clarify the role of familiarity in the brain correlates of music appreciation by controlling, in the same study, for both familiarity and musical preferences. First, we conducted a listening test, in which participants rated the familiarity and liking of song excerpts from the pop/rock repe…