Search results for "Cortex"
showing 10 items of 1827 documents
CNS Macrophages Control Neurovascular Development via CD95L.
2017
The development of neurons and vessels shares striking anatomical and molecular features, and it is presumably orchestrated by an overlapping repertoire of extracellular signals. CNS macrophages have been implicated in various developmental functions, including the morphogenesis of neurons and vessels. However, whether CNS macrophages can coordinately influence neurovascular development and the identity of the signals involved therein is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that activity of the cell surface receptor CD95 regulates neuronal and vascular morphogenesis in the post-natal brain and retina. Furthermore, we identify CNS macrophages as the main source of CD95L, and macrophage-specific del…
A specific prelimbic-nucleus accumbens pathway controls resilience versus vulnerability to food addiction
2019
Food addiction is linked to obesity and eating disorders and is characterized by a loss of behavioral control and compulsive food intake. Here, using a food addiction mouse model, we report that the lack of cannabinoid type-1 receptor in dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons prevents the development of food addiction-like behavior, which is associated with enhanced synaptic excitatory transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In contrast, chemogenetic inhibition of neuronal activity in the mPFC-NAc pathway induces compulsive food seeking. Transcriptomic analysis and genetic manipulation identified that increased dopamine D2 receptor express…
Taurine as an Essential Neuromodulator during Perinatal Cortical Development
2017
A variety of experimental studies demonstrated that neurotransmitters are an important factor for the development of the central nervous system, affecting neurodevelopmental events like neurogenesis, neuronal migration, programmed cell death, and differentiation. While the role of the classical neurotransmitters glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on neuronal development is well established, the aminosulfonic acid taurine has also been considered as possible neuromodulator during early neuronal development. The purpose of the present review article is to summarize the properties of taurine as neuromodulator in detail, focusing on the direct involvement of taurine on various neurode…
Assessing sensory versus optogenetic network activation by combining (o)fMRI with optical Ca2+ recordings
2016
Encoding of sensory inputs in the cortex is characterized by sparse neuronal network activation. Optogenetic stimulation has previously been combined with fMRI (ofMRI) to probe functional networks. However, for a quantitative optogenetic probing of sensory-driven sparse network activation, the level of similarity between sensory and optogenetic network activation needs to be explored. Here, we complement ofMRI with optic fiber-based population Ca2+ recordings for a region-specific readout of neuronal spiking activity in rat brain. Comparing Ca2+ responses to the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal upon sensory stimulation with increasing frequencies showed adaptation of Ca2+ transient…
Polysialic Acid Acute Depletion Induces Structural Plasticity in Interneurons and Impairs the Excitation/Inhibition Balance in Medial Prefrontal Cort…
2016
The structure and function of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is affected in several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and major depression. Recent studies suggest that imbalances between excitatory and inhibitory activity (E/I) may be responsible for this cortical dysfunction and, therefore, may underlie the core symptoms of these diseases. This E/I imbalance seems to be correlated with alterations in the plasticity of interneurons but there is still scarce information on the mechanisms that may link these phenomena. The polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is a good candidate, because it modulates the neuronal plasticity of interneurons…
Piriform cortex alterations in the Ts65Dn model for down syndrome
2020
The piriform cortex is involved in olfactory information processing, that is altered in Down Syndrome. Moreover, piriform cortex has a crucial involvement in epilepsy generation and is one of the first regions affected in Alzheimer's Disease, both maladies being prevalent among Down Syndrome individuals. In this work, we studied the alterations in neuronal morphology, synaptology and structural plasticity in the piriform cortex of the Ts65Dn mouse model, which is the most used model for the study of this syndrome and mimics some of their alterations. We have observed that Ts65Dn piriform cortex displays: a reduction in dendritic arborisation, a higher density of inhibitory synapses (GAD67),…
Comparative Performance of Linear Multielectrode Probes and Single-Tip Electrodes for Intracortical Microstimulation and Single-Neuron Recording in M…
2017
Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is one of the most widely employed techniques for providing causal evidence of the relationship between neuronal activity and specific motor, perceptual, or even cognitive functions. In recent years, several new types of linear multielectrode silicon probes have been developed, allowing researchers to sample neuronal activity at different depths along the same cortical site simultaneously and with high spatial precision. Nevertheless, silicon multielectrode probes have been rarely employed for ICMS studies and, more importantly, it is unknown whether and to what extent they can be used for combined recording and stimulation experiments. Here, we address…
Deciphering Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenic Pathway: Role of Chronic Brain Hypoperfusion on p-Tau and mTOR
2021
This review examines new biomolecular findings that lend support to the hemodynamic role played by chronic brain hypoperfusion (CBH) in driving a pathway to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). CBH is a common clinical feature of AD and the current topic of intense investigation in AD models. CBH is also the basis for the vascular hypothesis of AD which we originally proposed in 1993. New biomolecular findings reveal the interplay of CBH in increasing tau phosphorylation (p-Tau) in the hippocampus and cortex of AD mice, damaging fast axonal transport, increasing signaling of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), impairing learning-memory function, and promoting the formation of neurofibrillary tangles…
Boosting Action Observation and Motor Imagery to Promote Plasticity and Learning
2018
Neural Plasticity, 2018
Chronic Stress Modulates Interneuronal Plasticity: Effects on PSA-NCAM and Perineuronal Nets in Cortical and Extracortical Regions.
2018
Chronic stress has an important impact on the adult brain. However, most of the knowledge on its effects is focused on principal neurons and less on inhibitory neurons. Consequently, recent reports have begun to describe stress-induced alterations in the structure, connectivity and neurochemistry of interneurons. Some of these changes appear to be mediated by certain molecules particularly associated to interneurons, such as the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) and components of the perineuronal nets (PNN), specialized regions of the extracellular matrix. These plasticity-related molecules modulate interneuronal structure and connectivity, particularly of …