Search results for "Human brain"

Plasticity Molecule Reveals Interneuronal Alterations in Alzheimer’s Disease

2017

Serine/threonine-kinase 33 (Stk33) – Component of the neuroendocrine network?

2016

The present study was conducted to investigate the expression of serine/threonine-kinase 33 (Stk33) in neuronal structures of the central nervous system in rat and hamster as well as the presence of the protein in the brain of higher mammals, using a polyclonal antibody on cryosections of fixed brains. We found a distinct immunostaining pattern that included intense fluorescence of the ependymal lining of cerebral ventricles, and of hypothalamic tanycytes and their processes. We further observed intense staining of magnocellular neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular, supraoptic and accessory neurosecretory nuclei, in particular the circular nuclei, and less intense stained neurons in …

Molecular properties underlying regional vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease pathology

2018

Amyloid deposition and neurofibrillary degeneration in Alzheimer's disease specifically affect discrete neuronal systems, but the underlying mechanisms that render some brain regions more vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease pathology than others remain largely unknown. Here we studied molecular properties underlying these distinct regional vulnerabilities by analysing Alzheimer's disease-typical neuroimaging patterns of amyloid deposition and neurodegeneration in relation to regional gene expression profiles of the human brain. Graded patterns of brain-wide vulnerability to amyloid deposition and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease were estimated by contrasting multimodal amyloid-sensiti…

Expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in the cerebral cortex in Alzheimer's disease: histotopographical correlation with amyloid pl…

1999

Impairment of cholinergic transmission and decreased numbers of nicotinic binding sites are well-known features accompanying the cognitive dysfunction seen in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In order to elucidate the underlying cause of this cholinoceptive dysfunction, the expression of two pharmacologically different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits (alpha4, alpha7) was studied in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer patients as compared to controls. Patch-clamp recordings of 14 dissociated neurons of control cortices showed responses suggesting the existence of alpha4- and alpha7-containing functional nAChRs in the human cortex. In cortices of Alzheimer patients and controls, the p…

[11C]-DASB microPET imaging in the aged rat: Frontal and meso-thalamic increases in serotonin transporter binding

2011

Whereas molecular imaging studies in the aging human brain have predominantly demonstrated reductions in serotonin transporter (5-HTT) availability, the majority of the rodent studies, using autoradiographic methods, report increases in neural 5-HTT levels with age. To our knowledge, however, no previous rodent studies have assessed this topic in vivo, and therefore it remains unclear whether this discrepancy arises from methodological or inter-species differences. We performed an [(11)C]-DASB microPET study to evaluate the effects of aging on 5-HTT availability in the rat brain. To generate binding potential estimates, quantitative tracer kinetic modeling was applied using the simplified r…

The Aromatase Gene CYP19A1: Several Genetic and Functional Lines of Evidence Supporting a Role in Reading, Speech and Language

2012

Inspired by the localization, on 15q21.2 of the CYP19A1 gene in the linkage region of speech and language disorders, and a rare translocation in a dyslexic individual that was brought to our attention, we conducted a series of studies on the properties of CYP19A1 as a candidate gene for dyslexia and related conditions. The aromatase enzyme is a member of the cytochrome P450 super family, and it serves several key functions: it catalyzes the conversion of androgens into estrogens; during early mammalian development it controls the differentiation of specific brain areas (e.g. local estrogen synthesis in the hippocampus regulates synaptic plasticity and axonal growth); it is involved in sexua…

The default mode network and the working memory network are not anti-correlated during all phases of a working memory task

2015

INTRODUCTION:\ud \ud The default mode network and the working memory network are known to be anti-correlated during sustained cognitive processing, in a load-dependent manner. We hypothesized that functional connectivity among nodes of the two networks could be dynamically modulated by task phases across time.\ud METHODS:\ud \ud To address the dynamic links between default mode network and the working memory network, we used a delayed visuo-spatial working memory paradigm, which allowed us to separate three different phases of working memory (encoding, maintenance, and retrieval), and analyzed the functional connectivity during each phase within and between the default mode network and the …

Distribution of the hematopoietic growth factor G-CSF and its receptor in the adult human brain with specific reference to Alzheimer's disease

2013

The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), being a member of the hematopoietic growth factor family, is also critically involved in controlling proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells. Treatment with G-CSF has been shown to result in substantial neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects in various experimental models of acute and chronic diseases of the central nervous system. Although G-CSF has been tested in a clinical study for treatment of acute ischemic stroke, there is only fragmentary data on the distribution of this cytokine and its receptor in the human brain. Therefore, the present study was focused on the immunohistochemical analysis of the protein expr…

THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON DOPAMINERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION A microPET STUDY OF [11C]-raclopride BINDING IN THE AGED RODENT BRAIN

2010

Rodent models are frequently used in aging re search to investigate biochemical age effects and aid in the development of therapies for pathological and non pathological age related degenerative processes In order to validate the use of animal models in aging research and pave the way for longitudinal intervention based animal studies, the consistency of cerebral aging processes across species needs to be evaluated The dopaminergic system seems particularly susceptible to the aging process, and one of the most consistent findings in human brain aging research is a decline in striatal D2-like receptor (D2R) availability, quantifiable by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging In this stud…

Bilingualism at the core of the brain. Structural differences between bilinguals and monolinguals revealed by subcortical shape analysis.

2015

Naturally acquiring a language shapes the human brain through a long-lasting learning and practice process. This is supported by previous studies showing that managing more than one language from early childhood has an impact on brain structure and function. However, to what extent bilingual individuals present neuroanatomical peculiarities at the subcortical level with respect to monolinguals is yet not well understood, despite the key role of subcortical gray matter for a number of language functions, including monitoring of speech production and language control — two processes especially solicited by bilinguals. Here we addressed this issue by performing a subcortical surface-based anal…