Search results for "cerebral cortex"
showing 10 items of 529 documents
The multiple facets of Cajal-Retzius neurons.
2021
ABSTRACTCajal-Retzius neurons (CRs) are among the first-born neurons in the developing cortex of reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans. The peculiarity of CRs lies in the fact they are initially embedded into the immature neuronal network before being almost completely eliminated by cell death at the end of cortical development. CRs are best known for controlling the migration of glutamatergic neurons and the formation of cortical layers through the secretion of the glycoprotein reelin. However, they have been shown to play numerous additional key roles at many steps of cortical development, spanning from patterning and sizing functional areas to synaptogenesis. The use of genetic l…
Heat shock factor 2 is a stress-responsive mediator of neuronal migration defects in models of fetal alcohol syndrome
2014
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a frequent cause of mental retardation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying brain development defects induced by maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy are unclear. We used normal and Hsf2-deficient mice and cell systems to uncover a pivotal role for heat shock factor 2 (HSF2) in radial neuronal migration defects in the cortex, a hallmark of fetal alcohol exposure. Upon fetal alcohol exposure, HSF2 is essential for the triggering of HSF1 activation, which is accompanied by distinctive post-translational modifications, and HSF2 steers the formation of atypical alcohol-specific HSF1–HSF2 heterocomplexes. This perturbs the in vivo bindi…
The importance of the insular cortex for vestibular and spatial syndromes.
2020
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The aim of the study was to identify the neuroanatomical correlates and associations of neuropsychological syndromes after acute unilateral right-hemisphere brain lesions. The neuropsychological syndromes considered were orientation in three-dimensional space such as tilts of the subjective visual vertical or of the subjective haptic vertical, pusher syndrome, visual neglect and unawareness of paresis (anosognosia for hemiparesis). These neuropsychological phenomena have been found to occur separately or in different combinations after lesions to the right insular cortex. METHOD Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained from 82 patients with acute right-hemispher…
Non-cell autonomous and non-catalytic activities of ATX in the developing brain
2015
The intricate formation of the cerebral cortex requires a well-coordinated series of events, which are regulated at the level of cell-autonomous and non-cell autonomous mechanisms. Whereas cell-autonomous mechanisms that regulate cortical development are well-studied, the non cell-autonomous mechanisms remain poorly understood. A non-biased screen allowed us to identify Autotaxin (ATX) as a non cell-autonomous regulator of neural stem cell proliferation. ATX (also known as ENPP2) is best known to catalyze lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) production. Our results demonstrate that ATX affects the localization and adhesion of neuronal progenitors in a cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous manner, …
Cajal–Retzius and Subplate Cells
2013
The laminar and columnar organization of the mature cerebral cortex is determined by a variety of early developmental processes. Two distinct populations of early generated preplate neurons play key roles in corticogenesis. Cajal–Retzius neurons, located in the marginal zone (later layer I), control the formation of neocortical layers by releasing the extracellular matrix protein reelin, which serves as a guiding signal for migrating neurons. Subplate neurons in the lower neocortical layer play an active role in transient synaptic circuits and influence early cortical plasticity and the maturation of the columnar architecture. Both neuronal cell populations serve as transient synaptic targe…
Neuronal circuitry in the medial cerebral cortex of lizards
1997
The medial cortex of lizards is a simple three-layered brain region displaying many characteristics which parallel the hippocampal fascia dentata of mammals. Its principal neurons form a morphologically diverse population, partly as a result of the prominent continuous growth of this nervous centre. By using the classical Golgi impregnation method we describe here the morphology of the principal neurons (8 types) and the short-axon interneurons (18 types) populating the medial cortex of Podarcis hispanica as well as the connections between them.
Cellular Acetylcholine Receptor Expression in the Brain of Patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Dementia
1995
Binding studies and receptor autoradiography reveal the overall changes of acetylcholine receptors (AChR) in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s dementia cortices.2,5 A detailed account of these changes requires a study of neurochemical phenotype of individual neurons as basic elements of networks constituting the substrate of cortical functions.4 Examples will be given for cell-type specific AChR localization in normal and diseased human cerebral cortex.
Prenatal exposure to cannabinoids evokes long-lasting functional alterations by targeting CB 1 receptors on developing cortical neurons
2015
The CB1 cannabinoid receptor, the main target of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most prominent psychoactive compound of marijuana, plays a crucial regulatory role in brain development as evidenced by the neurodevelopmental consequences of its manipulation in animal models. Likewise, recreational cannabis use during pregnancy affects brain structure and function of the progeny. However, the precise neurobiological substrates underlying the consequences of prenatal THC exposure remain unknown. As CB1 signaling is known to modulate long-range corticofugal connectivity, we analyzed the impact of THC exposure on cortical projection neuron development. THC administration to pregnant mice in…
Molecular Evolution of Lactate Dehydrogenase in the Developing Nervous Tissue*
1964
Publisher Summary This chapter describes both electrophoretic and catalytic studies on lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the developing brain. It has been found that the enzyme exhibits at birth a composition that gradually changes to attain the final pattern observed in the adult. The neurochemical findings on LDH isozymes parallel the rapid growth in the first days after birth. Isozyme E, which is not present in detectable amounts 2 days after birth, represents 15% of the enzyme on the 22nd day. Similarly, the percentage decrease of isozyme B is quite steep at the beginning. Nevertheless, the final pattern is attained only at the end of the 2nd month that is, when the cerebral cortex is full…
Differential antiepileptic effects of the organic calcium antagonists verapamil and flunarizine in neurons of organotypic neocortical explants from n…
1988
Effects of the organic calcium antagonists verapamil and flunarizine on pentylenetetrazol induced paroxysmal depolarizations were tested in organotypic neocortical explants taken from neonatal rats. In these in vitro experiments the papaverin derivative verapamil depressed, and finally abolished, epileptic discharges in all cases. The piperazine derivative flunarizine, however, which is known to suppress epileptic discharges in hippocampal CA3 neurons (Bingmann and Speckmann 1986), showed no significant antiepileptic effects in the explanted neocortical neurons. Thus, the present findings may indicate that the suppressive action of flunarizine on the generation of paroxysmal depolarizations…