Search results for "plasticity"

The role of N-methyl-D-asparate receptors in neurogenesis.

2006

The dentate gyrus continues to incorporate granule neurons during adulthood. Among the factors that we know modulate adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus, one of the first studied was the influence of excitatory amino-acids. These neurotransmitters, acting through NMDA receptors, are able to modulate both the proliferation of progenitor cells as well as the rate of neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus. However, the mechanisms by which these processes are influenced are not clearly known. Although there is no anatomical evidence of NMDA receptor expression in adult hippocampal progenitor cells or differentiating granule neurons, electrophysiological data and in vitro studies suggest th…

Long term effects of peripubertal stress on excitatory and inhibitory circuits in the prefrontal cortex of male and female mice.

2021

Abstract The impact of stressful events is especially important during early life, because certain cortical regions, especially the prefrontal cortex (PFC), are still developing. Consequently, aversive experiences that occur during the peripubertal period can cause long-term alterations in neural connectivity, physiology and related behaviors. Although sex influences the stress response and women are more likely to develop stress-related psychiatric disorders, knowledge about the effects of stress on females is still limited. In order to analyze the long-term effects of peripubertal stress (PPS) on the excitatory and inhibitory circuitry of the adult PFC, and whether these effects are sex-d…

Post-weaning social isolation rearing influences the expression of molecules related to inhibitory neurotransmission and structural plasticity in the…

2012

Several lines of evidence indicate that alterations in the structure of neural circuits and inhibitory neurotransmission underlie the physiopathogenesis of schizophrenia. Most of the studies on these parameters have been focused on cortical regions and, despite the crucial role of the amygdala in this psychiatric disorder, there is less information on this region. In order to expand this knowledge, we have studied the expression of molecules related to inhibitory neurotransmission and structural plasticity in rats subjected to post-weaning isolation rearing, an animal model that reproduces several core symptoms of schizophrenia. We have analyzed, using qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, the …

PHYSIOLOGY OF AGING AND BRAIN PLASTICITY

2014

Mildronate and its neuroregulatory mechanisms: targeting the mitochondria, neuroinflammation, and protein expression.

2013

This review for the first time summarizes the data obtained in the neuropharmacological studies of mildronate, a drug previously known as a cardioprotective agent. In different animal models of neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases, we demonstrated its neuroprotecting activity. By the use of immunohistochemical methods and Western blot analysis, as well as some selected behavioral tests, the new mechanisms of mildronate have been demonstrated: a regulatory effect on mitochondrial processes and on the expression of nerve cell proteins, which are involved in cell survival, functioning, and inflammation processes. Particular attention is paid to the capability of mildronate to stimulate…

A beam element allowing multiple slope discontinuities for RC structures: An application

2018

A beam/column element allowing the formation of multiple plastic hinges in columns or beams of a reinforced concrete (RC) framed structure is used in this work to show, through an application, its advantages with respect to conventional lumped plasticity models. Slope discontinuities can be located at any position of an Euler-Bernoulli beam span and not at the two extremes only. The model is in fact written in the framework of a modified lumped plasticity theory, and respectful of a thermodynamic approach. Flow rules and state equations are derived invoking the Theorem of maximum dissipation and using a Bresler's type activation domain. The beam element has already been implemented in a res…

Nonlinear Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Frames: Safety Evaluation and Retrofitting Techniques

A thermodynamically consistent nonlocal formulation for damaging materials

2002

A thermodynamically consistent nonlocal formulation for damaging materials is presented. The second principle of thermodynamics is enforced in a nonlocal form over the volume where the dissipative mechanism takes place. The nonlocal forces thermodynamically conjugated are obtained consistently from the free energy. The paper indeed extends to elastic damaging materials a formulation originally proposed by Polizzotto et al. for nonlocal plasticity. Constitutive and computational aspects of the model are discussed. The damage consistency conditions turn out to be formulated as an integral complementarity problem and, consequently, after discretization, as a linear complementarity problem. A n…

Comments on `Nonlocal strain softening bar revisited' by Christer Nilsson: [International Journal of Solids and Structures 34 (1997) 4399-4419]

1999

Nilsson (1997) addressed the analytical solution of an elastic plastic softening bar in extension within the framework of nonlocal plasticity, making use to this purpose of a theory of nonlocal plasticity preliminary devised in the same paper (Section 2). The results there presented - from the thermodynamic arguments supporting the devised theory, to the bar solution - are quite interesting. The writers, involved in the same research area, wish to discuss a few points of the paper in a fully collaborative spirit. We use the same notation as in Nilsson's paper.

Computational aspects in 2D SBEM analysis with domain inelastic actions

2009

The Symmetric Boundary Element Method, applied to structures subjected to temperature and inelastic actions, shows singular domain integrals. In the present paper the strong singularity involved in the domain integrals of the stresses and tractions is removed, and by means of a limiting operation, this traction is evaluated on the boundary. First the weakly singular domain integral in the Somigliana Identity (S.I.) of the displacements is regularized and the singular integral is transformed into a boundary one using the Radial Integration Method; subsequently, using the differential operator applied to the displacement field, the S.I. of the tractions inside the body is obtained and through…