scholarly journals P11.05: Periconceptional maternal folate status and the impact on embryonic head and brain structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 165-165
Author(s):  
S. Husen ◽  
N. Kemper ◽  
A. Go ◽  
S. Willemsen ◽  
R.P. Steegers-Theunissen
Author(s):  
Sofie C. Husen ◽  
Nicolina D.H.E. Kemper ◽  
Attie T.J.I. Go ◽  
Sten P. Willemsen ◽  
Melek Rousian ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler G. Ekins ◽  
Vivek Mahadevan ◽  
Yajun Zhang ◽  
James A. D’Amour ◽  
Timothy Petros ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTType I lissencephaly is a neuronal migration disorder caused by haploinsuffiency of the LIS1 gene and is characterized in humans by agyria, mislamination of brain structures, developmental delays, and epilepsy. Here, we investigate the impact of LIS1 mutation on the cellular migration, morphophysiology, microcircuitry and genomics of mouse hippocampal CA1 parvalbumin-containing inhibitory interneurons (PV+INTs). We find that WT PV+INTs consist of two physiological subtypes (80% fast-spiking (FS), 20% non-fast-spiking (NFS)) and four morphological subtypes (basket, axo-axonic, bistratified, radiatum-targeting). We also discover that cell-autonomous mutations within interneurons disrupts morphological development of PV+INTs and results in the emergence of a non-canonical “intermediate spiking (IS)” subset of PV+INTs. In the GlobalLis mutant, IS/NFS cells become the dominant PV+INT subtypes (56%) and the percentage of FS cells shrinks to 44%. We also find that IS/NFS cells are prone to entering depolarizing block, causing them to temporarily lose the ability to initiate action potentials and control network excitation, potentially promoting seizures. Finally, single-cell nuclear RNAsequencing of PV+INTs revealed several misregulated genes related to morphogenesis, cellular excitability, and synapse formation.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1462
Author(s):  
Dawid Gawliński ◽  
Kinga Gawlińska ◽  
Małgorzata Frankowska ◽  
Małgorzata Filip

Recent studies have emphasized the role of the maternal diet in the development of mental disorders in offspring. Substance use disorder is a major global health and economic burden. Therefore, the search for predisposing factors for the development of this disease can contribute to reducing the health and social damage associated with addiction. In this study, we focused on the impact of the maternal diet on changes in melanocortin-4 (MC-4) receptors as well as on behavioral changes related to cocaine addiction. Rat dams consumed a high-fat diet (HFD), high-sugar diet (HSD, rich in sucrose), or mixed diet (MD) during pregnancy and lactation. Using an intravenous cocaine self-administration model, the susceptibility of female offspring to cocaine reward and cocaine-seeking propensities was evaluated. In addition, the level of MC-4 receptors in the rat brain structures related to cocaine reward and relapse was assessed. Modified maternal diets did not affect cocaine self-administration in offspring. However, the maternal HSD enhanced cocaine-seeking behavior in female offspring. In addition, we observed that the maternal HSD and MD led to increased expression of MC-4 receptors in the nucleus accumbens, while increased MC-4 receptor levels in the dorsal striatum were observed after exposure to the maternal HSD and HFD. Taken together, it can be concluded that a maternal HSD is an important factor that triggers cocaine-seeking behavior in female offspring and the expression of MC-4 receptors.


2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 2725-2737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Diego Centonze ◽  
Giorgio Bernardi ◽  
Paolo Calabresi

The striatum is thought to play an important role in the spreading of epilepsy from cortical areas to deeper brain structures, but this issue has not been addressed with intracellular techniques. Paired recordings were used to assess the impact of cortical epileptiform activity on striatal neurons in brain slices. Bath-application of 4-amynopyridine (100 μM) and bicuculline (20 μM) induced synchronized bursts in all pairs of cortical neurons (≤5 mm apart) in coronal, sagittal, and oblique slices (which preserve connections from the medial agranular cortex to the striatum). Under these conditions, striatal medium spiny neurons (MSs) displayed a strong increased spontaneous glutamatergic activity. This activity was not correlated to the cortical bursts and was asynchronous in pairs of MSs. Sporadic, large-amplitude synchronous depolarizations also occurred in MSs. These events were simultaneously detected in glial cells, suggesting that they were accompanied by considerable increases in extracellular potassium. In oblique slices, cortically driven bursts were also observed in MSs. These events were synchronized to cortical epileptiform bursts, depended on non– N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors, and persisted in the cortex, but not in the striatum, after disconnection of the two structures. During these bursts, MS membrane potential shifted to a depolarized value (59 ± 4 mV) on which an irregular waveform, occasionally eliciting spikes, was superimposed. Thus synchronous activation of a limited set of corticostriatal afferents can powerfully control MSs. Cholinergic interneurons located <120 μm from simultaneously recorded MSs, did not display cortically driven bursts, suggesting that these cells are much less easily engaged by cortical epileptiform activity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 171 (2) ◽  
pp. 485-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Pomierny ◽  
Weronika Krzyżanowska ◽  
Żaneta Broniowska ◽  
Beata Strach ◽  
Beata Bystrowska ◽  
...  

Abstract Benzophenone-3 is the most commonly used UV filter. It is well absorbed through the skin and gastrointestinal tract. Its best-known side effect is the impact on the function of sex hormones. Little is known about the influence of BP-3 on the brain. The aim of this study was to show whether BP-3 crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB), to determine whether it induces nerve cell damage in susceptible brain structures, and to identify the mechanism of its action in the central nervous system. BP-3 was administered dermally during the prenatal period and adulthood to rats. BP-3 effect on short-term and spatial memory was determined by novel object and novel location recognition tests. BP-3 concentrations were assayed in the brain and peripheral tissues. In brain structures, selected markers of brain damage were measured. The study showed that BP-3 is absorbed through the rat skin, passes through the BBB. BP-3 raised oxidative stress and induced apoptosis in the brain. BP-3 increased the concentration of extracellular glutamate in examined brain structures and changed the expression of glutamate transporters. BP-3 had no effect on short-term memory but impaired spatial memory. The present study showed that dermal BP-3 exposure may cause damage to neurons what might be associated with the increase in the level of extracellular glutamate, most likely evoked by changes in the expression of GLT-1 and xCT glutamate transporters. Thus, exposure to BP-3 may be one of the causes that increase the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Żebrowska ◽  
Mateusz Maciejczyk ◽  
Małgorzata Żendzian-Piotrowska ◽  
Anna Zalewska ◽  
Adrian Chabowski

This is the first study to analyze the impact of high protein diet (HPD) on antioxidant defense, redox status, as well as oxidative damage on both a local and systemic level. Male Wistar rats were divided into two equal groups (n = 9): HPD (44% protein) and standard diet (CON; 24.2% protein). After eight weeks, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1), reduced glutathione (GSH), uric acid (UA), total antioxidant (TAC)/oxidant status (TOS) as well as advanced glycation end products (AGE), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed in the serum/plasma, cerebral cortex, and hypothalamus of HPD and CON rats. HPD resulted in higher UA concentration and activity of GPx and CAT in the hypothalamus, whereas in the cerebral cortex these parameters remained unchanged. A significantly lower GSH content was demonstrated in the plasma and hypothalamus of HPD rats when compared to CON rats. Both brain structures expressed higher content of 4-HNE and MDA, whereas AGE was increased only in the hypothalamus of HPD animals. Despite the enhancement in antioxidant defense in the hypothalamus, this mechanism does not protect the hypothalamus from oxidative damage in rats. Hypothalamus is more susceptible to oxidative stress caused by HPD.


2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian C. Ruff ◽  
Jon Driver

Attending to the location of an expected visual target can lead to anticipatory activations in spatiotopic occipital cortex, emerging before target onset. But less is known about how the brain may prepare for a distractor at a known location remote from the target. In a psychophysical experiment, we found that trial-to-trial advance knowledge about the presence of a distractor in the target-opposite hemifield significantly reduced its behavioral cost. In a subsequent functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment with similar task and stimuli, we found anticipatory activations in the occipital cortex contralateral to the expected distractor, but no additional target modulation, when participants were given advance information about a distractor's subsequent presence and location. Several attention-related control structures (frontal eye fields and superior parietal cortex) were active during attentional preparation for all trials, whereas the left superior prefrontal and right angular gyri were additionally activated when a distractor was anticipated. The right temporoparietal junction showed stronger functional coupling with occipital regions during preparation for trials with an isolated target than for trials with a distractor expected. These results show that anticipation of a visual distractor at a known location, remote from the target, can lead to (1) a reduction in the behavioral cost of that distractor, (2) preparatory modulation of the occipital cortex contralateral to the location of the expected distractor, and (3) anticipatory activation of distinct parietal and frontal brain structures. These findings indicate that specific components of preparatory visual attention may be devoted to minimizing the impact of distractors, not just to enhancements of target processing.


Author(s):  
Danijel Slavić ◽  
Bogosav Lazetić ◽  
Damir Lukač

The department of Physiology began its work in October 1961 with the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine. In the first years of its existence, the deparment encountered numerous functioning and organisational difficulties due to the limited space available on location at the time, as is often the case for newly set scientific and educational institutions. However, thanks to the efforts of competent state institutions, scientific research could eventually focus on three main issues: a) Homeostasis in the body, b) Cardio-respiratory functional systems and their adaptation to different models of weight loads (in order to investigate the influence of dosed loads on histophysiological characteristics of muscles, especially on the state of mitochondrial apparatus, researches were conducted on laboratory animals), c) The neurophysiological laboratory especially focused on changes of spontaneous bioelectric activity of different brain structures in terms of the formation of functional systems of behavior. The microelectrode technique of registration of activity of individual neurons that are part of different brain structures was used for the first time. This allowed to investigate the characteristics of individual neurons of the sea slug Aplysia depilans. In the Department of Physiology, researchers' attention was drawn to an orientation-questioning reaction, as a fundamental biological reaction. In addition to the vegetative and electroencephalographic parameters of the mentioned reaction, a special interest was allocated to the neural and neurochemical characteristics of certain brain structures during that reaction. To this end, microelectrode and microiontophoretic examinations of activity of single neurons in various structures of the brain were conducted on laboratory animals. In the middle of the 20th Century, the impact of artificial electromagnetic fields on biological systems was considered as a serious setback. This resulted in the conduction of extensive researches on the effects of these fields on biological systems.


Trauma ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-192
Author(s):  
Andrew Post ◽  
Eyesha Hashim ◽  
Windsor Kwan-Chun Ting ◽  
T. Blaine Hoshizaki ◽  
Michael D. Gilchrist ◽  
...  

Background Concussion is an injury that occurs in non-sporting and sporting environments. To determine improved clinical methods for identifying this injury, it is important to develop and understand how the impact event results in quantifiable differences in brain functioning—functioning that has been quantified in the past using saccadic measures. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships between oculomotor deficits, specifically antisaccade responses, and the biomechanics of impact for a concussion. Methods Participants underwent a diffusion tensor imaging protocol as well as saccadic testing to determine differences in brain functioning in comparison to controls. The injury event was then reconstructed in laboratory using physical and finite element models to determine the biomechanics of the impact and brain tissue strain. Relationships between the biomechanical variables and antisaccade responses were then examined. Results The diffusion tensor imaging analyses found that there was a decrease in radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity found in the cerebral peduncle (p < 0.05) and cingulum hippocampus (p < 0.05), respectively. There was an increase in the axial diffusivity for the corona radiata (p < 0.05). The saccadic testing found an increase in mean latency for the concussed group (p < 0.05). The results indicated no significant relationship between mean latency, duration, amplitude and peak velocity antisaccade measures and the biomechanical variables. This may have been influenced not only by a lack of sensitivity in biomechanical variable to antisaccade responses, but also to these responses being affected by factors other than injury such as attentiveness and wakefulness. Conclusion While the sample of this research was small, this research suggests that to improve the understanding of the relationship between impact biomechanics and concussion, methods that can quantify the damage to brain structures through imaging, such as diffusion tensor imaging, may be more appropriate.


2021 ◽  

An interdisciplinary description of the cognitive and emotional functioning of HIV-infected individuals treated according to the latest world standards. The authors summarize the results of many years of pioneering research in Poland on the impact of aging on the course of HIV infection, characterizing the neuropsychological functioning of HIV+ subjects and analyzing the state of brain structures and activity in relation to the neuropsychological and chemosensory functions of the project participants.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document