Administration of Docosahexaenoic Acid, Uridine and Choline Increases Levels of Synaptic Membranes and Dendritic Spines in Rodent Brain

Author(s):  
Richard J. Wurtman ◽  
Mehmet Cansev ◽  
Toshimasa Sakamoto ◽  
Ismail H. Ulus
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrick Salois ◽  
Jeffrey S. Smith

Rats used in research are typically housed singly in cages with limited sensory stimulation. There is substantial evidence that housing rats in these conditions lead to numerous neuroanatomical and behavioral abnormalities. Alternatively, rats can be housed in an enriched environment in which rats are housed in groups and given room for exercise and exploration. Enriched environments result in considerable neuroplasticity in the rodent brain. In the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, enriched environments evoke especially profound neural changes, including increases in the number of neurons and the number of dendritic spines. However, whether changes in astrocytes, a type of glia increasingly implicated in mediating neuroplasticity, are concurrent with these neural changes remains to be investigated. In order to assess morphological changes among astrocytes of the rat dentate gyrus, piSeeDB was used to optically clear 250 μm sections of tissue labeled using GFAP immunohistochemistry. Confocal imaging and image analysis were then used to measure astrocyte morphology. Astrocytes from animals housed in EE demonstrated a reduced distance between filament branch points. Furthermore, the most complex astrocytes were significantly more complex among animals housed in EE compared to standard environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 293 (29) ◽  
pp. 11625-11638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Yuan ◽  
Dipika Singh ◽  
James L. Buescher ◽  
Jyothi Arikkath

1971 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 581-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.C. Breckenridge ◽  
G. Gombos ◽  
I.G. Morgan

OCL ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. A403 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Crawford ◽  
M Thabet ◽  
Y Wang ◽  
CL Broadhurst ◽  
WF Schmidt

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been the dominant acyl component of the membrane phosphoglycerides in neural signaling systems since the origin of the eukaryotes. In this paper, we propose, this extreme conservation, is explained by its special electrical properties. Based on the Pauli Exclusion Principle we offer an explanation on how its six methylene interrupted double-bonds provide a special arrangement of π-electrons that offer an absolute control for the precision of the energy of the signal. Precision is not explained by standard concepts of ion movement or synaptic strengthening by enhanced protein synthesis. Yet precision is essential to visual acuity, truthful recall and the exercise of a dedicated neural pathway. Concept: Synaptic membranes have been shown to actively incorporate DHA with a high degree of selectivity. During a learning process, this biomagnification will increase the proportion of membrane DHA with two consequential neuronal and synaptic enhancements which build into a David Marr type model of the real world: DHA induced gene expression resulting in enhanced protein synthesis; increased density of π-electrons which could provide memory blocks and provide for the preferential flow of a current in neural pathways. Proposal: Both the above imply memory from synaptic strengthening. We propose memory is achieved by the activation of neuronal synaptic activation with synaptic turnover resulting in enhanced membrane DHA, which in turn induces gene expression, protein synthesis and π-electron density. Repetition amplifies the process activating synapses, which form a matrix representing the memory. The electro-chemical potentials then fire the electrons as electromagnetic waves via the six methylene interrupted double bonds. These allow transmission at a specific energy level based on their quantum mechanical properties providing the precision required for faithful recall. It is difficult to conceive of protein synthesis alone providing for precision. Using the principle of the dual properties of photons and electrons we develop the idea of complex wave patterns representing the visual or auditory fields. These are likely to be non-computable. We suggest that harmonization of the electromagnetic waves can result in cohesion explaining recall and associations. The cohesion of electromagnetic flow leads to a surge above the resting level, which is recognized by the brain as, demonstrated in artificial, electrical stimulus during neurosurgery.


Author(s):  
M. C. Whitehead

A fundamental problem in taste research is to determine how gustatory signals are processed and disseminated in the mammalian central nervous system. An important first step toward understanding information processing is the identification of cell types in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) and their synaptic relationships with oral primary afferent terminals. Facial and glossopharyngeal (LIX) terminals in the hamster were labelled with HRP, examined with EM, and characterized as containing moderate concentrations of medium-sized round vesicles, and engaging in asymmetrical synaptic junctions. Ultrastructurally the endings resemble excitatory synapses in other brain regions.Labelled facial afferent endings in the RC subdivision synapse almost exclusively with distal dendrites and dendritic spines of NST cells. Most synaptic relationships between the facial synapses and the dendrites are simple. However, 40% of facial endings engage in complex synaptic relationships within glomeruli containing unlabelled axon endings particularly ones termed "SP" endings. SP endings are densely packed with small, pleomorphic vesicles and synapse with both the facial endings and their postsynaptic dendrites by means of nearly symmetrical junctions.


Author(s):  
Kristen M. Harris

Dendritic spines are the tiny protrusions that stud the surface of many neurons and they are the location of over 90% of all excitatory synapses that occur in the central nervous system. Their small size and variable shapes has in large part made detailed study of their structure refractory to conventional light microscopy and single section electron microscopy (EM). Yet their widespread occurrence and likely involvement in learning and memory has motivated extensive efforts to obtain quantitative descriptions of spines in both steady state and dynamic conditions. Since the seminal mathematical analyses of D’Arcy Thompson, the power of establishing quantitatively key parameters of structure has become recognized as a foundation of successful biological inquiry. For dendritic spines highly precise determinations of structure and its variation are proving themselves as the kingpin for establishing a valid concept of function. The recent conjunction of high quality information about the structure, function, and theoretical implications of dendritic spines has produced a flurry of new considerations of their role in synaptic transmission.


Author(s):  
Herlambang
Keyword(s):  

AbstrakDiet maternal diduga berperan dalam etiologi preeclampsia termasuk salahsatunya asam lemak tidak jenuh rantai panjang. Asam lemak tersebut dapat berupaomega-3 dan omega-6 yang dikonversikan menjadi AA dan DHA di dalam tubuhmanusia. AA (Asam Arakhidonat) dan DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) merupakankomponen penting dari fosfolipid membrane yang berperan dalam meregulasi fungsimembrane sel dan dapat mencegah preeclampsia dengan memodulasi inflamasi danfungsi vaskular yaitu mengurangi kadar tromboksan (TAX2) dan meningkatkanprostasiklin (PGI2) pada tubuh maternal.


Author(s):  
Е.И. Захарова ◽  
З.И. Сторожева ◽  
А.Т. Прошин ◽  
М.Ю. Монаков ◽  
А.М. Дудченко

Цель - исследование холинергической синаптической организации функций обучения и памяти у крыс с разными когнитивными способностями. Методы. Крыс обучали на пространственной обстановочной модели в водном лабиринте Морриса. Через 2-3 сут. после окончания тренировок животных декапитировали, из неокортекса и гиппокампа с помощью центрифугирования выделяли субфракции синаптических мембран и синаптоплазмы легких и тяжелых синаптосом. В синаптических субфракциях определяли активность ключевого фермента холинергических нейронов холинацетилтрансферазы (ХАТ). Сравнивали результаты тестирования (время достижения скрытой платформы) и активность фермента у способных и неспособных к обучению крыс. Результаты. Были выявлены: 1) различия в холинергической организации исследованных функций в процессе обучения у способных и неспособных к обучению крыс, в том числе: положительные корреляции активности ХАТ в синапсах проекционных нейронов неокортекса у способных крыс со временем достижения платформы на промежуточных этапах обучения и в синапсах проекционных нейронов гиппокампа у неспособных крыс на позднем этапе обучения; разнонаправленные корреляции активности ХАТ в синапсах, предположительно, интернейронов гиппокампа (фракция тяжелых синаптосом) у способных и неспособных крыс на начальном и позднем этапах обучения; 2) индивидуальность холинергической организации функций на всех этапах обучения. Выводы. Полученные данные свидетельствуют в пользу представлений о специфике холинергической организации функций пространственного обстановочного обучения у крыс с выраженными и слабыми способностями к обучению, а также избирательной роли холинергических интернейронов гиппокампа на исходном этапе обучения и в консолидации памяти. In order to expand the knowledge about neuronal organization of the cognitive functions required for understanding plastic processes in the brain, we investigated the cholinergic synaptic organization of learning and memory functions in rats with different cognitive abilities. Methods. Rats were trained on a contextual situation model in the Morris water maze. At 2-3 days after the end of training, animals were decapitated, and subfractions of synaptic membranes and synaptoplasm of light and heavy synaptosomes were isolated from the cortex and the hippocampus by centrifugation. In synaptic subfractions, activity of the key enzyme of cholinergic neurons, choline acetyltransferase, was measured. We compared the test results (latent period to reach the hidden platform) and the enzyme activity in capable (lower quartile) and incapable of learning rats (upper quartile). Results. The following was found: 1) differences in the cholinergic organization of studied functions in capable and uncapable of learning rats during training, including: positive correlations of choline acetyltransferase activity in synapses of projection neurons in the cortex of capable rats with latency to reach the platform at intermediate stages of training and in the hippocampus ofincapable rats at late stages of training; multidirectional correlations of choline acetyltransferase activity in synapses of hippocampal, presumably, interneurons (heavy synaptosomes) in capable and incapable rats at early and late stages of training; 2) distinctness of the cholinergic organization of functions at all stages of training. Conclusions. The study demonstrated for the first time a specificity of the cholinergic organization of functions in spatial situational learning of rats with strong and poor learning abilities and a selective role of hippocampal cholinergic interneurons at the initial stage of learning and in memory consolidation.


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