scholarly journals L-Lysine as the Molecule Influencing Selective Brain Activity in Pain-Induced Behavior of Rats

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmila A. Severyanova ◽  
Victor A. Lazarenko ◽  
Dmitry V. Plotnikov ◽  
Maxim E. Dolgintsev ◽  
Alexey A. Kriukov

Lysine-rich proteins are some of the most important proteins of neurons and it has become necessary to investigate the possible role of L-lysine as a brain functioning regulator. The purpose of our study is to identify the characteristics and the mechanisms of L-lysine effects on the different types of pain-induced behavior in the stimulation of tail and foot-shock models in 210 adult male Wistar rats. L-lysine was administered in intraperitoneal or intracerebroventricular injections in doses of 0.15–50.0 µg/kg. When a tail is irritated, L-lysine was found to enhance pain sensitivity and affective defense after both intraperitoneal and intracerebroventricular administration. In the case of unavoidable painful irritation of a pair of rats with both types of L-lysine administration, there was no direct correlation of the severity of pain with defensive reactions and outbursts of aggression. This indicates a more complex integration of the activity of brain structures in this situation of animal interaction, which was confirmed by the results of the direct amino acid action on the periventricular brain structures. Our findings show that L-lysine influences the selective brain activity in dependence on the biological significance of pain-induced behavior.

Author(s):  
Hans Liljenström

AbstractWhat is the role of consciousness in volition and decision-making? Are our actions fully determined by brain activity preceding our decisions to act, or can consciousness instead affect the brain activity leading to action? This has been much debated in philosophy, but also in science since the famous experiments by Libet in the 1980s, where the current most common interpretation is that conscious free will is an illusion. It seems that the brain knows, up to several seconds in advance what “you” decide to do. These studies have, however, been criticized, and alternative interpretations of the experiments can be given, some of which are discussed in this paper. In an attempt to elucidate the processes involved in decision-making (DM), as an essential part of volition, we have developed a computational model of relevant brain structures and their neurodynamics. While DM is a complex process, we have particularly focused on the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) for its emotional, and the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) for its cognitive aspects. In this paper, we present a stochastic population model representing the neural information processing of DM. Simulation results seem to confirm the notion that if decisions have to be made fast, emotional processes and aspects dominate, while rational processes are more time consuming and may result in a delayed decision. Finally, some limitations of current science and computational modeling will be discussed, hinting at a future development of science, where consciousness and free will may add to chance and necessity as explanation for what happens in the world.


Vision ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Satel ◽  
Nicholas R. Wilson ◽  
Raymond M. Klein

An inhibitory aftermath of orienting, inhibition of return (IOR), has intrigued scholars since its discovery about 40 years ago. Since then, the phenomenon has been subjected to a wide range of neuroscientific methods and the results of these are reviewed in this paper. These include direct manipulations of brain structures (which occur naturally in brain damage and disease or experimentally as in TMS and lesion studies) and measurements of brain activity (in humans using EEG and fMRI and in animals using single unit recording). A variety of less direct methods (e.g., computational modeling, developmental studies, etc.) have also been used. The findings from this wide range of methods support the critical role of subcortical and cortical oculomotor pathways in the generation and nature of IOR.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-118
Author(s):  
Andrés Antonio González-Garrido ◽  
Jacobo José Brofman-Epelbaum ◽  
Fabiola Reveca Gómez-Velázquez ◽  
Sebastián Agustín Balart-Sánchez ◽  
Julieta Ramos-Loyo

Abstract. It has been generally accepted that skipping breakfast adversely affects cognition, mainly disturbing the attentional processes. However, the effects of short-term fasting upon brain functioning are still unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of skipping breakfast on cognitive processing by studying the electrical brain activity of young healthy individuals while performing several working memory tasks. Accordingly, the behavioral results and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) of 20 healthy university students (10 males) were obtained and compared through analysis of variances (ANOVAs), during the performance of three n-back working memory (WM) tasks in two morning sessions on both normal (after breakfast) and 12-hour fasting conditions. Significantly fewer correct responses were achieved during fasting, mainly affecting the higher WM load task. In addition, there were prolonged reaction times with increased task difficulty, regardless of breakfast intake. ERP showed a significant voltage decrement for N200 and P300 during fasting, while the amplitude of P200 notably increased. The results suggest skipping breakfast disturbs earlier cognitive processing steps, particularly attention allocation, early decoding in working memory, and stimulus evaluation, and this effect increases with task difficulty.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. P. Shugalev ◽  
A. V. Stavrovskaja ◽  
S. Olshanskij ◽  
G. Hartmann ◽  
L. Lenard

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
Ja. O. Petik

The connection of the modern psychology and formal systems remains an important direction of research. This paper is centered on philosophical problems surrounding relations between mental and logic. Main attention is given to philosophy of logic but certain ideas are introduced that can be incorporated into the practical philosophical logic. The definition and properties of basic modal logic and descending ones which are used in study of mental activity are in view. The defining role of philosophical interpretation of modality for the particular formal system used for research in the field of psychological states of agents is postulated. Different semantics of modal logic are studied. The hypothesis about the connection of research in cognitive psychology (semantics of brain activity) and formal systems connected to research of psychological states is stated.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla R.F. Volobuff ◽  
Pedro C.O. Junior ◽  
Sidney M. dos Santos ◽  
Zefa V. Pereira ◽  
Diego C. Ferreira ◽  
...  

Background: The genus Psychotria and Palicourea are reported as a source of alkaloids and iridoids, which exhibit biological activities. This study aimed to evaluate antiproliferative and anticholinesterase activities and quantification of the alkaloids of seven species among the genus found in Mato Grosso do Sul region in Brazil. Methods: Concentrations of alkaloids were measured spectrophotometrically. The extracts were submitted to antiproliferative activity against ten cell lines. The anticholinesterase activity of the extracts was developed using brain structures of male Wistar rats: cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum by the Ellman method. Results: Alkaloids from Psychotria and Palicourea species were quantified which showed values of 47.6 to 21.9 µg/g. Regarding the antiproliferative potential, Palicourea crocea demonstrated selectivity against the 786-0 cell line (GI50: 22.87 µg/mL). Psychotria leiocarpa inhibited cell growth against OVCAR-3 (GI50: 3.28 µg/mL), K-562 (GI50: 5.26 µg/mL), HaCaT (GI50: 27.20 µg/mL), PC-3 (GI50: 34.92 µg/mL), MCF-7 (GI50: 35.80 µg/mL) and P. capillacea showed activity against OVCAR-3 (GI50: 2.33 µg/ml) and U251 (GI50: 16.66 µg/ml). The effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibition was more effective in the hippocampus, demonstrating inhibition for Paliourea crocea, Psychotria deflexa, P. brachybotrya and P. leiocarpa of 70%, 57%, 50% and 40%, respectively, followed by P. poeppigiana and P. capillacea, inhibiting 21%, compared to the control. Conclusion: Herein, the present work showed for the first time, anticholinesterasic and antiproliferative activities of extracts of Palicourea and Psychotria seem to be mainly associated with the levels of alkaloids in the leaves of these species.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Meimei Wu ◽  
Ting Gao ◽  
Li Meng ◽  
Xiaowei Ding ◽  
...  

Ample evidence suggests that estrogens have strong influences on the occurrence of stress-related mood disorders, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Through multiple approaches, we demonstrate that the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is widely distributed along the HPA axis and in brain structures critically involved in mood control. Genetic ablation of GPER in the rat resulted in significantly lower basal serum corticosterone level but enhanced ACTH release in response to acute restraint stress, especially in the female. GPER-/- rats of either sex displayed increased anxiety-like behaviors and deficits in learning and memory. Additionally, GPER deficiency led to aggravation of anxiety-like behaviors following single-prolonged stress (SPS). SPS caused significant decreases in serum corticosterone in WT but not in GPER-deficient rats. The results highlight an important role of GPER at multiple sites in regulation of the HPA axis and mood.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Rivera-Lillo ◽  
Emmanuel A. Stamatakis ◽  
Tristan A. Bekinschtein ◽  
David K. Menon ◽  
Srivas Chennu

AbstractThe overt or covert ability to follow commands in patients with disorders of consciousness is considered a sign of awareness and has recently been defined as cortically mediated behaviour. Despite its clinical relevance, the brain signatures of the perceptual processing supporting command following have been elusive. This multimodal study investigates the temporal spectral pattern of electrical brain activity to identify features that differentiated healthy controls from patients both able and unable to follow commands. We combined evidence from behavioural assessment, functional neuroimaging during mental imagery and high-density electroencephalography collected during auditory prediction, from 21 patients and 10 controls. We used a penalised regression model to identify command following using features from electroencephalography. We identified seven well-defined spatiotemporal signatures in the delta, theta and alpha bands that together contribute to identify DoC subjects with and without the ability to follow command, and further distinguished these groups of patients from controls. A fine-grained analysis of these seven signatures enabled us to determine that increased delta modulation at the frontal sensors was the main feature in command following patients. In contrast, higher frequency theta and alpha modulations differentiated controls from both groups of patients. Our findings highlight a key role of spatiotemporally specific delta modulation in supporting cortically mediated behaviour including the ability to follow command. However, patients able to follow commands nevertheless have marked differences in brain activity in comparison with healthy volunteers.


Author(s):  
Krista Rantakari ◽  
Olli-Pekka Rinta-Koski ◽  
Marjo Metsäranta ◽  
Jaakko Hollmén ◽  
Simo Särkkä ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs) are at risk of neurodevelopmental impairments that may originate in early NICU care. We hypothesized that early oxygen saturations (SpO2), arterial pO2 levels, and supplemental oxygen (FiO2) would associate with later neuroanatomic changes. Methods SpO2, arterial blood gases, and FiO2 from 73 ELGANs (GA 26.4 ± 1.2; BW 867 ± 179 g) during the first 3 postnatal days were correlated with later white matter injury (WM, MRI, n = 69), secondary cortical somatosensory processing in magnetoencephalography (MEG-SII, n = 39), Hempel neurological examination (n = 66), and developmental quotients of Griffiths Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS, n = 58). Results The ELGANs with later WM abnormalities exhibited lower SpO2 and pO2 levels, and higher FiO2 need during the first 3 days than those with normal WM. They also had higher pCO2 values. The infants with abnormal MEG-SII showed opposite findings, i.e., displayed higher SpO2 and pO2 levels and lower FiO2 need, than those with better outcomes. Severe WM changes and abnormal MEG-SII were correlated with adverse neurodevelopment. Conclusions Low oxygen levels and high FiO2 need during the NICU care associate with WM abnormalities, whereas higher oxygen levels correlate with abnormal MEG-SII. The results may indicate certain brain structures being more vulnerable to hypoxia and others to hyperoxia, thus emphasizing the role of strict saturation targets. Impact This study indicates that both abnormally low and high oxygen levels during early NICU care are harmful for later neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm neonates. Specific brain structures seem to be vulnerable to low and others to high oxygen levels. The findings may have clinical implications as oxygen is one of the most common therapies given in NICUs. The results emphasize the role of strict saturation targets during the early postnatal period in preterm infants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (14) ◽  
pp. 7713
Author(s):  
Alyssa Tidmore ◽  
Sucharita M. Dutta ◽  
Arriyam S. Fesshaye ◽  
William K. Russell ◽  
Vania D. Duncan ◽  
...  

Exposure of rodents to <20 cGy Space Radiation (SR) impairs performance in several hippocampus-dependent cognitive tasks, including spatial memory. However, there is considerable inter-individual susceptibility to develop SR-induced spatial memory impairment. In this study, a robust label-free mass spectrometry (MS)-based unbiased proteomic profiling approach was used to characterize the composition of the hippocampal proteome in adult male Wistar rats exposed to 15 cGy of 1 GeV/n 48Ti and their sham counterparts. Unique protein signatures were identified in the hippocampal proteome of: (1) sham rats, (2) Ti-exposed rats, (3) Ti-exposed rats that had sham-like spatial memory performance, and (4) Ti-exposed rats that impaired spatial memory performance. Approximately 14% (159) of the proteins detected in hippocampal proteome of sham rats were not detected in the Ti-exposed rats. We explored the possibility that the loss of the Sham-only proteins may arise as a result of SR-induced changes in protein homeostasis. SR-exposure was associated with a switch towards increased pro-ubiquitination proteins from that seen in Sham. These data suggest that the role of the ubiquitin-proteome system as a determinant of SR-induced neurocognitive deficits needs to be more thoroughly investigated.


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