bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Preliminary evidence for persistent abnormalities in amygdala volumes in adolescents and young adults with bipolar disorder
Authors: Blumberg Hilary P , Fredericks Carolyn , Wang Fei , Kalmar Jessica H , Spencer Linda , Papademetris Xenophon , Pittman Brian , Martin Andres , Peterson Bradley S , Fulbright Robert K , Krystal John H 
Published: December 2005

Objectives:  Abnormalities in volumes of the amygdala have been reported previously in adolescents and adults with bipolar disorder (BD). Several studies have reported reduced volumes in adolescents with BD; however, both decreases and increases in volumes have been reported in adults with BD. Understanding of potential developmental contributions to these disturbances in morphology of the amygdala has been limited by the absence of longitudinal data in persons with BD. Here we use a within‐subject longitudinal design to investigate whether amygdala volume abnormalities persist in adolescents and young adults with BD over a time interval of approximately 2 years.Methods:  Participants included 18 adolescents and young adults: 10 participants with BD I and 8 healthy comparison participants. Amygdala volumes were measured on high‐resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans acquired twice for each subject over intervals of approximately 2 years. Amygdala volumes were the dependent measures in a mixed‐model statistical analysis to compare amygdala volumes between groups over time while covarying for total brain volume.Results:  Amygdala volumes were significantly smaller in adolescents and young adults with BD compared with healthy participants (p = 0.018). The effect of time was not significant.Conclusions:  Although the sample size is modest, this study provides preliminary evidence to support the presence of decreased amygdala volumes in adolescents and young adults with BD that persist during this developmental epoch.
Using affect‐modulated startle to study phenotypes of pediatric bipolar disorder
Authors: Rich Brendan A , Bhangoo Robinder K , Vinton Deborah T , Berghorst Lisa H , Dickstein Daniel P , Grillon Christian , Davidson Richard J , Leibenluft Ellen 
Published: December 2005

Objectives:  Affective neuroscience research that investigates core symptoms of pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) may be effective in differentiating PBD phenotypes. The current study used affect‐modulated startle to examine potential differences in reactivity to emotional stimuli (reward and punishment) in narrow and broad phenotype PBD and controls.Methods:  Thirty children meeting DSM‐IV bipolar disorder criteria (i.e. narrow phenotype PBD with defined manic episodes with elevated/expansive mood), 19 children meeting criteria for severe mood dysregulation (i.e. broad phenotype with chronic irritability, hyper‐reactivity, and hyperarousal), and 19 controls completed a lottery startle paradigm involving reward (money) and punishment (loud noise). Startle probes were presented during anticipation of the emotional stimulus, immediately following the presentation of the stimulus, or during return to baseline following the stimulus.Results:  By self‐report, patients and controls found the putative punishment to be preferable to the neutral condition. In the reward condition, patient samples reported greater arousal than did controls, but no between‐group differences were found on the magnitude of startle response during the reward, punishment, or neutral conditions.Conclusions:  The failure to find differences in affect‐modulated startle between control children and those with narrow or broad PBD phenotypes speaks to the methodological challenges associated with studying reward mechanisms in PBD. Alternative paradigms that focus on different aspects of reward mechanisms are discussed.
N‐acetylaspartate levels in bipolar offspring with and at high‐risk for bipolar disorder
Authors: Gallelli Kim A , Wagner Christopher M , Karchemskiy Asya , Howe Meghan , Spielman Daniel , Reiss Allan , Chang Kiki D 
Published: December 2005

Objectives:  Studies have reported decreased N‐acetylaspartate (NAA) in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of adults and children with bipolar disorder (BD), suggesting decreased neuronal density in this area. However, it is unclear if this finding represents neurodegeneration after or a trait marker present before BD onset. To address this question, we used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H‐MRS) to compare DLPFC levels of NAA among bipolar offspring with early‐onset BD, bipolar offspring with subsyndromal symptoms of BD and healthy children.Methods:  Participants were 9–18 years old, and included 60 offspring of parents with bipolar I or II disorder (32 with BD and 28 with subsyndromal symptoms of BD), and 26 healthy controls. 1H‐MRS at 3 T was used to study 8‐cm3 voxels placed in left and right DLPFC.Results:  There were no significant group differences in mean right or left DLPFC NAA/Cr ratios. Exploratory analyses of additional metabolites (myoinositol, choline) also yielded no significant group differences. NAA/Cr ratios were not correlated with age, duration of illness, or exposure to lithium or valproate.Conclusions:  Our findings suggest that DLPFC NAA/Cr ratios cannot be used as a trait marker for BD. Although we did not find decreased DLPFC NAA/Cr ratios in children and adolescents with BD, it is still possible that such levels begin to decrease after longer durations of illness into adulthood. Longitudinal neuroimaging studies of patients with BD accounting for developmental and treatment factors are needed to further clarify the neurodegenerative aspects of BD.
Comparing diagnostic checklists for pediatric bipolar disorder in academic and community mental health settings
Authors: Youngstrom Eric , Meyers Oren , Demeter Christine , Youngstrom Jen , Morello Laura , Piiparinen Richard , Feeny Norah , Calabrese Joseph R , Findling Robert L 
Published: December 2005

Objectives:  To compare six promising mania measures, the Parent Mood Disorder Questionnaire (P‐MDQ), the Adolescent self‐report MDQ, the 10‐item short form of the Parent General Behavior Inventory (PGBI‐SF10), the 28‐item Adolescent General Behavior Inventory (AGBI), the Parent Young Mania Rating Scale (P‐YMRS), and the adolescent YMRS, in a demographically diverse outpatient sample.Methods:  Participants were 262 outpatients (including 164 males and 131 African‐Americans) presenting to either an academic medical center (n = 153) or a community mental health center (n = 109). Diagnoses were based on semi‐structured interviews with the parent and then youth sequentially.Results:  Ninety youths (34%) met criteria for a bipolar spectrum disorder. Parent measures yielded Areas Under the Receiver Operating Curve (AUROC) values of 0.81 for the PGBI‐SF10 to 0.66 for the P‐YMRS. Adolescent report measures performed significantly less well, with AUROCs ranging from 0.65 to 0.50. There were no significant differences in the diagnostic performance of the measures across the sites or by racial groups, although the reliability of measures tended to be lower in the urban community mental health site. The PGBI‐SF10 made a significant contribution to logistic regression models examining all combinations of the instruments. The P‐MDQ added information in the younger age group, and no measure improved classification of bipolar cases after controlling for the PGBI‐SF10 in the older age group.Discussion:  Results replicate previous findings that, in decreasing order of efficiency, the PGBI‐SF10, P‐MDQ, and P‐YMRS significantly discriminate bipolar from non‐bipolar cases in youths aged 5–18; and they appear robust in a demographically diverse community setting. Adolescent self‐report measures are significantly less efficient, sometimes performing no better than chance at detecting bipolar cases.
Family environment in families with versus families without parental bipolar disorder: a preliminary comparison study
Authors: Romero Soledad , DelBello Melissa P , Soutullo Cesar A , Stanford Kevin , Strakowski Stephen M 
Published: December 2005

Objectives:  To compare family environmental characteristics of families with at least one bipolar parent and families with parents without any Axis I disorder.Methods:  Family environment of 24 families with at least one parent with bipolar disorder (BPD) and 27 families with healthy parents (healthy families, HF) were assessed using the Family Environment Scale (FES). We compared FES subscale scores between BPD and HF. We also compared FES normative scores with scores of BPD families.Results:  Seventeen (71%) of the 24 BPD families had at least one child with a mood disorder and one (3.7%) of the 27 HF had a child with a mood disorder. Families with BPD reported lower cohesion (p = 0.009) and expressiveness (p = 0.03) scores compared with HF, after controlling for group socioeconomic status differences. Bilineal BPD families had higher cohesion scores than unilineal BPD families (p = 0.05). We found no significant differences in any subscales between BPD families with (n = 9) versus without (n = 15) children with BPD. Compared with normative FES data BPD families reported lower cohesion (C) (p = 0.02) and independence (IND) (p = 0.004) scores and higher conflict (CON) (p = 0.02), intellectual‐cultural orientation (ICO) (p = 0.05), moral‐religious emphasis (MRE) (p < 0.001) and control (CTL) (p < 0.001) scores.Conclusion:  Our results suggest that members of BPD families may have difficulty communicating effectively with one another, suggesting that interventions aimed at improving this may be beneficial to patients with BPD. Results suggest that the impact of different lifestyles in different communities may influence FES scores, and thus it is important to use demographically matched comparison groups.
The CBCL predicts DSM bipolar disorder in children: a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis
Authors: Faraone Stephen V , Althoff Robert R , Hudziak James J , Monuteaux Michael , Biederman Joseph 
Published: December 2005

Background:  No clear consensus has been reached yet on how best to characterize children who suffer from pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD). The CBCL‐PBD profile on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) has been consistently reported showing deviant findings on the Attention Problems, Aggressive Behavior, and Anxious‐Depressed subscales.Aim:  To examine the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed CBCL‐PBD profile for determining DSM diagnosis of PBD.Methods:  We applied receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to data from 471 probands from two family studies of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder and their 410 siblings.Results:  The CBCL‐PBD score demonstrated an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.97 for probands and 0.82 for siblings for current diagnosis of PBD, suggesting that the CBCL‐PBD provided a highly efficient way of identifying subjects with a current diagnosis of PBD in this sample.Conclusions:  These findings suggest that the CBCL‐PBD may provide a highly efficient way of screening for childhood bipolar disorder.
Molecular evolution of the avian growth hormone gene and comparison with its mammalian counterpart
Authors: Buggiotti L. , Primmer C. R. 
Published: December 2005

Abstract
The molecular evolution of all available avian growth hormone (GH) gene sequences was investigated using both maximum-likelihood and parsimony methods, and the patterns compared to those found in mammals. In contrast to the rapid bursts of evolution observed for mammalian GH, the evolutionary rate of the avian GH mature peptide appears to have been more constant. However several positively selected sites were identified at functionally important positions in the avian signal peptide by the site-specific likelihood method. This implies that sequence variation in the avian GH signal peptide may be adaptive, although more conservative parsimony methods failed to confirm this. Nevertheless, the differing patterns of avian and mammalian GH signal peptide molecular evolution are consistent with the apparently differing roles of GH in controlling growth in these taxonomic groups and support the hypothesis that signal peptide sequence variation may in fact be the basis for increased functional complexity.
Premotor neuronal plasticity in monkeys adapting to a new dynamic environment
Authors: Xiao Jun 
Published: December 2005

AbstractRecent evidence indicates that premotor cortex (PM) in addition to their well‐established motor functions, also play a role in nonmotor processes such as spatial attention and working memory. In the present study, neuronal activities in dorsal PM (PMd) and ventral PM (PMv) were recorded in a force field adaptation task. This study found that PM neurons show learning‐related plasticity and that a neuron demonstrates either one type or multiple types of properties (i.e. kinematic, dynamic, and memory). The current study reveals that memory properties could be displayed by one or a combination of the cell activity parameters [i.e. average firing rate (AFR), dynamic range (DR), and preferred direction (PD)]. A predominant percentage of cells displayed memory properties with AFR or AFR plus other parameters. This study investigated the memory properties vs. the time sequence of the task trial [i.e. delay time (DT), movement time (MT), and target holding time (THT)] and found that: (i) most neurons display memory properties only in one time window; (ii) few neurons display memory properties in three time windows, and (iii) there are significantly more cells showing memory properties during MT than during any other time windows. There are cells that show memory I (changing their tuning curves in the force field and retaining those changes after the force field was removed), memory II (changing their tuning curves after the force field was removed), or both properties. Significantly more cells display one type of memory property (memory I or memory II) rather than both types of memory properties (memory I and memory II).
Striatal muscarinic receptor antagonism reduces 24‐h food intake in association with decreased preproenkephalin gene expression
Authors: Pratt Wayne E. , Kelley Ann E. 
Published: December 2005

AbstractCholinergic interneurons of the striatum respond to motivationally relevant stimuli and are involved in appetitive learning. However, there has been relatively little inquiry into the role of striatal acetylcholine in food motivation. Here we show in rats that a single infusion of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine (0, 5.0 or 10.0 µg/0.5 µL bilaterally) potently reduced 24‐h food intake following injections into either the ventral or dorsal striatum, without affecting water intake. Furthermore, muscarinic receptor blockade induced reliable and widespread reductions in striatal preproenkephalin, but not preprodynorphin, mRNA expression. These data suggest a novel role for striatal acetylcholine in modulating feeding behavior via its effects on enkephalin gene expression. As prior research indicates a critical role for striatal enkephalin in consummatory behaviors and palatability, we hypothesize that cholinergic interneurons assist in translating hypothalamic energy state signals into food‐directed behaviors via their regulation of striatal opioid peptides.
Local activation of the nitric oxide/cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway in growth cones regulates filopodial length via protein kinase G, cyclic ADP ribose and intracellular Ca2+ release
Authors: Welshhans Kristy , Rehder Vincent 
Published: December 2005

AbstractNitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous messenger that has been shown to affect growth cone motility and neurite outgrowth in several model systems, but how NO brings about its effects is not understood. We have previously demonstrated that global and long‐term application of NO to Helisoma trivolvis B5 neurons results in a transient increase in filopodial length, decrease in filopodial number and decrease in neurite outgrowth, all of which are mediated via soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) and involve an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration [S. Van Wagenen & V. Rehder (1999)Journal of Neurobiology, 39, 168–185; K.R. Trimm & V. Rehder (2004)European Journal of Neuroscience, 19, 809–818]. The goal of the current study was twofold: to investigate the effects of short‐term NO exposure on individual growth cones and to further elucidate the downstream pathway through which NO exerts its effects. Local application of the NO donor NOC‐7 for 10–20 ms via puffer micropipette resulted in a transient increase in filopodial length and a small decrease in filopodial number. We show evidence that these effects of NO are mediated via sGC, protein kinase G and cyclic ADP ribose, resulting in the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores, probably of the ryanodine‐sensitive type. These results suggest that growth cones expressing sGC are highly sensitive to local and short‐term exposure to NO, which they may experience during pathfinding, and that the stereotyped response of transient filopodial elongation seen in B5 neurons in response to NO requires intracellular Ca2+ release.
Suppression of fibrous scarring in spinal cord injury of rat promotes long‐distance regeneration of corticospinal tract axons, rescue of primary motoneurons in somatosensory cortex and significant functional recovery
Authors: Klapka Nicole , Hermanns Susanne , Straten Guido , Masanneck Carmen , Duis Simone , Hamers Frank P. T. , Müller Daniela , Zuschratter Werner , Müller Hans Werner 
Published: December 2005

AbstractTraumatic injury of the central nervous system results in formation of a collagenous basement membrane‐rich fibrous scar in the lesion centre. Due to accumulation of numerous axon‐growth inhibitory molecules the lesion scar is considered a major impediment for axon regeneration. Following transection of the dorsal corticospinal tract (CST) at thoracic level 8 in adult rats, transient suppression of collagenous scarring in the lesion zone by local application of a potent iron chelator and cyclic adenosine monophosphate resulted in the delay of fibrous scarring. Treated animals displayed long‐distance growth of CST axons through the lesion area extending for up to 1.5–2 cm into the distal cord. In addition, the treatment showed a strong neuroprotective effect, rescuing cortical motoneurons projecting into the CST that normally die (30%) after thoracic axotomy. Further, anterogradely traced CST axons regenerated through both grey and white matter and developed terminal arborizations in grey matter regions. In contrast to controls, injured animals receiving treatment showed significant functional recovery in the open field, in the horizontal ladder and in CatWalk locomotor tasks. We conclude that the fibrous lesion scar plays a pivotal role as a growth barrier for regenerating axons in adult spinal cord and that a delay in fibrotic scarring by local inhibition of collagen biosynthesis and basement membrane deposition is a promising and unique therapeutic strategy for treating human spinal trauma.
A population‐based model of the nonlinear dynamics of the thalamocortical feedback network displays intrinsic oscillations in the spindling (7–14 Hz) range
Authors: Yousif Nada A. B. , Denham Michael 
Published: December 2005

AbstractThe thalamocortical network is modelled using the Wilson–Cowan equations for neuronal population activity. We show that this population model with biologically derived parameters possesses intrinsic nonlinear oscillatory dynamics, and that the frequency of oscillation lies within the spindle range. Spindle oscillations are an early sleep oscillation characterized by high‐frequency bursts of action potentials followed by a period of quiescence, at a frequency of 7–14 Hz. Spindles are generally regarded as being generated by intrathalamic circuitry, as decorticated thalamic slices and the isolated thalamic reticular nucleus exhibit spindles. However, the role of cortical feedback has been shown to regulate and synchronize the oscillation. Previous modelling studies have mainly used conductance‐based models and hence the mechanism relied upon the inclusion of ionic currents, particularly the T‐type calcium current. Here we demonstrate that spindle‐frequency oscillatory activity can also arise from the nonlinear dynamics of the thalamocortical circuit, and we use bifurcation analysis to examine the robustness of this oscillation in terms of the functional range of the parameters used in the model. The results suggest that the thalamocortical circuit has intrinsic nonlinear population dynamics which are capable of providing robust support for oscillatory activity within the frequency range of spindle oscillations.
Effects of systemically administered cocaine on sensory responses to peri‐threshold vibrissae stimulation: individual cells, ensemble activity, and animal behaviour
Authors: Rutter John J. , Devilbiss David M. , Waterhouse Barry D. 
Published: December 2005

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that systemic administration of cocaine transiently alters stimulus‐evoked responses of ventral posteromedial (VPM) thalamic neurons. Results from these single‐unit electrophysiological studies revealed that cocaine was equally likely to augment or attenuate the magnitude of sensory evoked responses following threshold level stimulation of peripheral receptive fields. In an attempt to clarify the impact of cocaine administration on sensory signal processing, we examined the drug's effects on responses of individual neurons and ensembles of VPM thalamic neurons to sensory stimuli, and performance of subjects in a sensory detection behavioural task. Extracellular responses of single (n = 1 cell/rat) or multiple VPM thalamic neurons (n = 10–40 cells/rat) were monitored before and after cumulative doses of cocaine (0.25–2.0 mg/kg i.v.). Neuronal responses were characterized by assessing the response profile to a range of peri‐threshold‐level deflections of the optimal whisker on the contralateral face. Drug effects on stimulus‐response curves, determined from quantitative analysis of spike train data, indicated that whereas cocaine elicits variable effects at the single cell level, the stimulus‐evoked response of the recorded population was likely to increase following lower (0.25–1.0 mg/kg i.v.) doses of cocaine. Furthermore, cocaine preferentially enhanced responses to smaller magnitude deflections of vibrissa, altering the response profile from a mode that accurately conveyed stimulus strength to one that increased detection at the expense of discrimination. Finally, a similar pattern emerged in a behavioural paradigm involving rats trained to detect variable amplitude whisker pad stimulation, suggesting a common action of cocaine that may contribute to the drug's addictive properties.
Identification of a cis‐acting element required for dendritic targeting of activity‐regulated cytoskeleton‐associated protein mRNA
Authors: Kobayashi Hiroaki , Yamamoto Sachiya , Maruo Tomohiko , Murakami Fujio 
Published: December 2005

AbstractThe mRNA encoding activity‐regulated cytoskeleton‐associated protein (Arc) is known to be targeted to dendritic regions that have received strong synaptic inputs. However, the cis‐acting elements in Arc mRNA that mediate dendritic targeting have not been identified. To identify the dendritic targeting element (DTE) in rat Arc mRNA, we expressed reporter mRNAs containing various regions of Arc in primary hippocampal neurones and analysed their subcellular distribution by in situ hybridization. Here, we report that the 3′‐untranslated region of rat Arc mRNA contains a 350‐nucleotide DTE with strong dendritic targeting activity and another 370‐nucleotide sequence with weaker dendritic targeting activity. The 350‐nucleotide DTE does not share any obvious sequence similarity with other known DTEs previously reported.