rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
Tai Chi for Chronic Illness Management: Synthesizing Current Evidence from Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials.
The American journal of medicine, 2021

An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to evaluate the existing evidence of Tai Chi as a mind-body exercise for chronic illness management. MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases were searched from inception until March 31, 2019, for meta-analyses of at least two RCTs that investigated health outcomes associated with Tai Chi intervention. Evidence of significant outcomes (P value < 0.05) was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. This review identified 45 meta-analyses of RCTs and calculated 142 summary estimates among adults living with 16 types of chronic illnesses. Statistically significant results (P value < 0.05) were identified for 81 of the 142 outcomes (57.0%), of which 45 estimates presenting 30 unique outcomes across 14 chronic illnesses were supported by high (n = 1) or moderate (n = 44) evidence. Moderate evidence suggests that Tai Chi intervention improved physical functions and disease-specific outcomes compared with nonactive controls and improved cardiorespiratory fitness compared with active controls among adults with diverse chronic illnesses. Between-study heterogeneity and publication bias were observed in some meta-analyses.
Visualizing Cholesterol in the Brain by On-Tissue Derivatization and Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Imaging.
Analytical chemistry, 2021

Despite being a critical molecule in the brain, mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of cholesterol has been under-reported compared to other lipids due to the difficulty in ionizing the sterol molecule. In the present work, we have employed an on-tissue enzyme-assisted derivatization strategy to improve detection of cholesterol in brain tissue sections. We report distribution and levels of cholesterol across specific structures of the mouse brain, in a model of Niemann-Pick type C1 disease, and during brain development. MSI revealed that in the adult mouse, cholesterol is the highest in the pons and medulla and how its distribution changes during development. Cholesterol was significantly reduced in the corpus callosum and other brain regions in the
Bayesian model selection favors parametric over categorical fMRI subsequent memory models in young and older adults.
NeuroImage, 2021

Subsequent memory paradigms allow to identify neural correlates of successful encoding by separating brain responses as a function of memory performance during later retrieval. In functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the paradigm typically elicits activations of medial temporal lobe, prefrontal and parietal cortical structures in young, healthy participants. This categorical approach is, however, limited by insufficient memory performance in older and particularly memory-impaired individuals. A parametric modulation of encoding-related activations with memory confidence could overcome this limitation. Here, we applied cross-validated Bayesian model selection (cvBMS) for first-level fMRI models to a visual subsequent memory paradigm in young (18-35 years) and older (51-80 years) adults. Nested cvBMS revealed that parametric models, especially with non-linear transformations of memory confidence ratings, outperformed categorical models in explaining the fMRI signal variance during encoding. We thereby provide a framework for improving the modeling of encoding-related activations and for applying subsequent memory paradigms to memory-impaired individuals.
[The gender of power in children's representations].
Medecine sciences : M/S, 2021

Gender studies have largely described social practices that lead to an imbalance of power between girls and boys during childhood. However, little is known about how children represent asymmetries in mixed-gender relationships. Do they expect that males are more likely to exert power on females than vice versa? And if so, does this awareness change depending on children's age, gender, or the country in which they grow up? We present herein an empirical study, recently published in Sex Roles, that addresses these issues. This study included 3- to 6-year-old children, and showed that children from different countries (Norway, Lebanon, France) associate power and masculinity, although it also indicates that girls are less inclined than boys to make this association. We then discuss the worries that children's beliefs of a gendered power may elicit.
A Screening Tool to Detect Stroke Aphasia: Adaptation of Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test (FAST) to the Indian Context.
Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 2020

Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke. To optimize recovery, it becomes critical as there are early identification and treatment of language deficits. The rising burden of stroke aphasia and lack of screening tools in the Indian context necessitates the need for a screening tool.
Ethical and Social Aspects of Neurorobotics.
Science and engineering ethics, 2020

The interdisciplinary field of neurorobotics looks to neuroscience to overcome the limitations of modern robotics technology, to robotics to advance our understanding of the neural system's inner workings, and to information technology to develop tools that support those complementary endeavours. The development of these technologies is still at an early stage, which makes them an ideal candidate for proactive and anticipatory ethical reflection. This article explains the current state of neurorobotics development within the Human Brain Project, originating from a close collaboration between the scientific and technical experts who drive neurorobotics innovation, and the humanities and social sciences scholars who provide contextualising and reflective capabilities. This article discusses some of the ethical issues which can reasonably be expected. On this basis, the article explores possible gaps identified within this collaborative, ethical reflection that calls for attention to ensure that the development of neurorobotics is ethically sound and socially acceptable and desirable.
Micro- and nanotechnology for neural electrode-tissue interfaces.
Biosensors & bioelectronics, 2020

Implantable neural electrodes can record and regulate neural activities with high spatial resolution of single-neuron and high time resolution of sub-millisecond, which are the most extensive window in neuroscience research. However, the mechanical mismatch between conventional stiff electrodes and soft neural tissue can lead to inflammatory responses and degradation of signals in chronic recordings. Although remarkable breakthroughs have been made in sensing and regulation of neural signals, the long-term stability and chronic inflammatory response of the neural electrode-tissue interfaces still needs further development. In this review, we focus on the latest developments for the optimization of neural electrode-tissue interfaces, including electrode materials (graphene fiber-based and CNT fiber-based), electrode structures (flexible electrodes), nano-coatings and hydrogel-based neural interfaces. The parameters of impedance, charge injection limit, signal-to-noise ratio and neuron lost zone are used to evaluate the electrochemical performance of the devices, the recording performance of biosignals and the stability of the neural interfaces, respectively. These optimization methods can effectively improve the long-term stability and the chronic inflammatory response of neural interfaces during the recording and modulation of biosignals.
Phosphofructokinase-1 Inhibition Promotes Neuronal Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells and Functional Recovery After Stroke.
Neuroscience, 2021

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of long-term disability. Neuronal differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) is crucial for brain repair after stroke. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the role and potential mechanisms of phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1), the rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis, was investigated in stroke using middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and oxygen-glucose deprivation models. We found that stroke increased the PFK-1 expression of NSCs. However, PFK-1 inhibition promoted neuronal differentiation of NSCs and facilitated the dendritic maturation of newborn neurons in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, PFK-1 inhibition also improved the spatial memory performance of MCAO rats. Additionally, we proved that the effect of PFK-1 inhibition above might be achieved by promoting β-catenin nuclear translocation and activating its downstream signaling, independent of Wnt signaling. Thus, these observations reveal a critical role of PFK-1 in stroke, which may provide a novel target for regenerative repair after stroke.
PIEZO2 in sensory neurons and urothelial cells coordinates urination.
Nature, 2020

Henry Miller stated that "to relieve a full bladder is one of the great human joys". Urination is critically important in health and ailments of the lower urinary tract cause high pathological burden. Although there have been advances in understanding the central circuitry in the brain that facilitates urination
Testicular hormones mediate robust sex differences in impulsive choice in rats.
eLife, 2020

Impairments in choosing optimally between immediate and delayed rewards are associated with numerous psychiatric disorders. Such 'intertemporal' choice is influenced by genetic and experiential factors; however, the contributions of biological sex are understudied and data to date are largely inconclusive. Rats were used to determine how sex and gonadal hormones influence choices between small, immediate and large, delayed rewards. Females showed markedly greater preference than males for small, immediate over large, delayed rewards (greater impulsive choice). This difference was neither due to differences in food motivation or reward magnitude perception, nor was it affected by estrous cycle. Ovariectomies did not affect choice in females, whereas orchiectomies increased impulsive choice in males. These data show that male rats exhibit less impulsive choice than females and that this difference is at least partly maintained by testicular hormones. These differences in impulsive choice could be linked to gender differences across multiple neuropsychiatric conditions.
Location- and object-based attention enhance number estimation.
Attention, perception & psychophysics, 2021

Humans and non-humans can extract an estimate of the number of items in a collection very rapidly, raising the question of whether attention is necessary for this process. Visual attention operates in various modes, showing selectivity both to spatial location and to objects. Here, we tested whether each form of attention can enhance number estimation, by measuring whether presenting a visual cue to increase attentional engagement will lead to a more accurate and precise representation of number, both when attention is directed to location and when it is directed to objects. Results revealed that enumeration of a collection of dots in the location previously cued led to faster, more precise, and more accurate judgments than enumeration in un-cued locations, and a similar benefit was seen when the cue and collection appeared on the same object. This work shows that like many other perceptual tasks, numerical estimation may be enhanced by the spread of active attention inside a pre-cued object.
Selective cysteines oxidation in soluble guanylyl cyclase catalytic domain is involved in NO activation.
Free radical biology & medicine, 2021

Nitric oxide (NO) binds to soluble guanylyl cyclase (GC1) and stimulates its catalytic activity to produce cGMP. Despite the key role of the NO-cGMP signaling in cardiovascular physiology, the mechanisms of GC1 activation remain ill-defined. It is believed that conserved cysteines (Cys) in GC1 modulate the enzyme's activity through thiol-redox modifications. We previously showed that GC1 activity is modulated via mixed-disulfide bond by protein disulfide isomerase and thioredoxin 1. Herein we investigated the novel concept that NO-stimulated GC1 activity is mediated by thiol/disulfide switches and aimed to map the specific Cys that are involved. First, we showed that the dithiol reducing agent Tris (2-carboxyethyl)-phosphine reduces GC1 response to NO, indicating the significance of Cys oxidation in NO activation. Second, using dibromobimane, which fluoresces when crosslinking two vicinal Cys thiols, we demonstrated decreased fluorescence in NO-stimulated GC1 compared to unstimulated conditions. This suggested that NO-stimulated GC1 contained more bound Cys, potentially disulfide bonds. Third, to identify NO-regulated Cys oxidation using mass spectrometry, we compared the redox status of all Cys identified in tryptic peptides, among which, ten were oxidized and two were reduced in NO-stimulated GC1. Fourth, we resorted to computational modeling to narrow down the Cys candidates potentially involved in disulfide bond and identified Cys489 and Cys571. Fifth, our mutational studies showed that Cys489 and Cys571 were involved in GC1'response to NO, potentially as a thiol/disulfide switch. These findings imply that specific GC1 Cys sensitivity to redox environment is critical for NO signaling in cardiovascular physiology.
A comparative study of an innate immune response in Lamprologine cichlid fishes.
Die Naturwissenschaften, 2014

Social interactions facilitate pathogen transmission and increase virulence. Therefore, species that live in social groups are predicted to suffer a higher pathogen burden, to invest more heavily in immune defence against pathogens, or both. However, there are few empirical tests of whether social species indeed invest more heavily in immune defence than non-social species. In the current study, we conducted a phylogenetically controlled comparison of innate immune response in Lamprologine cichlid fishes. We focused on three species of highly social cichlids that live in permanent groups and exhibit cooperative breeding (Julidochromis ornatus, Neolamprologus pulcher and Neolamprologus savoryi) and three species of non-social cichlids that exhibit neither grouping nor cooperative behaviour (Telmatochromis temporalis, Neolamprologus tetracanthus and Neolamprologus modestus). We quantified the innate immune response by injecting wild fishes with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), a lectin that causes a cell-mediated immune response. We predicted that the three highly social species would show a greater immune reaction to the PHA treatment, indicating higher investment in immune defence against parasites relative to the three non-social species. We found significant species-level variation in immune response, but contrary to our prediction, this variation did not correspond to social system. However, we found that immune response was correlated with territory size across the six species. Our results indicate that the common assumption of a positive relationship between social system and investment in immune function may be overly simplistic. We suggest that factors such as rates of both in-group and out-group social interactions are likely to be important mediators of the relationship between sociality and immune function.
[Optical Erasure of the Synaptic Ensemble that Underlies Learning and Memory].
Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyu no shinpo, 2018

Dentritic spines are small membrane protrusions. Their regulation is thought to be important for memory storage, but the links between dentric spines and memory have been largely correlational because of a luck of techniques for manipulating individual spines. To overcome this problem, we have developed a novel synaptic optoprobe, AS-PaRac1, which is unique not only because it specifically labels recently potentiated spines, but also because it becomes possible to selectively shrink spines containing AS-PaRac1. This indicates that AS-PaRac1 can be use to specifically visualize the recently "written spines" and that the erasure of these spines is possible upon excitation with blue light. Using in vivo two-photon imaging, synaptic potentiation was visualized during active remodeling of the neocortex. Upon learning a motor skill, AS-PaRac1 expression was induced in a relatively small number of neurons, in which approximately 8% of spines were tagged by AS-PaRac1. The labeled spines were broadly distributed throughout the dendritic tree. Excitation with blue light induced shrinkage of learning related spines and disrupted the acquired motor learning. In contrast, the erasure of a similar number of learning-irrelevant spines did not affect task performance. This novel light-dependent tool will open up new areas of memory research, and will additionally shed light on the neural networks that determine who we are.
Pain in long-term survivors of childhood cancer: A systematic review of the current state of knowledge and a call to action from the Children's Oncology Group.
Cancer, 2021

Survivors of childhood cancer may be at risk of experiencing pain, and a systematic review would advance our understanding of pain in this population. The objective of this study was to describe: 1) the prevalence of pain in survivors of childhood cancer, 2) methods of pain measurement, 3) associations between pain and biopsychosocial factors, and 4) recommendations for future research. Data sources for the study were articles published from January 1990 to August 2019 identified in the PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science data bases. Eligible studies included: 1) original research, 2) quantitative assessments of pain, 3) articles published in English, 4) cancers diagnosed between birth and age 21 years, 5) survivors at 5 years from diagnosis and/or at 2 years after therapy completion, and 6) a sample size >20. Seventy-three articles were included in the final review. Risk of bias was considered using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The quality of evidence was evaluated according to Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Common measures of pain were items created by the authors for the purpose of the study (45.2%) or health-related quality-of-life/health status questionnaires (42.5%). Pain was present in from 4.3% to 75% of survivors across studies. Three studies investigated chronic pain according the definition in the International Classification of Diseases. The findings indicated that survivors of childhood cancer are at higher risk of experiencing pain compared with controls. Fatigue was consistently associated with pain, females reported more pain than males, and other factors related to pain will require stronger evidence. Theoretically grounded, multidimensional measurements of pain are absent from the literature.
A novel CACNA1A variant in a child with early stroke and intractable epilepsy.
Molecular genetics & genomic medicine, 2020

CACNA1A variants have been described in several disorders that encompass a wide range of neurologic phenotypes, including hemiplegic migraine, ataxia, cognitive delay, and epilepsy. To date, ischemic stroke caused by a CACNA1A variant has only been reported once in the literature.
Inhibition of PACAP/PAC1/VPAC2 signaling impairs the consolidation of social recognition memory and nitric oxide prevents this deficit.
Neurobiology of learning and memory, 2021

Social recognition memory (SRM) forms the basis of social relationships of animals. It is essential for social interaction and adaptive behavior, reproduction and species survival. Evidence demonstrates that social deficits of psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia are caused by alterations in SRM processing by the hippocampus and amygdala. Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) and its receptors PAC1, VPAC1 and VPAC2 are highly expressed in these regions. PACAP is a pleiotropic neuropeptide that modulates synaptic function and plasticity and is thought to be involved in social behavior. PACAP signaling also stimulates the nitric oxide (NO) production and targets outcomes to synapses. In the present work, we investigate the effect of the infusion of PACAP-38 (endogenous neuropeptide and potent stimulator of adenylyl cyclase), PACAP 6-38 (PAC1/VPAC2 receptors antagonist) and S-Nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP, NO donor) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) on the consolidation of SRM. For this, male Wistar rats with cannulae implanted in CA1 or in BLA were subjected to a social discrimination paradigm, which is based on the natural ability of rodents to investigate unfamiliar conspecifics more than familiar one. In the sample phase (acquisition), animals were exposed to a juvenile conspecific for 1 h. Immediately, 60 or 150 min after, animals received one of different pharmacological treatments. Twenty-four hours later, they were submitted to a 5 min retention test in the presence of the previously presented juvenile (familiar) and a novel juvenile. Animals that received infusions of PACAP 6-38 (40 pg/side) into CA1 immediately after the sample phase or into BLA immediately or 60 min after the sample phase were unable to recognize the familiar juvenile during the retention test. This impairment was abolished by the coinfusion of PACAP 6-38 plus SNAP (5 μg/side). These results show that the blockade of PACAP/PAC1/VPAC2 signaling in the CA1 and BLA during a restricted post-acquisition time window impairs the consolidation of SRM and that the SNAP is able to abolish this deficit. Findings like this could potentially be used in the future to influence studies of psychiatric disorders involving social behavior.
Decomposing the effects of context valence and feedback information on speed and accuracy during reinforcement learning: a meta-analytical approach using diffusion decision modeling.
Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 2019

Reinforcement learning (RL) models describe how humans and animals learn by trial-and-error to select actions that maximize rewards and minimize punishments. Traditional RL models focus exclusively on choices, thereby ignoring the interactions between choice preference and response time (RT), or how these interactions are influenced by contextual factors. However, in the field of perceptual decision-making, such interactions have proven to be important to dissociate between different underlying cognitive processes. Here, we investigated such interactions to shed new light on overlooked differences between learning to seek rewards and learning to avoid losses. We leveraged behavioral data from four RL experiments, which feature manipulations of two factors: outcome valence (gains vs. losses) and feedback information (partial vs. complete feedback). A Bayesian meta-analysis revealed that these contextual factors differently affect RTs and accuracy: While valence only affects RTs, feedback information affects both RTs and accuracy. To dissociate between the latent cognitive processes, we jointly fitted choices and RTs across all experiments with a Bayesian, hierarchical diffusion decision model (DDM). We found that the feedback manipulation affected drift rate, threshold, and non-decision time, suggesting that it was not a mere difficulty effect. Moreover, valence affected non-decision time and threshold, suggesting a motor inhibition in punishing contexts. To better understand the learning dynamics, we finally fitted a combination of RL and DDM (RLDDM). We found that while the threshold was modulated by trial-specific decision conflict, the non-decision time was modulated by the learned context valence. Overall, our results illustrate the benefits of jointly modeling RTs and choice data during RL, to reveal subtle mechanistic differences underlying decisions in different learning contexts.