rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol increases striatal glutamate levels in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis.
Molecular psychiatry, 2020

The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the association between cannabis use and acute or long-lasting psychosis are not completely understood. While some evidence suggests altered striatal dopamine may underlie the association, direct evidence that cannabis use affects either acute or chronic striatal dopamine is inconclusive. In contrast, pre-clinical research suggests that cannabis may affect dopamine via modulation of glutamate signaling. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design was used to investigate whether altered striatal glutamate, as measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, underlies the acute psychotomimetic effects of intravenously administered delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC; 1.19 mg/2 ml), the key psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, in a set of 16 healthy participants (7 males) with modest previous cannabis exposure. Compared to placebo, acute administration of Δ9-THC significantly increased Glutamate (Glu) + Glutamine (Gln) metabolites (Glx) in the left caudate head (P = 0.027). Furthermore, compared to individuals who were not sensitive to the psychotomimetic effects of Δ9-THC, individuals who developed transient psychotic-like symptoms (~70% of the sample) had significantly lower baseline Glx (placebo; P 7= 0.023) and a 2.27-times higher increase following Δ9-THC administration. Lower baseline Glx values (r = -0.55; P = 0.026) and higher previous cannabis exposure (r = 0.52; P = 0.040) were associated with a higher Δ9-THC-induced Glx increase. These results suggest that an increase in striatal glutamate levels may underlie acute cannabis-induced psychosis while lower baseline levels may be a marker of greater sensitivity to its acute psychotomimetic effects and may have important public health implications.
Action potential and calcium dependence of tonic somatodendritic dopamine release in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta.
Journal of neurochemistry, 2019

Despite the importance of somatodendritic dopamine (DA) release in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta (SNc), its mechanism remains poorly understood. Using a novel approach combining fast-scan controlled-adsorption voltammetry (FSCAV) and single-unit electrophysiology, we have investigated the mechanism of somatodendritic release by directly correlating basal (non-stimulated) extracellular DA concentration ([DA]
Should endometrial biopsy under direct hysteroscopic visualization using the grasp technique become the new gold standard for the preoperative evaluation of the patient with endometrial cancer?
Gynecologic oncology, 2020

To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of endometrial biopsy performed with hysteroscopic direct visualization using the "grasp technique" for the detection of endometrial carcinoma (EC) histology type and tumor grade.
Refining our understanding of the "elephant in the room".
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2020

The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee-human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.
A refined method to monitor arousal from hibernation in the European hamster.
BMC veterinary research, 2021

Hibernation is a physiological and behavioural adaptation that permits survival during periods of reduced food availability and extreme environmental temperatures. This is achieved through cycles of metabolic depression and reduced body temperature (torpor) and rewarming (arousal). Rewarming from torpor is achieved through the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) associated with a rapid increase in ventilation frequency. Here, we studied the rate of rewarming in the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) by measuring both BAT temperature, core body temperature and ventilation frequency.
A fragmented memoir.
Journal of neuropathology and experimental neurology, 2008

The following reminiscence by John Moossy is the first in what isintended to be an ongoing, albeit irregular, series published in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology. Autobiographies are being solicited from senior members of the neuropathology community, who have been noted leaders and contributors to neuroscience and to the American Association of Neuropathologists, and who have a historical perspective of the importance of neuropathology in diagnosis, education, and research. It also helps when they have interacted with other interesting people and can narrate as well as John Moossy does. It is hoped that this series will entertain, enlighten, and present members of the American Association of Neuropathologists with a better sense of the legacy that we have inherited, as well as reintroduce our iconic neuroscientists as humans having interesting lives filled with joys and sorrows the same as all of us.MNH, RAS.
Inviting ASPPB to address systemic bias and racism: Reply to Turner et al. (2021).
The American psychologist, 2021

Turner et al. (2021) subtly relapse in conceptualizing the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (Part 2-Skills) exam as a competency evaluation despite Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards' (ASPPB) prior concession that Part 2 measures only the knowledge of skills (not skill competency). They do not address the purpose of redundant evaluation or the other concerns raised in Callahan et al. (2020). Instead, Turner et al. remain narrowly focused on defense of content validity and a reliance on outdated standards that fail to meet contemporary expectations for assessment of health care professionals. The adopted processes and procedures, albeit time consuming and effortful, are known to be methodologically inadequate. ASPPB's methods demonstrably foster linguistic biases and systemic racism that constricts licensure of diverse individuals as psychologists. Specific suggestions are offered, and ASPPB is urged to take drastic corrective action. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Allometric analysis of brain cell number in Hymenoptera suggests ant brains diverge from general trends.
Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2021

Many comparative neurobiological studies seek to connect sensory or behavioural attributes across taxa with differences in their brain composition. Recent studies in vertebrates suggest cell number and density may be better correlated with behavioural ability than brain mass or volume, but few estimates of such figures exist for insects. Here, we use the isotropic fractionator (IF) method to estimate total brain cell numbers for 32 species of Hymenoptera spanning seven subfamilies. We find estimates from using this method are comparable to traditional, whole-brain cell counts of two species and to published estimates from established stereological methods. We present allometric scaling relationships between body and brain mass, brain mass and nuclei number, and body mass and cell density and find that ants stand out from bees and wasps as having particularly small brains by measures of mass and cell number. We find that Hymenoptera follow the general trend of smaller animals having proportionally larger brains. Smaller Hymenoptera also feature higher brain cell densities than the larger ones, as is the case in most vertebrates, but in contrast with primates, in which neuron density remains rather constant across changes in brain mass. Overall, our findings establish the IF as a useful method for comparative studies of brain size evolution in insects.
Different effects of metformin and phenformin on hypoxia-induced Ca
Brain research, 2021

Recent evidence suggests that metformin and phenformin may exert beneficial effects against neuronal injury in the ischemic brain, however, the difference of action between these two drugs and the molecular mechanism of such protection is not clear. In this study, we investigated whether mild hypoxia-affected neurons exhibit changes in cytosolic calcium handling and whether metformin and phenformin exert any effect on calcium homeostasis in hypoxia-affected neurons. Cultured primary rat cortical cells were stained with calcium sensitive dye Oregon Green 488 BAPTA-1 AM and spontaneous calcium dependent changes of fluorescence were recorded. Using obtained fluorescence traces we estimated changes in relative amplitude of recorded spontaneous signals, changes in frequency of spontaneous activity, and changes in decay of fluorescence traces. We found that hypoxia caused reduction of the relative signal amplitude, increased the spontaneous activity, and slowed the decay of calcium concentration. After pre-treatment of cells with 0.1-0.5 mM metformin, the relative signal amplitude increased and the frequency of spontaneous signals decreased in hypoxia-affected neurons. However, pre-treatment with 1-25 µM phenformin neither increased the relative signal amplitude nor reduced the frequency of spontaneous signals. The decay of fluorescence traces became faster after application of metformin or phenformin comparing to neurons under hypoxic conditions. These results suggest different action of metformin and phenformin in improvement of Ca
Striatal direct and indirect pathway neurons differentially control the encoding and updating of goal-directed learning.
eLife, 2020

The posterior dorsomedial striatum (pDMS) is necessary for goal-directed action; however, the role of the direct (dSPN) and indirect (iSPN) spiny projection neurons in the pDMS in such actions remains unclear. In this series of experiments, we examined the role of pDMS SPNs in goal-directed action in rats and found that whereas dSPNs were critical for goal-directed learning and for energizing the learned response, iSPNs were involved in updating that learning to support response flexibility. Instrumental training elevated expression of the plasticity marker Zif268 in dSPNs only, and chemogenetic suppression of dSPN activity during training prevented goal-directed learning. Unilateral optogenetic inhibition of dSPNs induced an ipsilateral response bias in goal-directed action performance. In contrast, although initial goal-directed learning was unaffected by iSPN manipulations, optogenetic inhibition of iSPNs, but not dSPNs, impaired the updating of this learning and attenuated response flexibility after changes in the action-outcome contingency.
Functional Abnormalities of Cerebellum and Motor Cortex in Spinal Muscular Atrophy Mice.
Neuroscience, 2021

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a devastating genetic neuromuscular disease. Diffuse neuropathology has been reported in SMA patients and mouse models, however, functional changes in brain regions have not been studied. In the SMNΔ7 mouse model, we identified three types of differences in neuronal function in the cerebellum and motor cortex from two age groups: P7-9 (P7) and P11-14 (P11). Microelectrode array studies revealed significantly lower spontaneous firing and network activity in the cerebellum of SMA mice in both age groups, but it was more profound in the P11 group. In the motor cortex, however, neural activity was not different in either age group. Whole-cell patch-clamp was used to study the function of output neurons in both brain regions. In cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) of SMA mice, the input resistance was larger at P7, while capacitance was smaller at P11. In the motor cortex, no difference was observed in the passive membrane properties of layer V pyramidal neurons (PN5s). The action potential threshold of both types of output neurons was depolarized in the P11 group. We also observed lower spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity in PN5s and PCs respectively from P11 SMA mice. Overall, these differences suggest functional alterations in the neural network in these motor regions that change during development. Our results also suggest that neuronal dysfunction in these brain regions may contribute to the pathology of SMA. Comprehensive treatment strategies may consider motor regions outside of the spinal cord for better outcomes.
Julio J. Ramirez: Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology.
The American psychologist, 2014

The Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology is given in recognition of the efforts of psychologists who have made distinguished contributions to education and training, who have produced imaginative innovations, or who have been involved in the developmental phases of programs in education and training in psychology. The Career designation is added to the award at the discretion of the Education and Training Awards Committee to recognize continuous significant contributions made over a lifelong career in psychology. The 2014 recipient of this award is Julio J. Ramirez, for "creating a national infrastructure to support education and training in behavioral neuroscience and biological psychology, for playing a seminal role in creating an undergraduate neuroscience education journal, and for creating a nationally recognized mentoring program for junior faculty in the neurosciences, particularly with underrepresented groups." Ramirez's award citation, biography, and a selected bibliography are presented here.
Clinical diagnosis of LGI1 antibody encephalitis in an 83-year-old woman.
BMJ case reports, 2021

An 83-year-old woman was referred to hospital with a 2-week history of short-lived episodic unpleasant sensations in her head and running down her body. This was accompanied by new short-term memory impairment and arm spasms. Initial investigations including blood tests and brain imaging did not reveal the diagnosis. The patient developed an increasing frequency of abnormal movements of her face and arm. These were clinically recognised as faciobrachial dystonic seizures (FBDS). FBDS are pathognomonic of an autoimmune encephalitis caused by an antibody directed against leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1). The clinical diagnosis resulted in treatment with immunotherapy, leading to cessation of seizures and rapid cognitive recovery. Later, the predicted serology was confirmed. This reversible and under-recognised cause of cognitive impairment, typically affecting elderly patients, can be diagnosed clinically to enable early and effective treatment.
Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory data across a 43-year period (1973-2016) worldwide: Flynn and anti-Flynn effects.
Data in brief, 2020

Secular gain and drop in cognitive test performances over time have been observed and called respectively the Flynn and anti-Flynn effects. The current datasets include raw data from an investigation of the Flynn and/or anti-Flynn effects on verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory reported in 'The Flynn effect for verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory: A cross-temporal meta-analysis' (Wongupparaj, Wongupparaj, Kumari, Morris, 2017) [1]. Specifically, the datasets totally contain 1754 individual samples (n = 139,677) across a 43-year period from forward/backward digit span (F/BDS) and forward/backward Corsi-block span (CBS) tests. Mean memory test scores, standard deviation scores, types of memory tests, years of publication, mean ages, male percentages, types of publication, types of countries, platforms of memory tests, and sample sizes were collected and included in the datasets. DS and CBS data are unique in that they can provide a rich source of trends concerning changing short-term and working memory test scores across memory types, test platforms, age groups, gender, and countries. Further, these data can be of use for investigation of psychometric properties for the memory tests.
High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein is a Prognostic Biomarker of Six-Month Disability after Traumatic Brain Injury: Results from the TRACK-TBI Study.
Journal of neurotrauma, 2021

Systemic inflammation impacts outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI), but most TBI biomarker studies have focused on brain-specific proteins. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a widely used biomarker of inflammation with potential as a prognostic biomarker after TBI. The
Parietal Oscillatory Dynamics Mediate Developmental Improvement in Motor Performance.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2020

Numerous recent studies have sought to determine the developmental trajectories of motor-related oscillatory responses from youth to adulthood. However, most of this work has relied on simple movements, and rarely have these studies linked developmental neural changes with maturational improvements in motor performance. In this study, we recorded magnetoencephalography during a complex finger-tapping task in a large sample of 107 healthy youth aged 9-15 years old. The relationships between region-specific neural activity, age, and performance metrics were examined using structural equation modeling. We found strong developmental effects on behavior and beta oscillatory activity during movement planning, as well as associations between planning-related beta activity and activity within the same region during the movement execution period. However, when all factors were tested, we found that only right parietal cortex beta dynamics mediated the relationship between age and performance on the task. These data suggest that strong, sustained beta activity within the right parietal cortex enhances motor performance, and that these sustained oscillations develop through childhood into early adolescence. In sum, these are the first data to link developmental trajectories in beta oscillatory dynamics with distinct motor performance metrics and implicate the right parietal cortex as a crucial hub in movement execution.
Personalized estimates of morphometric similarity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
NPJ schizophrenia, 2020

Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are associated with brain morphometry alterations. This study investigates inter-individual variability in brain structural profiles, both within diagnostic groups and between patients and healthy individuals. Brain morphometric measures from three independent samples of patients with schizophrenia (n = 168), bipolar disorder (n = 122), and healthy individuals (n = 180) were modeled as single vectors to generated individualized profiles of subcortical volumes and regional cortical thickness. These profiles were then used to compute a person-based similarity index (PBSI) for subcortical volumes and for regional cortical thickness, to quantify the within-group similarity of the morphometric profile of each individual to that of the other participants in the same diagnostic group. There was no effect of diagnosis on the PBSI for subcortical volumes. In contrast, compared to healthy individuals, the PBSI for cortical thickness was lower in patients with schizophrenia (effect size = 0.4, p ≤ 0.0002), but not in patients with bipolar disorder. The results were robust and reproducible across samples. We conclude that disease mechanisms for these disorders produce modest inter-individual variations in brain morphometry that should be considered in future studies attempting to cluster patients in subgroups.
A MicroRNA Linking Human Positive Selection and Metabolic Disorders.
Cell, 2020

Positive selection in Europeans at the 2q21.3 locus harboring the lactase gene has been attributed to selection for the ability of adults to digest milk to survive famine in ancient times. However, the 2q21.3 locus is also associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans, raising the possibility that additional genetic elements in the locus may have contributed to evolutionary adaptation to famine by promoting energy storage, but which now confer susceptibility to metabolic diseases. We show here that the miR-128-1 microRNA, located at the center of the positively selected locus, represents a crucial metabolic regulator in mammals. Antisense targeting and genetic ablation of miR-128-1 in mouse metabolic disease models result in increased energy expenditure and amelioration of high-fat-diet-induced obesity and markedly improved glucose tolerance. A thrifty phenotype connected to miR-128-1-dependent energy storage may link ancient adaptation to famine and modern metabolic maladaptation associated with nutritional overabundance.
Author Correction: Accumbal D2 cells orchestrate innate risk-avoidance according to orexin signals.
Nature neuroscience, 2018

In the version of this article initially published, a sentence in the third paragraph read, "Suppression of natural orexin signaling by orexin receptor antagonism (Fig. 3b-e) led to increased risk-avoidance behaviors." "Increased" has been changed to "decreased" in this sentence. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.
SILAC quantitative proteomics analysis of ivermectin-related proteomic profiling and molecular network alterations in human ovarian cancer cells.
Journal of mass spectrometry : JMS, 2021

The antiparasitic agent ivermectin offers more promises to treat a diverse range of diseases. However, a comprehensive proteomic analysis of ivermectin-treated ovarian cancer (OC) cells has not been performed. This study sought to identify ivermectin-related proteomic profiling and molecular network alterations in human OC cells. Stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC)-based quantitative proteomics was used to study the human OC TOV-21G cells. After TOV-21G cells underwent 10 passages in SILAC-labeled growth media, TOV-21G cells were treated with 10 ml of 20 μmol/L ivermectin in cell growing medium for 24 h. The SILAC-labeled proteins were digested with trypsin; tryptic peptides were identified with mass spectrometry (MS). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis was used to mine signaling pathway alterations with ivermectin-related proteins in TOV-21G cells. Gene ontology (GO) analysis was used to explore biological functions of ivermectin-related proteins, including biological processes (BPs), cellular components (CCs), and molecular functions (MFs). The protein-protein interaction network was analyzed with molecular complex detection (MCODE) to identify hub modules. In total, 4,447 proteins were identified in ivermectin-treated TOV-21G cells. KEGG analysis revealed 89 statistically significant signaling pathways. Interestingly, the clustering analysis of these pathways showed that ivermectin was involved in various cancer pathogenesis processes, including modulation of replication, RNA metabolism, and translational machinery. GO analysis revealed 69 statistically significant CCs, 87 MFs, and 62 BPs. Furthermore, MCODE analysis identified five hub modules, including 147 hub molecules. Those hub modules involved ribosomal proteins, RNA-binding proteins, cell-cycle progression-related proteins, proteasome subunits, and minichromosome maintenance proteins. These findings demonstrate that SILAC quantitative proteomics is an effective method to analyze ivermectin-treated cells, provide the first ivermectin-related proteomic profiling and molecular network alterations in human OC cells, and provide deeper insights into molecular mechanisms and functions of ivermectin to inhibit OC cells.
Objectively measured physical activity is associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume in older adults.
NeuroImage, 2020

Epidemiological studies suggest physical activity (PA) can slow or prevent both cognitive decline and age-related atrophy in frontal and hippocampal gray matter volumes. However, much of this evidence is based on self-reported measures of PA.