rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
The effect of vertebral artery hypoplasia in posterior circulation infarction in young patients.
The International journal of neuroscience, 2016

Purpose Vertebral artery hypoplasia (VAH) is prevalent in the asymptomatic population and contributes to posterior circulation ischaemic events. The aims of this study were to determine whether VAH is an independent risk factor for posterior circulation infarction (PCI) stroke in young patients and to evaluate its impact on the clinical prognosis of PCI stroke in young patients. Materials and Methods The medical records of 235 young stroke patients were reviewed retrospectively. All patients underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA). VAH was defined by a diameter of <2 mm or the absence of the lateral vertebral artery on DSA. Logistic regression analyses were performed to elucidate the independent factors associated with PCI stroke in young patients. Then, an independent two-sample t-test was performed to evaluate the clinical effect of VAH. Results Our study included 235 young patients who experienced acute ischaemic stroke, 64 of whom were diagnosed with PCI stroke and 38 of whom (16.2%) were found to have VAH. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that gender and VAH were independent risk factors for PCI stroke in young patients. The independent two-sample t-test showed that among the young patients who experienced PCI stroke, the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score was not significantly different between the patients with and without VAH. Conclusions Our study showed that VAH increases the risk of PCI stroke in young patients. However, the influence of VAH on clinical outcomes in young patients following PCI stroke is minor.
The negative priming paradigm: An update and implications for selective attention.
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2015

Negative Priming (NP) is an influential paradigm in cognitive psychology that was originally developed to measure attentional selection. Yet, up to the mid-1990s, a large number of experimental reports questioned whether the NP effect is based on attentional inhibition and/or episodic retrieval processes. In this review, we summarize findings since the mid-1990s and discuss new and old theoretical approaches to Negative Priming. We conclude that more than one process contributes to NP and that future research should analyze the conditions under which a particular process contributes to NP. Moreover, we argue that the paradigm--although it does not measure a single cognitive process alone--is still a useful tool for understanding selection in cognition. In fact, it might be a virtue of the paradigm that several cognitive processes work here together as selection in nonexperimental contexts is surely a multidimensional process. From this perspective, research on NP is relevant for all research fields analyzing selection. We therefore close our review by discussing the implications of the new evidence on NP for theories of selective attention.
Diversity of thalamic progenitor cells and postmitotic neurons.
The European journal of neuroscience, 2012

The vertebrate thalamus contains multiple sensory nuclei, and relays sensory information to corresponding cortical areas. Moreover, the thalamus actively regulates information transmission to the cortex by modulating the response magnitude, firing mode and synchrony of neurons according to behavioral demands. The thalamus serves many other functions including motor control, learning and memory, and emotion. Such functional importance of the thalamus necessitates a better understanding of its developmental mechanisms. In this review, we will first describe the morphological organization of the developing thalamus. We will then discuss how neuronal diversity is generated and nuclei are formed during thalamic development. The first step in generating neuronal diversity is the formation of spatial diversity of thalamic progenitor cells, which is controlled by locally-expressed signaling molecules such as Sonic hedgehog (Shh), Wnt proteins and Fgf8. Lastly we will describe the roles of several transcription factors in specification of neuronal identity and nuclei formation in the thalamus. Our review will provide a molecular perspective for the organization of the thalamus prior to thalamus-cortex circuit formation.
G Protein-Gated Inwardly Rectifying Potassium Channel Subunit 3 Knock-Out Mice Show Enhanced Ethanol Reward.
Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2016

G protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels contribute to the effects of a number of drugs of abuse, including ethanol. However, the roles of individual subunits in the rewarding effects of ethanol are poorly understood.
The type of sport matters: Pain perception of endurance athletes versus strength athletes.
European journal of pain (London, England), 2019

Studies assessing athletes' pain sensitivity yield inconsistent data, which demonstrate either increased pain threshold and tolerance in athletes than controls or similar thresholds. This inconsistency may result from the variability in the type of sport practiced by the athletes and its effect on pain perception. For example, endurance athletes perform continuous intense exercise for prolonged durations, whereas strength athletes perform short bouts of extreme efforts. Consequently, endurance athletes may tolerate and modulate pain better than strength athletes. This hypothesis was tested by comparing pain perception of endurance athletes with that of strength athletes.
Memory and Space: Towards an Understanding of the Cognitive Map.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2015

More than 50 years of research have led to the general agreement that the hippocampus contributes to memory, but there has been a major schism among theories of hippocampal function over this time. Some researchers argue that the hippocampus plays a broad role in episodic and declarative memory, whereas others argue for a specific role in the creation of spatial cognitive maps and navigation. Although both views have merit, neither provides a complete account of hippocampal function. Guided by recent reviews that attempt to bridge between these views, here we suggest that reconciliation can be accomplished by exploring hippocampal function from the perspective of Tolman's (1948) original conception of a cognitive map as organizing experience and guiding behavior across all domains of cognition. We emphasize recent studies in animals and humans showing that hippocampal networks support a broad range of domains of cognitive maps, that these networks organize specific experiences within the contextually relevant map, and that network activity patterns reflect behavior guided through cognitive maps. These results are consistent with a framework that bridges theories of hippocampal function by conceptualizing the hippocampus as organizing incoming information within the context of a multidimensional cognitive map of spatial, temporal, and associational context.
From synaptic spines to nuclear signaling: nuclear and synaptic actions of the amyloid precursor protein.
Journal of neurochemistry, 2013

Despite intensive studies of the secretase-mediated processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to form the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ), in relation to Alzheimer's disease (AD), no new therapeutic agents have reached the clinics based on reducing Aβ levels through the use of secretase inhibitors or immunotherapy. Furthermore, the normal neuronal functions of APP and its various metabolites still remain under-investigated and unclear. Here, we highlight emerging areas of APP function that may provide new insights into synaptic development, cognition, and gene regulation. By modulating expression levels of endogenous APP in primary cortical neurons, the frequency and amplitude of calcium oscillations is modified, implying a key role for APP in maintaining neuronal calcium homeostasis essential for synaptic transmission. Disruption of this homeostatic mechanism predisposes to aging and AD. Synaptic spine loss is a feature of neurogeneration resulting in learning and memory deficits, and emerging evidence indicates a role for APP, probably mediated via one or more of its metabolites, in spine structure and functions. The intracellular domain of APP (AICD) has also emerged as a key epigenetic regulator of gene expression controlling a diverse range of genes, including APP itself, the amyloid-degrading enzyme neprilysin, and aquaporin-1. A fuller understanding of the physiological and pathological actions of APP and its metabolic network could provide new opportunities for therapeutic intervention in AD.
Parvalbumin-containing fast-spiking basket cells generate the field potential oscillations induced by cholinergic receptor activation in the hippocampus.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2010

Gamma frequency oscillations in cortical regions can be recorded during cognitive processes, including attention or memory tasks. These oscillations are generated locally as a result of reciprocal interactions between excitatory pyramidal cells and perisomatic inhibitory interneurons. Here, we examined the contribution of the three perisomatic interneuron types--the parvalbumin-containing fast-spiking basket cells (FSBCs) and axo-axonic cells (AACs), as well as the cholecystokinin-containing regular-spiking basket cells (RSBCs) to cholinergically induced oscillations in hippocampal slices, a rhythmic activity that captures several features of the gamma oscillations recorded in vivo. By analyzing the spiking activities of single neurons recorded in parallel with local field potentials, we found that all three cell types fired phase locked to the carbachol-induced oscillations, although with different frequencies and precision. During these oscillations, FSBCs fired the most with the highest accuracy compared with the discharge of AACs and RSBCs. In further experiments, we showed that activation of μ-opioid receptors by DAMGO ([D-Ala(2),N-Me-Phe(4),Gly(5)-ol]enkephalin acetate), which significantly reduced the inhibitory, but not excitatory, transmission, suppressed or even blocked network oscillations both in vitro and in vivo, leading to the desynchronization of pyramidal cell firing. Using paired recordings, we demonstrated that carbachol application blocked GABA release from RSBCs and reduced it from FSBCs and AACs, whereas DAMGO further suppressed the GABA release only from FSBCs, but not from AACs. These results collectively suggest that the rhythmic perisomatic inhibition, generating oscillatory fluctuation in local field potentials after carbachol treatment of hippocampal slices, is the result of periodic GABA release from FSBCs.
Vascular Function Is Improved After an Environmental Enrichment Program: The Train the Brain-Mind the Vessel Study.
Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979), 2018

Environmental enrichment may slow cognitive decay possibly acting through an improvement in vascular function. Aim of the study was to assess the effects of a 7-month cognitive, social, and physical training program on cognitive and vascular function in patients with mild cognitive impairment. In a single-center, randomized, parallel-group study, 113 patients (age, 65-89 years) were randomized to multidomain training (n=55) or usual care (n=58). All participants underwent neuropsychological tests and vascular evaluation, including brachial artery flow-mediated dilation, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, carotid distensibility, and assessment of circulating hematopoietic CD34+ and endothelial progenitor cells. At study entry, an age-matched control group (n=45) was also studied. Compared with controls, patients had at study entry a reduced flow-mediated dilation (2.97±2.14% versus 3.73±2.06%;
Baroreflex sensitivity is associated with post-stroke infections. An open, prospective study.
Journal of the neurological sciences, 2019

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) seems to play an important role in the post-stroke immunosuppression syndrome with increased susceptibility to infections. The aim of this study was to investigate if ANS activity measured at admission is associated with post-stroke infections.
In vivo mouse and live cell STED microscopy of neuronal actin plasticity using far-red emitting fluorescent proteins.
Scientific reports, 2017

The study of proteins in dendritic processes within the living brain is mainly hampered by the diffraction limit of light. STED microscopy is so far the only far-field light microscopy technique to overcome the diffraction limit and resolve dendritic spine plasticity at superresolution (nanoscopy) in the living mouse. After having tested several far-red fluorescent proteins in cell culture we report here STED microscopy of the far-red fluorescent protein mNeptune2, which showed best results for our application to superresolve actin filaments at a resolution of ~80 nm, and to observe morphological changes of actin in the cortex of a living mouse. We illustrate in vivo far-red neuronal actin imaging in the living mouse brain with superresolution for time periods of up to one hour. Actin was visualized by fusing mNeptune2 to the actin labels Lifeact or Actin-Chromobody. We evaluated the concentration dependent influence of both actin labels on the appearance of dendritic spines; spine number was significantly reduced at high expression levels whereas spine morphology was normal at low expression.
Utility of motor evoked potentials for intraoperative nerve root monitoring.
Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society, 2012

There is no entirely satisfactory way to monitor nerve root integrity during spinal surgery. In particular, standard free-running electromyography carries a high false-positive rate and some false-negative rate of injury. Stimulated electromyography to direct root stimulation can only be done intermittently, and roots are often inaccessible. This article reviews to what extent muscle motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring might help. It presents background considerations, describes MEP methodology, and summarizes relevant experimental animal and clinical studies. Based on current evidence, root compromise can cause myotomal MEP deterioration that in some cases may be reversible. However, because of radicular overlap, limited sampling, confounding factors, and response variability, the effects range from no appreciable change to variable degrees of amplitude reduction to disappearance and some false-positive and false-negative results should be expected. For root monitoring, multichannel MEP recordings should span adjacent myotomes and avoid mixed myotome derivations. Only amplitude reduction warning criteria have been studied, but no percentage cutoff consensus has emerged, and this approach is troubled by response variability. There is some evidence that MEPs might reduce false electromyographic results. In conclusion, muscle MEPs could compliment electromyography but seem unlikely to completely solve the problem of nerve root monitoring.
Physiologically-based modeling of sleep-wake regulatory networks.
Mathematical biosciences, 2014

Mathematical modeling has played a significant role in building our understanding of sleep-wake and circadian behavior. Over the past 40 years, phenomenological models, including the two-process model and oscillator models, helped frame experimental results and guide progress in understanding the interaction of homeostatic and circadian influences on sleep and understanding the generation of rapid eye movement sleep cycling. Recent advances in the clarification of the neural anatomy and physiology involved in the regulation of sleep and circadian rhythms have motivated the development of more detailed and physiologically-based mathematical models that extend the approach introduced by the classical reciprocal-interaction model. Using mathematical formalisms developed in the field of computational neuroscience to model neuronal population activity, these models investigate the dynamics of proposed conceptual models of sleep-wake regulatory networks with a focus on generating appropriate sleep and wake state transition patterns as well as simulating disease states and experimental protocols. In this review, we discuss several recent physiologically-based mathematical models of sleep-wake regulatory networks. We identify common features among these models in their network structures, model dynamics and approaches for model validation. We describe how the model analysis technique of fast-slow decomposition, which exploits the naturally occurring multiple timescales of sleep-wake behavior, can be applied to understand model dynamics in these networks. Our purpose in identifying commonalities among these models is to propel understanding of both the mathematical models and their underlying conceptual models, and focus directions for future experimental and theoretical work.
Delivery of a drug cache to glioma cells overexpressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor using lipid nanocarriers.
Nanomedicine (London, England), 2016

Glioblastoma multiforme is a devastating disease with no curative options due to the difficulty in achieving sufficient quantities of effective chemotherapies into the tumor past the blood-brain barrier. Micelles loaded with temozolomide (TMZ) were designed to increase the delivery of this drug into the brain.
Pretreatment with minocycline restores neurogenesis in the subventricular zone and subgranular zone of the hippocampus after ketamine exposure in neonatal rats.
Neuroscience, 2017

Ketamine is commonly used for anesthesia in pediatric patients. Recent studies indicated that ketamine exposure in the developing brain can induce neuroapoptosis and disturb normal neurogenesis, which will result in long-lasting cognitive impairment. Minocycline exerts neuroprotection against a wide range of toxic insults in neurodegenerative disease models. In the present study, we investigated whether the disturbed neurogenesis and behavioral deficits after ketamine neonatal exposure could be alleviated by minocycline. Postnatal day (PND)7 Sprague-Dawley rat pups randomly received either normal saline, ketamine, or minocycline 30min prior to ketamine administration, respectively. The rats were decapitated at PND14 for the detection of neurogenesis in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus by immunostaining. The protein expression of p-Akt, p-GSK-3β in the SVZ and SGZ at 12h after anesthesia, PND10 and PND14 were assessed by western blotting analysis. At PND 42-47, spatial learning and memory abilities were measured by the Morris water maze in all groups. Our data showed that ketamine exposure in neonatal rats resulted in neurogenetic damage and persistent cognitive deficits, and that pretreatment with minocycline eliminated the brain development damage and improved the behavioral function in adult rats. Moreover, the protection of minocycline is associated with the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
An optimised framework for reconstructing and processing MR phase images.
NeuroImage, 2010

Phase contrast imaging holds great potential for in vivo biodistribution studies of paramagnetic molecules and materials. However, in vivo quantification of iron storage and other paramagnetic materials requires improvements in reconstruction and processing of MR complex images. To achieve this, we have developed a framework including (i) an optimal coil sensitivity smoothing filter for phase imaging determined at the maximal signal to noise ratio, (ii) a phase optimised and a complex image optimised reconstruction approach, and (iii) a magnitude and phase correlation test criterion to determine the low pass filter parameter for background phase removal. The method has been evaluated using 3T and 7T MRI data containing cortical regions, the basal ganglia including the caudate, and the midbrain including the substantia nigra. The optimised reconstruction improves phase image contrast and noise suppression compared with conventional reconstruction approaches, and the correlation test criterion provides an objective method for separation of the local phase signal from the background phase measurements. Phase values of several brain regions of interest have been calculated, including gray matter (-1.23 Hz at 7T and -0.55 Hz at 3T), caudate (-3.8 Hz at 7T), and the substantia nigra (-6.2 Hz at 7T).
The puzzle of locust density-dependent phase polyphenism.
Current opinion in insect science, 2019

Locust density-dependent phase polyphenism presents a quintessential example of environmentally induced plasticity. Almost a century of research has yielded ample knowledge regarding the multitude of ecological, physiological, and molecular phase-dependent characteristics. This short review highlights the considerable advances that have been made in our understanding of the locust's extreme plasticity and the highly complex nature of the phase phenomenon. Several challenges in locust research resulting from this unique complexity are also presented. It is concluded that the joint, interdisciplinary collaborative efforts, already underway, hold the promise of translating our ample knowledge into a complete solution to untangling the locust phase puzzle.
Neuronal functional diversity and collective behaviors.
Journal of biological physics, 2008

A major question in today's neuroscience is how the brain's complex operations and organization emerge from individual components. The robustness of neuronal properties with flexible linkages between regulatory processes conceivably accounts for the adaptive, tunable, multistable dynamics; the coding schemes; and the complexity of neuronal functional (sub)systems. Interneurons and neurotransmitter diversity, resonance phenomena due to properties of the cell, time/frequency-dependent activation of dedicated neuronal assemblies, and code- and frequency-specific oscillations interact in determining the brain functional setup and operations. Such an arrangement would also provide the functional requirements for access to neural mechanisms, dedicated neuronal circuitry and the proper timing allowing for the selective differentiation among cortical neurons due to performing in different tasks. No comprehensive theory or systematic methodological approach appears yet conceivable. The scenario, however incomplete and incompletely characterized, is nevertheless promising and warrants further investigation.