rudyvdbrink/CitationDatabase huggingface dataset:
Neurological evidence for the role of construal level in future-directed thought.
Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2017

The ability to mentally represent future events is a significant human psychological achievement. A challenge that people encounter is that they often lack detailed specifics about distant relative to near future events. Construal level theory proposes that people represent distant future events by their abstract and essential features-a process referred to as high-level construal. As events become temporally proximal, people represent events by their increasingly available and reliable concrete and idiosyncratic features-a process referred to as low-level construal. The present fMRI experiment provides direct neural evidence for these assertions. Using the why-how localizer as a measure of construal level, results revealed brain regions associated with both temporal distance and high-level construal (medial prefrontal cortex), as well as temporal proximity and low-level construal (precuneus). We discuss the implications of these findings for the neuroscience of mental time travel and cognitive representation.
Extension of Helix 12 in Munc18-1 Induces Vesicle Priming.
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2016

Munc18-1 is essential for vesicle fusion and participates in the docking of large dense-core vesicles to the plasma membrane. Recent structural data suggest that conformational changes in the 12th helix of the Munc18-1 domain 3a within the Munc18-1:syntaxin complex result in an additional interaction with synaptobrevin-2/VAMP2 (vesicle-associated membrane protein 2), leading to SNARE complex formation. To test this hypothesis in living cells, we examined secretion from Munc18-1-null mouse adrenal chromaffin cells expressing Munc18-1 mutants designed to either perturb the extension of helix 12 (Δ324-339), block its interaction with synaptobrevin-2 (L348R), or extend the helix to promote coil-coil interactions with other proteins (P335A). The mutants rescued vesicle docking and syntaxin-1 targeting to the plasma membrane, with the exception of P335A that only supported partial syntaxin-1 targeting. Disruptive mutations (L348R or Δ324-339) lowered the secretory amplitude by decreasing vesicle priming, whereas P335A markedly increased priming and secretory amplitude. The mutants displayed unchanged kinetics and Ca(2+) dependence of fusion, indicating that the mutations specifically affect the vesicle priming step. Mutation of a nearby tyrosine (Y337A), which interacts with closed syntaxin-1, mildly increased secretory amplitude. This correlated with results from an in vitro fusion assay probing the functions of Munc18-1, indicating an easier transition to the extended state in the mutant. Our findings support the notion that a conformational transition within the Munc18-1 domain 3a helix 12 leads to opening of a closed Munc18-1:syntaxin complex, followed by productive SNARE complex assembly and vesicle priming.
HSPB1 and HSPB8 in inherited neuropathies: study of an Italian cohort of dHMN and CMT2 patients.
Journal of the peripheral nervous system : JPNS, 2011

Mutations in the small heat-shock protein 27 kDa protein 1 (HSPB1) and 22 kDa protein 8 (HSPB8) genes were associated with distal hereditary motor neuropathy (dHMN) and with the axonal form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 (CMT2). Here we report the clinical and molecular evaluation of an Italian dHMN and CMT2 cohort to establish HSPB1 and HSPB8 mutation occurrence and associated clinical features. One hundred and sixty-seven patients with dHMN or CMT2 were studied. HSPB1 and HSPB8 exons 1 and 3 molecular analysis was carried out through DHPLC and direct sequencing of each variant chromatogram. HSPB8 exon 2 was analyzed by direct sequencing. Four mutations in five unrelated dHMN patients and four mutations in four unrelated CMT2 cases were found in HSPB1. The p.Arg136Leu mutation was found in two patients with different phenotypes. Electroneurographical follow-up study in a dHMN patient revealed that sensory impairment occurred with disease progression. The HSPB1 mutation frequency was 8% in dHMN and 4% in CMT2 patients. The significant HSPB1 mutation frequency in both phenotypes indicates its relevance in the pathogenesis of these neuropathies. Recent literature data suggest a continuum between dHMN and CMT2. We confirm this finding in our cohort, proposing a definite relationship between these disorders.
Alzheimer's disease-like pathology-triggered oxidative stress, alterations in monoamines levels, and structural damage of locus coeruleus neurons are partially recovered by a mix of proteoglycans of embryonic genesis.
Neurochemistry international, 2019

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis includes oxidative damage and perturbations of monoamines. However, as many details of these alterations are not known, we have investigated the changes in monoamine levels as well as the free radical oxidation processes (FRO) in the brainstem of rats that were administered i.c.v. Aβ (25-35) (rat model of AD-like pathology). The level of oxidative stress was found elevated in the brainstem along with the increased concentrations of monoamines, especially norepinephrine in the locus coeruleus (LC) area of the brainstem. This was accompanied by the substantial structural damage of monoaminergic neurons of LC. In addition, we have tested the ability of proteoglycans of embryonic genesis (PEG) that were shown previously to act as neuroprotectors, to restore the AD-triggered alterations in monoaminergic system and FRO. Indeed, PEG reduced the increased FRO and upregulated monoamines in the brainstem of Aβ (25-35) treated animals. Administration of PEG to control animals led to the increase of the antioxidant capacity as well as the intensity of free radical oxidation processes. Our study confirms the important role of the brainstem FRO and monoamine shifts in AD development along with the known aggregation of Ab peptide and Tau hyperphosphorylation. We suggest that at the early stages of AD development, with still functional neurons, regulation of monoamine levels via stabilizing FRO processes can be beneficial. Our data demonstrate the regulatory action of PEG on the monoamine disturbances and the level of oxidative stress in the AD damaged structures, suggesting its possible therapeutic application in AD.
Repetitive Arm Movements During Sleep: A Polysomnographic Assessment.
Basic and clinical neuroscience, 2016

Sleep-related movement disorders should be differentiated from parasomnias, sleep-associated behavioral disorders, and epilepsy. Polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard in evaluating such disorders. Periodic leg movement disorder during sleep (PLMS), hypnic jerks, bruxism, rhythmic movement disorder, restless legs syndrome, and nocturnal leg cramps have broadly been discussed in the literature. However, periodic arm movement disorder in sleep (PAMS) is a less-appreciated entity perhaps because arm surface electromyography is not an integral part of the standard polysomnography. Results from our PSG study in a case suspected for PAMS prompted us to herewith discuss this problem.
Peptide YY, neuropeptide Y and corticotrophin-releasing factor modulate gastrointestinal motility and food intake during acute stress.
Neurogastroenterology and motility, 2014

Peripheral neuropeptide Y (NPY) provides protection against the endocrine, feeding and gastrointestinal (GI) responses to stress; however, it is not yet established how it interacts with corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) to mediate these effects. Peptide YY (PYY) also has significant roles in GI motility and food intake but little is known about its role in stress responses.
Polygonum aviculare L. extract and quercetin attenuate contraction in airway smooth muscle.
Scientific reports, 2018

Because of the serious side effects of the currently used bronchodilators, new compounds with similar functions must be developed. We screened several herbs and found that Polygonum aviculare L. contains ingredients that inhibit the precontraction of mouse and human airway smooth muscle (ASM). High K
The Morphology of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials During Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm Clipping (MoSAC): A Pilot Study.
Clinical EEG and neuroscience, 2020

Somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) monitoring is a standard tool during clipping of aneurysms of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), and the parameter used to detect a state of cortical ischemia is amplitude. We think that the sensitivity of SEP can however be improved by using other parameters. Our study moves in this direction via SEP morphology. In this pilot preliminary study, involving a small sample without postoperative neurological deficit, we aimed at investigating the value of SEP morphology (in the 15- to 35-ms time frame), in comparison with SEP amplitude (N20 peak-to-peak), as a measure of sensitivity to blood flow reduction. The changes in the SEP morphology of 16 patients undergoing clipping of an unruptured MCA aneurysm was studied. We applied the Morph-Fréchet index for each recorded SEP (at 30-second intervals), quantifying the pattern shape change with regard to the average SEP recorded after dura opening (baseline). We also compared 3 measurements of the SEP morphology, without and with GARCH-derived filter. Filtered Morph-Fréchet never exceeded the individual's "normality" range in baseline but did so in 81% of the risk phase on average across the 16 subjects, which is more than that for amplitude (36%,
Behavioral robustness: an emergent phenomenon by means of distributed mechanisms and neurodynamic determinacy.
Bio Systems, 2012

Theoretical discussions and computational models of bio-inspired embodied and situated agents are introduced in this article capturing in simplified form the dynamical essence of robust, yet adaptive behavior. This article analyzes the general problem of how the dynamical coupling between internal control (brain), body and environment is used in the generation of specific behaviors. Based on the Evolutionary Robotics (ER) paradigm, four computational models are described to support discussions including descriptions on performance after a series of structural, sensorimotor or mutational perturbations, or are developed in the absence of them. Experimental results suggest that 'dynamic determinacy' - i.e. the continuous presence of a unique dynamical attractor that must be chased during functional behaviors - is a common dynamic phenomenon in the analyzed robust and adaptive agents. These agents show dynamical states that are definitely and unequivocally characterized via transient dynamics toward a unique, yet moving attractor at neural level for coherent actions. This determinacy emerges as a control strategy rooted on behavioral couplings and relies on mechanisms that are distributed on brain, body and environment. Different ways to induce further distribution of behavioral mechanisms are also discussed in this paper from a bio-inspired ER perspective.
Investigating holistic face processing within and outside of face-responsive brain regions.
NeuroImage, 2021

It has been shown that human faces are processed holistically (i.e. as indecomposable wholes, rather than by their component parts) and this holistic face processing is linked to brain activity in face-responsive brain regions. Although several brain regions outside of the face-responsive network are also sensitive to relational processing and perceptual grouping, whether these non-face-responsive regions contribute to holistic processing remains unclear. Here, we investigated holistic face processing in the composite face paradigm both within and outside of face-responsive brain regions. We recorded participants' brain activity using fMRI while they performed a composite face task. Behavioural results indicate that participants tend to judge the same top face halves as different when they are aligned with different bottom face halves but not when they are misaligned, demonstrating a composite face effect. Neuroimaging results revealed significant differences in responses to aligned and misaligned faces in the lateral occipital complex (LOC), and trends in the anterior part of the fusiform face area (FFA2) and transverse occipital sulcus (TOS), suggesting that these regions are sensitive to holistic versus part-based face processing. Furthermore, the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA) showed a pattern of neural activity consistent with a holistic representation of face identity, which also correlated with the strength of the behavioural composite face effect. These results suggest that neural activity in brain regions both within and outside of the face-responsive network contributes to the composite-face effect.
Electrophysiological properties of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats.
Psychopharmacology, 2009

Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) or -nonpreferring (sNP) rats are one of the few pairs of lines of rats selectively bred for their voluntary alcohol preference or aversion, respectively. Ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons have long been implicated in many drug-related behaviors, including alcohol self-administration. However, the electrophysiological properties of these cells in sP and sNP rats remain unknown.
What if? The farther shores of neuroethics: commentary on "Neuroscience may supersede ethics and law".
Science and engineering ethics, 2012

Neuroscience is clearly making enormous progress toward understanding how human brains work. The implications of this progress for ethics, law, society, and culture are much less clear. Some have argued that neuroscience will lead to vast changes, superseding much of law and ethics. The likely limits to the explanatory power of neuroscience argue against that position, as do the limits to the social relevance of what neuroscience will be able to explain. At the same time neuroscience is likely to change societies through increasing their abilities to predict future behavior, to infer subjective mental states by observing physical brain states ("read minds"), to provide evidence in some cases relevant to criminal responsibility, to provide new ways to intervene to "treat antisocial brains," and to enhance healthy brains. Neuroscience should make important cultural changes in our special, and specially negative, views of "mental" versus "physical" illness by showing that mental illness is a dysfunction of a physical organ. It will not likely change our beliefs, implicit or explicit, in free will, or spark a new conflict between science and religion akin to the creationism controversy.
Zebrafish model of posttraumatic epilepsy.
Epilepsia, 2020

Posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) is defined as recurrent and unprovoked seizures occurring >1 week after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Animal studies of PTE are lengthy and expensive. In this study, we developed a cost-effective PTE animal model using zebrafish to bridge the gap between in vitro studies and low-throughput animal studies.
A meta-analytic review of social cognitive function following stroke.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2019

Although it is now widely recognised that social cognitive difficulties are often evident following stroke, important questions remain about the nature and magnitude of these difficulties, as well as the factors that determine the magnitude of this impairment. A meta-analysis of 58 datasets involving 2567 participants (937 with stroke, 1630 non-clinical controls) was therefore conducted. The results indicated that three of the four core domains of social cognitive function were significantly disrupted in people with stroke. Specifically, while the effect size for affective empathy failed to attain significance (r = -.33), moderate to large deficits were identified for theory of mind (r = -.44), social perception (r = -.55), and social behaviour (r = -.53). These deficits were robust across both left and right lateralized lesions, across social cognitive assessments that differed in their broader cognitive demands, as well as in tasks that varied in their modality of presentation. These data are discussed in the context of broader neuropsychological models of social cognitive function.
From Blame to Punishment: Disrupting Prefrontal Cortex Activity Reveals Norm Enforcement Mechanisms.
Neuron, 2015

The social welfare provided by cooperation depends on the enforcement of social norms. Determining blameworthiness and assigning a deserved punishment are two cognitive cornerstones of norm enforcement. Although prior work has implicated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in norm-based judgments, the relative contribution of this region to blameworthiness and punishment decisions remains poorly understood. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and fMRI to determine the specific role of DLPFC function in norm-enforcement behavior. DLPFC rTMS reduced punishment for wrongful acts without affecting blameworthiness ratings, and fMRI revealed punishment-selective DLPFC recruitment, suggesting that these two facets of norm-based decision making are neurobiologically dissociable. Finally, we show that DLPFC rTMS affects punishment decision making by altering the integration of information about culpability and harm. Together, these findings reveal a selective, causal role for DLPFC in norm enforcement: representational integration of the distinct information streams used to make punishment decisions.
Phase Synchronization Analysis of Natural Wake and Sleep States in Healthy Individuals Using a Novel Ensemble Phase Synchronization Measure.
Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society, 2017

Electrical activity in the brain is presumed to arise from a combination of tonic asynchronous neuronal firing during wake and a synchronized, burst-pause firing of large number of neurons during sleep. This study aims to compare the phase synchronization index (SI) across multiple channels during wake and various sleep stages on scalp electroencephalographic recordings.
Advantages of cortical surface reconstruction using submillimeter 7 T MEMPRAGE.
NeuroImage, 2018

Recent advances in MR technology have enabled increased spatial resolution for routine functional and anatomical imaging, which has created demand for software tools that are able to process these data. The availability of high-resolution data also raises the question of whether higher resolution leads to substantial gains in accuracy of quantitative morphometric neuroimaging procedures, in particular the cortical surface reconstruction and cortical thickness estimation. In this study we adapted the FreeSurfer cortical surface reconstruction pipeline to process structural data at native submillimeter resolution. We then quantified the differences in surface placement between meshes generated from (0.75 mm)
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: The road from similarities and clinical heterogeneity to neurobiological types.
Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry, 2015

Although diagnosis is a central issue in medical care, in psychiatry its value is still controversial. The function of diagnosis is to indicate treatments and to help clinicians take better care of patients. The fundamental role of diagnosis is to predict outcome and prognosis. To date serious concern persists regarding the clinical utility and predictive validity of the diagnosis system in psychiatry, which is at the most syndromal. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which nosologists consider two distinct disorders, are the most discussed psychiatric illnesses. Recent findings in different fields of psychiatric research, such as neuroimaging, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, neuropsychology and genetics, have led to other conceptualizations. Individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder vary greatly with regard to symptoms, illness course, treatment response, cognitive and functional impairment and biological correlates. In fact, it is possible to find heterogeneous correlates even within the same syndrome, i.e., from one stage of the disorder to another. Thus, it is possible to identify different subsyndromes, which share some clinical and neurobiological characteristics. The main goal of modern psychiatry is to ovethrow these barriers and to obtain a better understanding of the biological profiles underlying heterogeneous clinical features and thus reduce the variance and lead to a homogeneous definition. The translational research model, which connects the basic neuroscience research field with clinical experience in psychiatry, aims to investigate different neurobiological features of syndromes and of the shared neurobiological features between two syndromes. In fact, this approach should help us to better understand the neurobiological pathways underlying clinical entities, and even to distinguish different, more homogeneous, diagnostic subtypes.
Mechanisms underlying enhanced P2X receptor-mediated responses in the neuropathic pain state.
Pain, 2005

P2X3 and P2X2/3 receptors in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) appear to participate in producing nociceptive responses after nerve injury. However, the mechanisms underlying the receptor-mediated nociception in the neuropathic state remain unclear. Using spared nerve injury (SNI) rats, we found that allodynic and nocifensive (flinch) behavioral responses developed after injury can be reversed by P2X receptor antagonists, indicating an involvement of P2X receptors. Immunocytochemical studies revealed that P2X3 receptors are expressed in small and medium but rarely in large DRG neurons of both normal and SNI rats. Thus, contrary to the conventional view that only large A beta cells mediate allodynia, small and medium cells are intimately involved in P2X3 receptor-mediated allodynia. Measuring ATP levels in the subcutaneous space of the rat paw, we showed that ATP release does not change after SNI. On the other hand, the P2X receptor agonist, alpha beta-methylene ATP produces 3.5-fold larger flinch responses at a 8.0-fold lower dose. Thus, sensitization of P2X3 receptors rather than a change in ATP release is responsible for the neuropathic pain behaviors. We further demonstrated that sensitization of P2X3 receptors arises from an increase in receptor function. ATP-induced P2X3 receptor-mediated currents in DRG neurons is 2.5-fold larger after SNI. The expression of P2X3 receptors on the cell membrane is significantly enhanced while the total expression of P2X3 receptors remained unchanged. Thus, the enhancement of trafficking of P2X3 receptors is likely an important mechanism contributing to the increase in receptor function after nerve injury.