Neuroscience letters
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Neuroscience letters · Dec 2010
Nicotine activation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and guanylyl cyclase in the medulla increases blood flow of the common carotid artery in cats.
Individual activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) or nitric oxide (NO) synthase in the dorsal facial area (DFA) increases blood flow of common carotid artery (CCA) supplying intra- and extra-cranial tissues. We investigated whether the activation of nAChR initiated the activation of NO synthase and guanylyl cyclase to increase CCA blood flow in anesthetized cats. ⋯ Control microinjection with d-NAME (an isomer of l-NAME), artificial cerebrospinal fluid or DMSO (a solvent for 7-NI) did not affect resting CCA blood flow, nor did they affect nicotine- or choline-induced response. In conclusion, activation of nAChR, at least α7-nAChR, led to the activation of neuronal NO synthase and guanylyl cyclase in the DFA, which induced an increase in CCA blood flow.
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Neuroscience letters · Dec 2010
Comparative StudyLeft is where the L is right. Significantly delayed reaction time in limb laterality recognition in both CRPS and phantom limb pain patients.
The body schema is based on an intact cortical body representation. Its disruption is indicated by delayed reaction times (RT) and high error rates when deciding on the laterality of a pictured hand in a limb laterality recognition task. Similarities in both cortical reorganisation and disrupted body schema have been found in two different unilateral pain syndromes, one with deafferentation (phantom limb pain, PLP) and one with pain-induced dysfunction (complex regional pain syndrome, CRPS). ⋯ Both healthy subjects and CRPS patients improved during training, but RTs of CRPS patients (1874.5±613.3ms) remain slower (p<0.01) than those of healthy subjects (1280.6±343.2ms) after four-day training. Despite different pathomechanisms, the body schema is equally disrupted in PLP and CRPS patients, uninfluenced by attention and pain and cannot be fully reversed by training alone. This suggests the involvement of complex central nervous system mechanisms in the disruption of the body schema.