Neuroscience
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In this study, we investigated whether two brain regions, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA), affected male rats' (Rattus norvigicus) ability to innately discriminate between a predator odor (cat urine) and female rat urine. Muscimol, a GABAa receptor agonist, was bilaterally microinjected into either the BNST or BLA of rats through implanted stainless-steel guide cannulas to temporarily inactivate these brain nuclei. ⋯ Furthermore, intra-BNST infusion of muscimol caused rats to be equally attracted to urine from cats and female rats but intra-BLA infusion did not stop rats manifesting fear on exposure to cat urine and exploratory behavior on exposure to female rat urine. We conclude that the BNST plays a more crucial role in modulating innate fear responses in rats than the BLA.
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Thiamine deficiency during embryonic or early postnatal development causes deficits in cerebellum-dependent activities including motor control and procedural memory. Here, we give a detailed description of the changes to A-type current in cultured cerebellar granule neurons exposed to thiamine deficiency in vitro. A-type current in treated neurons was reduced to 51% of that in controls. ⋯ These effects were selective because the delayed-rectifier potassium current density and kinetics were unchanged in thiamine-deficient neurons. A computational model of the cerebellar granule neuron was used to test the impact of these alterations and predicts an increase in excitability that is especially pronounced for synaptic activation. Our results suggest that the loss of A-type potassium conductance leads to hyperactivity in cerebellar granule neurons and may contribute to cell death observed in the granule layer of cerebellum during thiamine-deficiency in vivo.
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Maternal thyroid hormones (THs) are important in early brain development long before the onset of embryonic TH secretion, but information about the regulation of TH availability in the brain at these early stages is still limited. We therefore investigated in detail the mRNA distribution pattern of the TH activating type 2 and inactivating type 3 deiodinases (D2 and D3) and the TH transporters, organic anion transporting polypeptide 1c1 (Oatp1c1) and monocarboxylate transporter 8 (Mct8), in chicken embryonic brain as well as in retina and inner ear from day 3 to day 10 of development. Oatp1c1, Mct8 and D3 are expressed in the choroid plexus and its precursors allowing selective uptake of THs at the blood-cerebrospinal fluid-barrier with subsequent inactivation of excess hormone. ⋯ Mct8 is widely expressed in gray matter throughout the brain. This is the first comprehensive study on the dynamic distribution pattern of TH-transporters and deiodinases at stages of embryonic brain development when only maternal THs are available. It provides the essential background for further research aimed at understanding early developmental processes depending on maternal THs.
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Very little is known about the development of cardiac parasympathetic ganglia and cholinergic innervation of the mouse heart. Accordingly, we evaluated the growth of cholinergic neurons and nerve fibers in mouse hearts from embryonic day 18.5 (E18.5) through postnatal day 21(P21). Cholinergic perikarya and varicose nerve fibers were identified in paraffin sections immunostained for the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). ⋯ The abundance and distribution of S100-positive Schwann cells increased postnatally along with nerve density. While S100 staining of cardiac Schwann cells was maintained in P21 and older mice, Schwann cells did not show B-FABP staining at these times. Parallel development of satellite cells and cholinergic perikarya in the cardiac ganglia and the increase in abundance of Schwann cells and varicose cholinergic nerve fibers in the atria suggest that neuronal-glial interactions could be important for development of the parasympathetic nervous system in the heart.
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The spontaneously epileptic rat (SER) is a double mutant (zi/zi, tm/tm) which begins to exhibit tonic convulsions and absence seizures after 6 weeks of age, and repetitive tonic seizures over time induce sclerosis-like changes in SER hippocampus with high brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. Levetiracetam, which binds to synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A), inhibited both tonic convulsions and absence seizures in SERs. We studied SER brains histologically and immunohistochemically after verification by electroencephalography (EEG), as SERs exhibit seizure-related alterations in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. ⋯ The extent of low SV2A expression/distribution in SERs was particularly remarkable in the frontal (51% of control) and entorhinal cortices (47%). Lower synaptotagmin-1 expression (vs Wistar rats) was located in the frontal (31%), piriform (13%) and entorhinal (39%) cortices, and IML of the DG (38%) in SER. Focal low distribution of synaptotagmin-1 accompanying low SV2A expression may contribute to epileptogenesis and seizure propagation in SER.