Neuroscience
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The functions of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and the VEGF receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) in the nervous system are not well known. In this study, we examined the role of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in ischemic preconditioning (IPC)-induced tolerance in the mouse hippocampus. Adult male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to either severe ischemia (SI) induced by 40 min of bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) with or without IPC (5-min BCCAO) or IPC only. ⋯ Moreover, VEGF-C immunoreactivity was also markedly increased, whereas VEGFR-3 expression was sustained in tolerance-acquired CA1 neurons after SI. Application of a VEGFR-3 inhibitor, SAR131675, abolished the IPC-induced neuroprotection in a dose-dependent manner in the mouse hippocampus. These results suggest that VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling is associated with IPC-induced hippocampal tolerance to lethal ischemia.
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Cannabinoids (CBs) have recently been approved to exert broad anti-inflammatory activities in experimental models of multiple sclerosis (MS). It has been demonstrated that these compounds could also have effects on neurodegeneration, demyelination, and autoimmune processes occurring in the pathology of MS. However, the clinical use of CBs is limited by their psychoactive effects. ⋯ This effect of CBD and PEA was accompanied by diminished inflammation, demyelination, axonal damage and inflammatory cytokine expression while concurrent administration of CBD (5mg/kg) and PEA (5mg/kg) was not as effective as treatment with either drug per se. These results suggest that, CBD and PEA, non-psychoactive CBs, attenuate neurobehavioral deficits, histological damage, and inflammatory cytokine expression in MOG-immunized animals. However, there is an antagonistic interaction between CBD and PEA in protection against MOG-induced disease.
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Corticomuscular coherence (CMC) relates to synchronization between activity in the motor cortex and the muscle activity. The strength of CMC can be affected by motor behavior. In a proof-of-principle study, we examined whether independent of motor output parameters, healthy subjects are able to voluntarily modulate CMC in a neurofeedback paradigm. ⋯ The exclusion of confounding factors such as motor performance, attention and task complexity in study design provides evidence that subjects were able to voluntarily modify CMC independent of motor output parameters. Additional analysis further strengthened the assumption that the subjects' response was specifically shaped by the neurofeedback. In perspective, we suggest that CMC-based neurofeedback could provide a therapeutic approach in clinical conditions, such as motor stroke, where CMC is altered.
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Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have suggested that different cerebral regions preferentially process human voice and music. Yet, little is known on the temporal course of the brain processes that decode the category of sounds and how the expertise in one sound category can impact these processes. To address this question, we recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) of 15 musicians and 18 non-musicians while they were listening to short musical excerpts (piano and violin) and vocal stimuli (speech and non-linguistic vocalizations). ⋯ Importantly, this effect was modulated by the musical background of participants, as musicians were more responsive to music sounds than non-musicians, consistent with the notion that musical training increases sensitivity to music. In late temporal windows, brain responses were enhanced in response to vocal stimuli, but musicians were still more responsive to music. These results shed new light on the temporal course of neural dynamics of auditory processing and reveal how it is impacted by the stimulus category and the expertise of participants.
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Research on motor imagery and action observation has become increasingly important in recent years particularly because of its potential benefits for movement rehabilitation and the optimization of athletic performance (Munzert et al., 2009). Motor execution, motor imagery, and action observation have been shown to rely largely on a similar neural network in motor and motor-related cortical areas (Jeannerod, 2001). Given that motor imagery is a covert stage of an action and its characteristics, it has been assumed that modifying the motor task in terms of, for example, effort will impact neural activity. ⋯ This reveals an impact of the imagined and observed force requirements of repetitive movements on CSE. It is concluded that this effect might be due to stronger motor neuron recruitment for motor imagery and action observation with an additional load. That would imply that the modification of motor parameters in movements such as force requirements modulates CSE.