Neuroscience
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Eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-ED, are mental illnesses characterized by high morbidity and mortality. While several studies have identified neural deficits in patients with EDs, the cellular and molecular basis of the underlying dysfunction has remained poorly understood. We previously identified a rare missense mutation in the transcription factor estrogen-related receptor alpha (ESRRA) associated with development of EDs. ⋯ Esrra-null female, but not male, mice exhibit altered miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents on medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the ventral striatum, including increased frequency, increased amplitude, and decreased paired pulse ratio. These electrophysiological measures are associated with structural and molecular changes in synapses of MSNs in the ventral striatum, including fewer pre-synaptic glutamatergic vesicles and enhanced GluR1 function. Neuronal Esrra is thus required for maintaining normal synaptic function in the ventral striatum, which may offer mechanistic insights into the behavioral deficits observed in Esrra-null mice.
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Brachial plexus injury (BPI) often involves the complete or partial avulsion of one or more of the cervical nerve roots, which leads to permanent paralysis of the innervated muscles. Reimplantation surgery has been attempted as a clinical treatment for brachial plexus root avulsion but has failed to achieve complete functional recovery. Lithium is a mood stabilizer drug that is used to treat bipolar disorder; however, its effects on spinal cord or peripheral nerve injuries have also been reported. ⋯ An analysis of myelin-associated genes showed that the effects of lithium started during the early phase of remyelination and persisted through the late stage of the process. Efficient remyelination of the regenerated axons in the lithium-treated rats led to an earlier functional recovery. Therefore, we demonstrated that lithium might be a potential clinical treatment for BPI in combination with reimplantation surgery.
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Principles of negative reinforcement learning may play a critical role in the etiology and treatment of depression. We examined the integrity of positive reinforcement learning in congenitally helpless (cH) rats, an animal model of depression, using a random ratio schedule and a devaluation-extinction procedure. Furthermore, we tested whether an antidepressant dose of the monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitor deprenyl would reverse any deficits in positive reinforcement learning. ⋯ Reinforcer motivation as assessed by lever pressing across sessions with progressively decreasing reward probabilities was highest in congenitally non-helpless (cNH, n=10) rats as long as the reward probabilities remained relatively high. cNH compared to wild-type (n=10) rats were also more resistant to extinction across sessions. Compared to saline (n=5), deprenyl (n=5) reduced the duration of immobility of cH rats in the forced swimming test, indicative of antidepressant effects, but did not restore any deficits in the acquisition of a FI 20 schedule. We conclude that positive reinforcement learning was impaired in rats bred for helplessness, possibly due to motivational impairments but not deficits in reward sensitivity, and that deprenyl exerted antidepressant effects but did not reverse the deficits in positive reinforcement learning.