Neuroscience
-
Abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) activates the frontoparietal areas largely overlapping with the working memory (WM) network. Given the critical role of WM in cognition, how to improve WM capability has attracted intensive attention in past years. However, it is still unclear whether WM could be enhanced by AMC training. ⋯ In addition, the n-back task-induced activations in the right frontoparietal circuitry and left occipitotemporal junction (OTJ) declined as a result of training. Notably, the decreases in activity were positively correlated with performance gains across trained participants. These results suggest AMC training not only improves calculating skills but also have the potential to promote individuals' WM capabilities, which is associated with the functional plasticity of the common neural substrates.
-
The dorsomedial striatum (DMS) has been implicated in the acquisition of reward representations, a proposal leading to the hypothesis that it should play a role in situations involving reward loss. We report the results of an experiment in which the effects of DMS excitotoxic lesions were tested in consummatory successive negative contrast (reward devaluation), autoshaping training with partial vs. continuous reinforcement (reward uncertainty), and appetitive extinction (reward omission). Animals with DMS lesions exhibited reduced lever pressing responding, but enhanced goal entries, during partial reinforcement training in autoshaping. ⋯ Thus, DMS lesions selectively affected the behavioral adjustment to a situation involving reward uncertainty, producing a behavioral reorganization according to which goal tracking (goal entries) became predominant at the expense of sign tracking (lever pressing). This pattern of results shows that the function of the DMS in situations involving reward loss is not general, but restricted to reward uncertainty. We suggest that a nonassociative, drive-related process induced by reward uncertainty requires normal output from DMS neurons.
-
Gender Differences of Peripheral Plasma and Liver Metabolic Profiling in APP/PS1 Transgenic AD mice.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive impairment. Currently, there is less knowledge of the involvement of the peripheral biofluid/organ in AD, compared with the central nervous system. In addition, with reported high morbidity in women in particular, it has become very important to explore whether gender difference in the peripheral metabolome is associated with AD. ⋯ Disturbances in AD male mice were milder with depletion of monounsaturated fatty acids. We also observed a higher activity of delta-6-desaturate and suppressed activity of delta-5-desaturate in female mice, whereas inhibited stearoyl-CoA-desaturase in male mice suggested that AD induced by the double mutant genes results in different fatty acids catabolism depending on gender. Our results provide metabolic clues into the peripheral biofluid/organs involved in AD, and we propose that a gender-specific scheme for AD treatment in men and women may be required.
-
Preconditioning can induce a cascade of cellular events leading to neuroprotection against subsequent brain insults. In this study, we investigated the chronic effects of hypoxic preconditioning on spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS), neuronal death, and spatial memory performance in rats subjected to pilocarpine (Pilo)-induced status epilepticus (SE). Rats underwent a short hypoxic episode (7% O2+93% N2; 30min on two consecutive days) preceding a 4-h SE (HSE group). ⋯ Compared to SE group, HSE had increased SE latency, reduced number of rats with SRS, reduced mossy fiber sprouting at 60days, and reduced cell death in the hilus and the CA3 region 1 and 60days after SE. Additionally, HSE rats had better spatial memory performance than SE rats. Our findings indicated that short hypoxic preconditioning preceding SE promotes long-lasting protective effects on neuron survival and spatial memory.
-
Short-term exposure to nicotine induces positive effects in mice, monkeys and humans, including mild euphoria, hyperactivity, and enhanced cognition. However, the underlying neural basis and molecular mechanisms for these effects remain poorly understood. Here, using a video recording system, we find that acute nicotine administration induces locomotor hyperactivity in Drosophila, similar to observations made in higher model organisms. ⋯ Moreover, knockdown of the β1 nicotine acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in dopaminergic neurons abolishes the acute nicotine response only in male flies, while panneural knock-down occurs in both sexes. Taken together, our results reveal that in fruit flies, dopaminergic neurons mediate nicotine-induced acute locomotor hyperactivity in a sexually dimorphic manner, and Drosophila β1 nAChR subunit plays a crucial role in this nicotine response. These findings provide important insights into the molecular and neural basis of acute nicotine effects, and the underlying mechanisms may play conserved roles across species.