Neuroscience
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The assessment of binge ethanol-induced neuronal activation, using c-Fos immunoreactivity (IR) as a marker of neuronal activity, is typically accomplished via forced ethanol exposure, such as intraperitoneal injection or gavage. Neuronal activity using a voluntary binge-like drinking model, such as "drinking-in-the-dark" (DID), has not been thoroughly explored. Additionally, studies assessing ethanol-elicited neuronal activation may or may not involve stereotaxic surgery, which could impact c-Fos IR. ⋯ Relative to water-consuming controls, mice with BECs ≥ 80 mg/dl showed significantly elevated c-Fos IR in several brain regions implicated in neurobiological responses to ethanol. In general, the brain regions exhibiting binge-induced c-Fos IR were the same between studies, though differences were noted, highlighting the need for caution when interpreting ethanol-induced c-Fos IR when subjects have a prior history of surgery. Altogether, these results provide insight into the brain regions that modulate binge-like ethanol intake stemming from DID procedures among animals with and without surgery experience.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a public health problem that causes high mortality and disability worldwide. Secondary brain damage from this type of injury may cause brain edema, blood-brain barrier destruction, and neurological dysfunction. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and play vital roles in maintaining and regulating physiological function. ⋯ Some special miRNAs in blood were used in clinical trials for TBI diagnosis and prognosis prediction. Treatment with miRNA agomirs or antagomirs alleviated the lesion volume and improved neurological deficits post-injury. We review the current progress of miRNA studies in TBI patients and animal models and identify the prospects and difficulties involved in the clinical applications of miRNAs.
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Extensive studies have indicated brain function connectivity abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a lack of longitudinal or cross-sectional research focused on tracking age-related developmental trends of autistic children at an early stage of brain development or based on a relatively large sample. The present study examined brain network changes in a total of 186 children both with and without ASD from 3 to 11 years, an early and key development period when significant changes are expected. ⋯ The main findings of the study were as follows: (1) From the connectivity analysis, several inter-regional synchronizations with reduction were identified in the younger and older ASD groups, and several intra-regional synchronization increases were observed in the older ASD group. (2) From the graph analysis, a reduced clustering coefficient and enhanced mean shortest path length in specific frequencies was observed in children with ASD. (3) Results suggested an age-related decrease of the mean shortest path length in the delta and theta bands in TD children, whereas atypical age-related alteration was observed in the ASD group. In addition, graph measures were correlated with ASD symptom severity in the alpha band. These results demonstrate that abnormal neural communication is already present at the early stages of brain development in autistic children and this may be involved in the behavioral deficits associated with ASD.
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Speech sound disorder (SSD) is common, yet its neurobiology is poorly understood. Recent studies indicate atypical structural and functional anomalies either in one hemisphere or both hemispheres, which might be accompanied by alterations in inter-hemispheric connectivity. Indeed, abnormalities of the corpus callosum - the main fiber tract connecting the two hemispheres - have been linked to speech and language deficits in associated disorders, such as stuttering, dyslexia, aphasia, etc. ⋯ Here, we investigated whether a sample of 18 children with SSD differed in callosal morphology from 18 typically developing children carefully matched for age. Significantly reduced dimensions of the corpus callosum, particularly in the callosal anterior third, were observed in children with SSD. These findings indicating pronounced callosal aberrations in SSD make an important contribution to an understudied field of research and may suggest that SSD is accompanied by atypical lateralization of speech and language function.
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Non-invasive brain stimulation is widely used to investigate and manipulate specific brain functions to broaden knowledge about healthy people, and also to provide for a potential treatment option for people with various psychopathological disorders that do not adequately benefit from traditional treatments. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully investigated yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether we could alter the brain activity during a test for executive functioning. ⋯ Instead, we found a significant increase in deoxygenated hemoglobin [HHb] while performing the control task in the left anodal/right cathodal stimulation group compared to sham. Interestingly, also an influence on the mood of our participants was observed. These results are of importance especially regarding a better understanding of the influence of the dlPFC on the VFT.