Neuroscience
-
Studies have shown that a certain dose of dexamethasone can improve the survival rate of patients with sepsis, and in sepsis associated encephalopathy (SAE), autophagy plays a regulatory role in brain function. Here, we proved for the first time that small-dose dexamethasone (SdDex) can regulate the autophagy of cerebral cortex neurons in SAE rats and plays a protective role. Cortical neurons were cultured in vitro in a septic microenvironment and a sepsis rat model was established. ⋯ Furthermore, the HdDex group exhibited the most obvious apoptosis. SdDex can regulate autophagy of cortical neurons by inhibiting the mTOR signaling pathway and plays a protective role. Brain damage induced by HdDex may be related to the activation of apoptosis.
-
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a crucial brain region for inhibitory control, an executive function essential for behavioral self-regulation. Recently, inhibitory control has been shown to be important for endurance performance. Improvement in inhibitory control was found following transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the left DLPFC (L-DLPFC). ⋯ Stroop task performance was improved after Real-tDCS as demonstrated by a lower number of errors for incongruent stimuli (p=0.012). TTE was significantly longer following Real-tDCS compared to Sham-tDCS (p=0.029, 17±8 vs 15±8min), with significantly lower HR (p=0.002) and RPE (p<0.001), while no significant difference was found for PAIN (p>0.224). ∆B[La-] was significantly higher at exhaustion in Real-tDCS (p=0.040). Our findings provide preliminary evidence that tDCS with the anodal electrode over the L-DLPFC can improve both inhibitory control and endurance cycling performance in healthy individuals.
-
Extracellular vesicles are lipid bilayer-enclosed extracellular structures. Although the term extracellular vesicles is quite inclusive, it generally refers to exosomes (<200 nm), and microvesicles (~100-1000 nm). Such vesicles are resistant to degradation and can contain proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. ⋯ The influence that such extracellular vesicles might exert on peripheral nerve regeneration is just beginning to be investigated. In the current studies we show that muscle-derived extracellular vesicles significantly influence the anatomical accuracy of motor neuron regeneration in the rat femoral nerve. These findings suggest a basic cellular mechanism by which target end-organs could guide their own reinnervation following nerve injury.