Neuroscience
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Long-term motor skill learning has been shown to impact the functional plasticity of the brain. Athletes, as a unique population, exhibit remarkable adaptive changes in the static properties of their brain networks. However, studying the differences between expert and novice athletes using a dynamic brain network framework can provide a fresh perspective on how motor skill learning affects the functional organization of the brain. ⋯ Furthermore, classification analyses demonstrated the critical role played by the visual network in the classification process. In conclusion, our study provides new insights into the dynamic properties of brain networks in expert and novice soccer players, and suggests that reduced integration and increased segregation in the visual network may be neuroimaging marker that distinguish expert soccer players from novices. Our findings may have implications for the training and development of athletes and advance our understanding of how motor skill learning affects brain functional organization.
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The present study is designed to investigate the role of vagus nerve in the treatments of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and the associated central nervous system disorders. ⋯ The intestinal abnormalities and depressive symptoms in IBS rats can be improved by VNS treatment. This positive effect of VNS was achieved through α7nAChR-mediated inflammatory pathway and may also be associated with the decreased of BBB permeability.
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Motor imagery based brain-computer interfaces (MI-BCIs) have excellent application prospects in motor enhancement and rehabilitation. However, MI-induced electroencephalogram features applied to MI-BCI usually vary from person to person. This study aimed to investigate whether the motor ability of the individual upper limbs was associated with these features, which helps understand the causes of inter-subject variability. ⋯ The results demonstrate that hand dexterity and fine motor coordination are significantly related to MI-induced neural activities. In addition, the method of imagining is also relevant to MI features. Therefore, this study is meaningful for understanding individual differences and the design of user-centered MI-BCI.
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Objectively measuring animal behavior is vital to understanding the neural circuits underlying pain. Recent progress in machine vision has presented unprecedented scope in behavioral analysis. Here, we apply DeepLabCut (DLC) to dissect mouse behavior on the thermal-plate test - a commonly used paradigm to ascertain supraspinal contributions to noxious thermal sensation and pain hypersensitivity. ⋯ In this study, we design a novel assay and formulate an analytical pipeline to facilitate the dissection of plasticity mechanisms in pain circuits in the brain. Last, we record and test how activating Tacr1 expressing PBN neurons (PBNTacr1) - a population responsive to sustained noxious stimuli- affects mouse behavior on the thermal plate test. Taken together, we demonstrate that by tracking a single body part of a mouse, we can reveal the behavioral signatures of mice exposed to noxious surface temperatures, report the alterations of the same when injured, and determine if a molecularly and anatomically defined pain-responsive circuit plays a role in the reflexive hypersensitivity to thermal pain.