Neuroscience
-
N-acetylserotonin (NAS) is a chemical intermediate in melatonin biosynthesis. NAS and its derivative N-(2-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl) ethyl)-2-oxopiperidine-3-carboxamide (HIOC) are potential therapeutic agents for traumatic brain injury, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, and other diseases. Evidence shows that NAS and its derivative HIOC have neuroprotective properties, and can exert neuroprotective effects by inhibiting oxidative stress, anti-apoptosis, regulating autophagy dysfunction, and anti-inflammatory. In this review, we discussed the neuroprotective effects and related mechanisms of NAS and its derivative HIOC to provide a reference for follow-up research and applications.
-
Abdominal pain in Crohn's disease (CD) has been known to be associated with changes in the central nervous system. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) plays a well-established role in pain processing. However, the role of PAG-related network and the effect of pain on the network in CD remain unclear. ⋯ The pain score was negatively correlated with the FC of the l/vlPAG with the precuneus, angular gyrus and mPFC in CD patients with abdominal pain. This study implicated the disrupt communication between the PAG and the default mode network (DMN). These findings complemented neuroimaging evidence for the pathophysiology of visceral pain in CD patients.
-
This study aimed to explore the neural mechanisms underlying food decision making in unsuccessful restrained eaters (US-REs) and successful restrained eaters (S-REs). During a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, participants were required to choose between pairs of high- and low-calorie foods under the following conditions: the congruent condition (choose between high- and low-calorie foods with the same level of tastiness) and incongruent condition (choose between high-calorie foods tastier than the corresponding low-calorie foods). Subsequently, the participants' diets were monitored for one week. ⋯ Our results suggest that US-REs have a strong reward response to food. Compared to US-REs, S-REs are more guided more by the goal of weight control, and exhibit strong functional connections between the conflict-monitoring and inhibitory-control regions. Therefore, eating enjoyment and weight-control goals influence restrained eating in daily life.
-
Transcranial static magnetic stimulation (tSMS) is known to influence behavioral and neural activities. However, although the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are associated with different cognitive functions, there remains a lack of knowledge on a difference in the effects of tSMS on cognitive performance and related brain activity between left and right DLPFC stimulations. To address this knowledge gap, we examined how differently tSMS over the left and right DLPFC altered working memory performance and electroencephalographic oscillatory responses using a 2-back task, in which subjects monitor a sequence of stimuli and decide whether a presented stimulus matches the stimulus presented two trials previously. ⋯ Our preliminary results revealed that while tSMS over the left and right DLPFC impaired working memory performance to a similar extent, the impacts of tSMS on brain oscillatory responses were different between the left and right DLPFC stimulations. Specifically, tSMS over the left DLPFC increased the event-related synchronization in beta band whereas tSMS over the right DLPFC did not show such an effect. These findings support evidence that the left and right DLPFC play different roles in working memory and suggest that the neural mechanism underlying the impairment of working memory by tSMS can be different between left and right DLPFC stimulations.