Behavioural brain research
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Review
Cognitive side effects of cancer therapy demonstrate a functional role for adult neurogenesis.
Cancer therapies frequently result in a spectrum of neurocognitive deficits that include impaired learning, memory, attention and speed of information processing. Damage to dynamic neural progenitor cell populations in the brain are emerging as important etiologic factors. Radiation and chemotherapy-induced damage to neural progenitor populations responsible for adult hippocampal neurogenesis and for maintenance of subcortical white matter integrity are now believed to play major roles in the neurocognitive impairment many cancer survivors experience.
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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a class of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as restricted interests and repetitive behavior. This latter class of symptoms often includes features such as compulsive behaviors and resistance to change. The BTBR T+ tf/J mouse strain has been used as an animal model to investigate the social communication and restricted interest features in ASD. ⋯ BTBR T+ tf/J mice also displayed increased stereotyped repetitive behaviors compared to that of C57BL/6J mice as shown by increased marble burying and grooming behavior. The present findings indicate that BTBR T+ tf/J mice exhibit similar features related to "insistence on sameness" in ASD that include not only stereotyped repetitive behaviors, but also alterations in behavioral flexibility. Thus, BTBR T+ tf/J mice can serve as a model to understand the neural mechanisms underlying alterations in behavioral flexibility, as well as to test potential treatments in alleviating these symptoms.
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Repeated injections of corticosterone (CORT) induce the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in depressive-like behavior. This study aimed to examine the antidepressant-like effect and the possible mechanisms of total glycosides of peony (TGP) in the CORT-induced depression model in rats. The results showed that the 3-week CORT injections induced the significant increase in serum CORT levels in rats. ⋯ Moreover, it was found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein levels in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were significantly decreased in CORT-treated rats. Treatment of the rats with TGP significantly suppressed the depression-like behavior and increased brain BDNF levels in CORT-treated rats. The results suggest that TGP produces an antidepressant-like effect in CORT-treated rats, which is possibly mediated by increasing BDNF expression in the hippocampus and frontal cortex.