Behavioural brain research
-
Trauma induced neuroinflammation plays a key role in the development of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). The blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly specialized endothelial layer, is exquisitely sensitive to inflammatory insults, which can result in numerous neurocognitive syndromes. While brain mast cells are the "first responder" in the injury, the functional interactions between mast cells and the BBB remain poorly understood. ⋯ Disodium cromoglycate (cromolyn)--which acts as a mast cell stabilizer--inhibited this effect. Specifically, cromolyn resulted in ameliorated cognitive ability, decrease of inflammatory cytokines and increase of BBB stability. Taken together, these results suggest that activated mast cells contributed to central nervous system inflammation and cognitive dysfunction by promoting BBB disruption, and interactions between mast cells and the BBB could constitute a new and unique therapeutic target for POCD.
-
Emotional and cognitive dysregulation in major depressive disorder (MDD) have been consistently considered to be attributed to structural and functional abnormalities in affective network (AN) and cognitive control network (CCN). This study was to investigate the functional connectivity (FC) patterns and altered functional interactions between both networks in MDD. We investigated resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in the AN and the CCN in 25 MDD and 35 healthy controls (HC). ⋯ Interestingly, the altered FC between right ACC and left AMG was negatively correlated with depressive symptom score while the altered FC between right ACC and DLPFC was positively correlated the executive function in MDD. The right ACC not only supports the cognitive and emotional processes, but also is an altered functional interaction hub between AN and CCN in MDD. It further suggest multiple sources of dysregulation in AN and CCN implicate both top-down cognitive control and bottom-up emotional expression dysfunction in MDD.