Neuroscience research
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Neuroscience research · Aug 2013
Transcranial direct current stimulation changes human endowment effect.
To test whether the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) plays role in the endowment effect, we investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right IFG on the willingness to accept/willingness to pay (WTA/WTP) discrepancy. Twelve healthy subjects underwent anodal, cathodal and sham tDCS on separate days. Stimulation was applied over the right IFG for 20min at 2mA. ⋯ The results showed that the WTA/WTP ratio after anodal tDCS was significantly higher than that after cathodal one. In addition, we found that the reaction time during the cathodal tDCS condition was significantly longer compared to those during anodal or sham tDCS conditions. Our findings suggest the functional relevance of the right IFG for producing endowment effect.
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Neuroscience research · Aug 2013
Effect of treadmill exercise on the BDNF-mediated pathway in the hippocampus of stressed rats.
A growing body of evidence suggests that exercise enhances hippocampal plasticity and function through BDNF up-regulation, which is potentiated by antidepressant treatment. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms mediating the effect of exercise. The present study investigated the effect of treadmill exercise on PI3K/Akt signaling, which mediates synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of stressed rats. ⋯ Treadmill exercise significantly attenuated the decreased expression of these proteins. Moreover, exercise significantly increased PI3K/Akt signaling in the absence of immobilization stress. These results suggest that treadmill exercise reverses stress-induced changes in the rat hippocampus via an increase in PI3K/Akt signaling and may induce a functional reconnection of hippocampal synapses that mediate antidepressant actions.