Neuroscience research
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Neuroscience research · Aug 2012
Post-weaning mice fed exclusively milk have deficits in induction of long-term depression in the CA1 hippocampal region and spatial learning and memory.
Previously, we have found that post-weaning mice fed exclusively milk display low-frequency exploratory behavior compared to mice fed a food pellet diet (Ishii et al., 2005a). Because cognitive functions play a key role in animal exploration, in the present study we examined the effect of an exclusively milk formula diet on spatial learning and memory in a water maze and also on induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapse in the hippocampus. ⋯ Despite these functional deficits, adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, which has been proposed to have a causal relationship to spatial memory, was stimulated in milk-fed mice. These result suggest that an exclusively milk formula diet after weaning leads to a stimulation of hippocampal neurogenesis but causes deficits in the induction of LTD in the CA1 hippocampal region and impairment of spatial learning and memory.
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Neuroscience research · May 2012
Salivary α-amylase and cortisol responsiveness following electrical stimulation stress in panic disorder patients.
Psychosocial stress-induced activation of salivary α-amylase (sAA) functions is as a marker of sympathoadrenal medullary system (SAM) activity. However, in contrast to salivary cortisol, sAA has been less extensively studied in panic disorder patients. The present study measured sAA and salivary cortisol levels in patients with panic disorder following electrical stimulation stress. ⋯ In addition, there were no differences in salivary cortisol levels between responder and non-responder groups of patients with panic disorder and control. The sample may not be representative of the general population. These preliminary results suggest that sAA might be useful predictive biological markers of treatment responsiveness in patients with panic disorder.
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Neuroscience research · May 2012
Absence of mechanical hyperalgesia after exercise (delayed onset muscle soreness) in neonatally capsaicin-treated rats.
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) appears with some delay after unaccustomed, strenuous exercise, especially after lengthening contraction (LC). It is characterized by tenderness and movement related pain, namely muscular mechanical hyperalgesia. ⋯ In these animals, LC failed to induce muscular mechanical hyperalgesia. mRNA of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the muscle, which plays a pivotal role in maintaining mechanical hyperalgesia, was upregulated in the capsaicin treated animals similar to the vehicle treated animals. These results demonstrate that C-fiber afferents are essential in transmitting the nociceptive information from exercised muscle in DOMS.
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Neuroscience research · Mar 2012
A novel thermoelectric cooling device using Peltier modules for inducing local hypothermia of the spinal cord: the effect of local electrically controlled cooling for the treatment of spinal cord injuries in conscious rats.
We developed a novel thermoelectric cooling device using Peltier modules for the treatment of spinal cord injury in rats. The extracorporeal electrically cooling component was attached to the aluminum arched plate which was placed on the surface of the spinal cord after the contusion injury in the 11th thoracic spinal cord. During the hypothermic treatment, rats were awake and could move in the cage. Hind limb motor function, evaluated using a BBB scale, in the hypothermic animals (33°C for 48 h) was significantly higher than that in the normothermic animals from 2 weeks to 8 weeks after the injury.
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Neuroscience research · Feb 2012
New method to discriminate sedative and analgesic effects of drugs in the automated formalin test in rats.
We developed an automated technique based on the detection of pain-related behaviours (like licking or biting) and small activities (mostly grooming) in the formalin pain test. By comparing automated and manual scoring, we determined that the interphase score was mostly independent of pain-related behaviours and it was used as an index of sedative events. The non-pain-related behaviours, still present during the second phase, were eliminated in order to visualize only pain-related behaviours. This new method, validated using classical analgesic (morphine) and sedative drugs (diazepam) could be used to discriminate sedative from analgesic effects of pharmacological treatments in the formalin test.