Progress in neurobiology
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Progress in neurobiology · May 2004
ReviewMotor rehabilitation and brain plasticity after hemiparetic stroke.
This review intends to begin to build a bridge between our understanding of the effect of motor rehabilitation and brain plasticity on recovery after hemiparetic stroke. It discusses the impact of intensive post-stroke motor rehabilitation on motor recovery. ⋯ These discussions lead to a descriptive review of human brain mapping studies that have begun to provide an understanding of the neural basis of rehabilitation-induced gains in motor function after stroke. Finally, it speculates on how a solid understanding of the neural underpinnings of spontaneous and rehabilitation-induced motor recovery will permit brain mapping technologies to be applied toward optimizing post-stroke motor rehabilitation.
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Progress in neurobiology · Feb 2003
ReviewImpact of aging on hippocampal function: plasticity, network dynamics, and cognition.
Aging is associated with specific impairments of learning and memory, some of which are similar to those caused by hippocampal damage. Studies of the effects of aging on hippocampal anatomy, physiology, plasticity, and network dynamics may lead to a better understanding of age-related cognitive deficits. Anatomical and electrophysiological studies indicate that the hippocampus of the aged rat sustains a loss of synapses in the dentate gyrus, a loss of functional synapses in area CA1, a decrease in the NMDA-receptor-mediated response at perforant path synapses onto dentate gyrus granule cells, and an alteration of Ca(2+) regulation in area CA1. ⋯ This shift in the balance of LTP and LTD could, in turn, impair the encoding of memories and enhance the erasure of memories, and therefore contribute to cognitive deficits experienced by many aged mammals. Altered synaptic plasticity may also change the dynamic interactions among cells in hippocampal networks, causing deficits in the storage and retrieval of information about the spatial organization of the environment. Further studies of the aged hippocampus will not only lead to treatments for age-related cognitive impairments, but may also clarify the mechanisms of learning in adult mammals.
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Progress in neurobiology · Dec 2002
ReviewRemyelinating strategies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Demyelination is the pathological hallmark of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. The concept of remyelination has gained acceptance in recent years, but naturally occurring remyelination is incomplete. To improve repair processes, a number of strategies have been explored experimentally and clinical trials are being carried out. ⋯ Many other cell types are being studied experimentally, including stem cells. Despite the ethical problems associated with an embryonic cell source, new developments in stem cell biology indicate that adult stem cells or bone marrow-derived cells may substitute for embryonic cells in the future. In this review, we describe the current views on oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and remyelination, and focus on recent developments leading to reconstructing, remyelinating strategies in MS.
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Progress in neurobiology · Dec 2001
ReviewPerception and memory in neuroscience: a conceptual analysis.
Neuroscientists, in the last half of the 20th century, provided major insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with seeing and remembering. We first identify some of the most important of these discoveries. This is done along lines familiar to neuroscientists who have read many of the recent books and reviews that provide an overview of neuroscientific discoveries. ⋯ This requires a conceptual analysis of a kind that is unfamiliar to most neuroscientists. Our analysis begins with consideration of the conceptual confusions that ensue when neuroscientists attribute seeing, remembering and other psychological attributes to the brain rather than to the creature whose brain it is. Subsequently, we outline what we take to be the appropriate conceptual scheme for neuroscientists to adopt.
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Single or double-level compression of the lumbosacral nerve roots located in the dural sac results in a polyradicular symptomatology clinically diagnosed as cauda equina syndrome. The cauda equina nerve roots provide the sensory and motor innervation of most of the lower extremities, the pelvic floor and the sphincters. Therefore, in a fully developed cauda equina syndrome, multiple signs of sensory disorders may appear. ⋯ The involvement of intrinsic spinal cord neurons in the compression-induced cauda equina syndrome includes anterograde, retrograde and transneuronal degeneration in the lumbosacral segments. Prominent changes of NADPH diaphorase exhibiting, Fos-like immunoreactive and heat shock protein HSP72 were detected in the lumbosacral segments in a short-and long-lasting compression of the cauda equina in the dog. Developments in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with back pain, sciatica and with a herniated lumbar disc are mentioned, including many treatment options available.