Brain research
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Structural sexual dimorphism and asymmetry in human cerebellum have been described in previous research, but results remain inconclusive or even conflicting. In this study, gender differences and hemispheric asymmetries in global and regional human cerebellum gray matter (GM) were estimated in an age-matched sample (n=112) of young Chinese adults. An optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in spatial unbiased infratentorial template (SUIT) space together with an automated atlas-based volumetric approach were performed for mapping regional gray matter (GM) gender-related differences across the entire cerebellum. ⋯ Gender differences in males showed higher leftward asymmetry sparsely within a few lobules and lower rightward asymmetry mainly within lobule Crus II, as compared with females. The acquired detailed morphologic knowledge of normal human cerebellum could establish a baseline for comparison with pathologic changes in the cerebellum. Moreover, our results might help to address controversies in thestudy of sexual dimorphisms and asymmetric patterns in human cerebellum.
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It was recently found that temporary inactivation of the dorsal hippocampus with lidocaine impaired fear memory, whereas temporary inactivation of the ventral hippocampus did not. These site-specific deficits, however, may have resulted from disruption of axonal signals arriving from structures outside of the hippocampus, or from disruption of axons that pass through the hippocampus entirely. This is problematic because the hippocampus receives extensive afferent input from both the amygdala and the septum, which also play very important roles in fear and fear memory. ⋯ However, muscimol inactivation of the ventral hippocampus during an "acquisition" session selectively impaired unconditioned fear behavior, replicating earlier findings with lidocaine, a sodium channel blocker. Because muscimol hyperpolarizes neurons through a post-synaptic, GABA(A) receptor-mediated increase of chloride conductance-whereas lidocaine produces indiscriminate disruption of all axonal signalling-its effects are more likely to be restricted to intrinsic neurons within the area of infusion. These results provide strong evidence that afferent input from brain structures located outside of the hippocampus is not responsible for the differential effects of dorsal and ventral hippocampal inactivation on fear memory.
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Erythropoietin (EPO) promotes functional recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study was designed to investigate whether EPO treatment promotes contralateral corticospinal tract (CST) plasticity in the spinal cord in rats after TBI. Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the right sensorimotor cortex to anterogradely label the CST. ⋯ TBI alone significantly stimulated contralateral CST axon sprouting toward the denervated gray matter of the cervical and lumbar spinal cord; however, EPO treatment further significantly increased the axon sprouting in TBI rats although EPO treatment did not significantly affect axon sprouting in sham animals. The contralesional CST sprouting was highly and positively correlated with sensorimotor recovery after TBI. These data demonstrate that CST fibers originating from the contralesional intact cerebral hemisphere are capable of sprouting into the denervated spinal cord after TBI and EPO treatment, which may at least partially contribute to functional recovery.
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Clinical observations suggest that depressed patients were less sensitive to experimental pain than healthy subjects. However, few animal studies are reported concerning the association of depression and pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) induced depression on the perceived intensity of painful stimulation in rats. ⋯ The results showed that rats exposed to UCMS exhibited significantly higher thermal and mechanical pain thresholds in comparison to the non-depressed controls. In particular, the PWT of the SNL group was restored to nearly normal level after three weeks of UCMS, and even comparable to that of the control group. These results strongly suggest that the depressed subjects have decreased sensitivity to externally applied noxious stimulation, which is consistent with our previous findings.
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The balance between descending inhibition and facilitation is thought to be disturbed in chronic pain states. Increased facilitation by spinally released serotonin has been suggested by demonstration that mechanically evoked neuronal responses of wide dynamic range neurons are inhibited by 5-HT3 receptor antagonists in rats following spinal nerve ligation (SNL) but not sham operation. Despite these physiologic data, the effects of spinal 5-HT3 receptor blockade on behavioral hypersensitivity and neurochemical alterations in spinal serotonergic system have not been thoroughly investigated following spinal nerve ligation in the rat. ⋯ These results do not support anatomic plasticity of descending serotonergic pathways or tonic 5-HT3 receptor activity in maintaining hypersensitivity after nerve injury and in contrast to previous studies fail to demonstrate an anti-hypersensitivity effect of intrathecal injection of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron. Importantly, behavioral measures of mechanical hypersensitivity assess threshold responses whereas physiological studies of mechanically evoked neuronal responses involve application of suprathreshold stimuli. Thus, suprathreshold or more intense stimuli may be necessary to recruit descending serotonergic facilitatory drive required to observe the inhibitory effects of ondansetron on spinal neuronal excitability and behavioral hypersensitivity.