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Neurosurgery 2019 Jan;84(1):E15-E16

Brain Tumor Center Department of Neurosurgery Lenox Hill Hospital Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell New York, New York.

Neurosurgery 2019 Jan;84(1):E13-E14

Department of Neurological Surgery University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Brain 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.

Studies of the same disease often implicate different brain regions, contributing to a perceived reproducibility crisis in neuroimaging. Here, we leverage the normative human brain connectome to test whether seemingly heterogeneous neuroimaging findings localize to connected brain networks. We use neurodegenerative disease, and specifically Alzheimer's disease, as our example as it is one of the diseases that has been studied the most using neuroimaging. Read More

Neurosurgery 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Neurosurgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2018 Dec 5;165:173-181. Epub 2018 Dec 5.

National Center of Mass Spectrometry in Changchun and Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Chemistry and Mass Spectrometry and Chemical Biology Laboratory, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China. Electronic address:

In this study, a novel analysis strategy for progressively targeted screening and characterization of drug ingredients from in vitro to in vivo was proposed based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for comprehensive characterization of in vivo metabolic profile of Polygalae radix (PR). First, an in vitro chemical profile of PR was described with the assistance of UNIFI™ software. The characteristic neutral small molecule losses were summarized to distinguish different chemical structures in the PR extract. Read More

Child Abuse Negl 2018 Dec 11;88:266-274. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, United States.

Background: Evidence-based, patient-specific estimates of abusive head trauma probability can inform physicians' decisions to evaluate, confirm, exclude, and/or report suspected child abuse.

Objective: To derive a clinical prediction rule for pediatric abusive head trauma that incorporates the (positive or negative) predictive contributions of patients' completed skeletal surveys and retinal exams.

Participants And Setting: 500 acutely head-injured children under three years of age hospitalized for intensive care at one of 18 sites between 2010 and 2013. Read More

J Proteomics 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Laboratory of Evolutionary and Adaptive Physiology - Institute of Life, Earth and Environment - University of Namur, 61 Rue de Bruxelles, B5000 Namur, Belgium.

Early-life represents a critically sensitive window to endocrine disrupting chemicals, potentially leading to long-term repercussions on the phenotype later in life. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, referred to as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), are still poorly understood. To gain molecular understanding of these effects, we exposed mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus) for 28 days post hatching (dph) to 4 and 120 ng/L 17-α-ethinylestradiol, a model xenoestrogen. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

University of Saskatchewan, Department of Physiology, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.

Abnormalities in social behavior are a co-morbid symptom of idiopathic generalized epilepsies such as childhood absence epilepsy. The Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS) model is a spontaneously occurring absence epilepsy phenotype closely correlated to that of human absence epilepsies. Similar to the human conditions, GAERS display social abnormalities. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR. United States. Electronic address:

Sensory gating, the ability to suppress sensory information of irrelevant stimuli, is affected in several neuropsychiatric diseases, notably schizophrenia and autism. It is currently unclear how these deficits interact with other hallmark symptoms of these disorders, such as social withdrawal and difficulty with interpersonal relationships. The highly affiliative prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) may be an ideal model organism to study the neurobiology underlying social behavior. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

J.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind & Behavior, and Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA.

Although scientific research using mammalian models has made great strides in uncovering the enigmatic neural and molecular mechanisms orchestrating the state of drug addiction, a complete understanding has thus far eluded researchers. The complexity of the task has led to the use of invertebrate model systems to complement the research of drug-induced reward in mammalian systems. Invertebrates, such as crayfish, offer excellent model systems to help reveal the underlying mechanisms of drug addiction as they retain the ancestral neural reward circuit that is evolutionarily conserved across taxa, and they possess relatively few, large neurons, laid out in an accessible, modularly organized nervous system. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

The Brain and Muscle Energy Group, Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Oral Biology, University of Oslo, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway; Synaptic Neurochemistry and Amino Acid Transporters Labs, Division of Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IMB) and Healthy Brain Ageing Centre (SERTA), University of Oslo, NO-0317 Oslo, Norway; Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark.

The energy deficit hypothesis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggests that low lactate production by brain astrocytes causes the symptoms of the disorder. Astrocytes are the main producers of lactate in the brain; however, skeletal muscles can produce the most lactate in the body. The lactate production by skeletal muscles increases with physical activity, as does the expression of the lactate transporter monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pharmacology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Murcia Institute of Biomedical Research (IMIB), University of Murcia, Spain.

Negative affective aspects of opiate abstinence contribute to the persistence of substance abuse. Importantly, interconnected brain areas involved in aversive motivational processes, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), become activated when animals are confined to withdrawal-paired environments. In the present study, place aversion was elicited in sham and adrenalectomized (ADX) animals by conditioned naloxone-precipitated drug withdrawal following exposure to chronic morphine. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Physiology Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Neuroanesthesia Laboratory, Department of Anesthesiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address:

Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of fluoxetine on morphine-induced analgesia, as well as preventive effects of it on morphine induced tolerance and dependence in mice. We also elucidate the involvement of L-type Ca channels in these phenomena. To induce morphine tolerance, mice were treated with morphine (50 mg/kg) for 3 consecutive days. Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmacological and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address:

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive, disabling neurodegenerative disorder. It has been shown Toll like receptor (TLR) 4-deficient mice protect against MPTP toxicity, suggesting that dopaminergic cell death is TLR4-dependent. The aim of this study was to demonstrate, in an in vivo model of PD, how TLR4 plays its important role in the pathogenesis of PD by using MPTP neurotoxin model (4 × 20 mg/kg, 2 hr apart, i. Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, United States. Electronic address:

Adversity during development is a reliable predictor of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety which are increasingly recognized to have an immune component. We have previously demonstrated that chronic adolescent stress (CAS) in rats leads to depressive-like behavior in adulthood along with long-lasting changes to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and pro-inflammatory cytokine induction in the hippocampus. However, the mechanisms by which CAS promotes hippocampal inflammation are not yet defined. Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Waggoner Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA; Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

Many genes differentially expressed in brain tissue from human alcoholics and animals that have consumed large amounts of alcohol are components of the innate immune toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway. TLRs initiate inflammatory responses via two branches: [1] MyD88-dependent or [2] TRIF-dependent. All TLRs signal through MyD88 except TLR3. Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Waggoner Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA; Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

Although there are sex differences in the effects of alcohol on immune responses, it is unclear if sex differences in immune response can influence drinking behavior. Activation of toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) by polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) produced a rapid proinflammatory response in males that increased alcohol intake over time (Warden et al., 2019). Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Departament de Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Institut de Neurociències, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia, 08193, Spain. Electronic address:

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an extracellular lipid mediator involved in many physiological functions by signaling through six known G-protein-coupled receptors (LPA-LPA). In the central nervous system (CNS), LPA mediates a wide range of effects, including neural progenitor cell physiology, astrocyte and microglia activation, neuronal cell death, axonal retraction, and contributions to pain, schizophrenia and hydrocephalus. We recently reported that LPA-LPA signaling mediates functional deficits and myelin loss after spinal cord injury (SCI). Read More

Brain Behav Immun 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, 37232-2650, USA.

Background: Prenatal life stress exposure is linked to dysregulated immune function and chronic inflammatory disease in offspring, but we know little about its effects on infant immune response during viral infection.

Method: To address this issue, we examined associations between prenatal life stress exposure and infant upper-airway inflammatory markers during acute respiratory infection (ARI) using data from a prospective, population-based birth-cohort study (N=180). Infant inflammation was measured as a continuous latent factor within a structural equation modeling framework using nasal wash concentrations of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α. Read More

Life Sci 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Ein Helwan, Cairo 11795, Egypt. Electronic address:

Aims: Cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R) is a neurovascular disease leading to cerebral damage. It was found that postmenopausal women are liable to more dangerous effects than men at same age in stroke. The objective of this study is to investigate the neuroprotective effect of zeranol against cerebral ischemia reperfusion in ovariectomized rats. Read More

Dev Biol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia. Electronic address:

A neuron's contribution to the information flow within a neural circuit is governed by the structure of its dendritic arbor. The geometry of the dendritic arbor directly determines synaptic density and the size of the receptive field, both of which influence the firing pattern of the neuron. Importantly, the position of individual dendritic branches determines the identity of the neuron's presynaptic partner and thus the nature of the incoming sensory information. Read More

Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether rupture on blood-brain barrier (BBB) can be a pathway for trichlorfon-induced neurotoxic effects, and to investigate its implications on oxidative status, cell viability and brain neurotransmitters in silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen). The BBB permeability was increased in fish exposed for 24 h to 22 mg/L of trichlorfon compared to the control group, as well as in those exposed to 11 and 22 mg/L of trichlorfon for 48 h. Compared to the control group, brain reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxide levels were higher when exposed to 22 mg/L of trichlorfon and 11 and 22 mg/L of trichlorfon after 24 h and 48 h, respectively, while the antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radical levels was lower. Read More

Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Center for Brain Injury & Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration & Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address:

Following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), many patients experience coma - an unresponsive state lacking wakefulness or awareness. Coma rarely lasts more than two weeks, and emergence involves passing through a state of wakefulness without awareness of self or environment. Patients that linger in these Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) undergo clinical assessments of awareness for diagnosis into Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome (no awareness, also called vegetative state) or Minimally Conscious State (periodic increases in awareness). Read More

Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.

Uncertainty is often inevitable in everyday life and can be both stressful and exciting. Given its relevance to psychopathology and wellbeing, recent research has begun to address the brain basis of uncertainty. In the current review we examined whether there are discrete and shared neural signatures for different uncertain contexts. Read More

Brain Res Bull 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Anesthesiology, Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, 442000, China. Electronic address:

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate changes of somatosensory evoked potentials and the effects of decompression timing on spinal cord recovery and evoked potentials by measuring the somatosensory evoked potentials of rats with spinal cord injury at different time points.

Methods: A total of 70 SD rats were divided into the control group (group A) and the experimental group. The experimental groups included group B, C and D according to the severity of spinal cord injury. Read More

Semin Cell Dev Biol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Departamento de Farmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil. Electronic address:

Stroke consists of an abrupt reduction of cerebral blood flow resulting in hypoxia that triggers an excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. After the ischemic process, neural precursor cells present in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle and subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus proliferate and migrate towards the lesion, contributing to the brain repair. The neurogenesis is induced by signal transduction pathways, growth factors, attractive factors for neuroblasts, transcription factors, pro and anti-inflammatory mediators and specific neurotransmissions. Read More

Neuropharmacology 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

CNRS Neurodegenerative Diseases Laboratory (UMR9199), MiRCen, CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses, 18 route du Panorama, 92265, France.

Neuronal Na/K-ATPase is responsible for the maintenance of ionic gradient across plasma membrane. In doing so, in a healthy brain, Na/K-ATPase activity accounts for nearly half of total brain energy consumption. The α3-subunit containing Na/K-ATPase expression is restricted to neurons. Read More

Cell 2018 Dec;175(7):1756-1768.e17

Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Cell Biology, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address:

Irisin is secreted by muscle, increases with exercise, and mediates certain favorable effects of physical activity. In particular, irisin has been shown to have beneficial effects in adipose tissues, brain, and bone. However, the skeletal response to exercise is less clear, and the receptor for irisin has not been identified. Read More

Biol Psychol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK. Electronic address:

The question whether the storage of spatial locations and other non-spatial features in visual working memory (WM) is based on shared or separate processes remains unresolved. We recorded contralateral delay activity (CDA) components as on-line electrophysiological markers of WM maintenance in two tasks where observers had to retain either the colors or locations of sample stimuli. CDA components were elicited both in the Color and in the Location task, and increasing WM load had identical effects on CDA amplitudes, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms. Read More

Exp Gerontol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Unit for Aging Brain and Dementia, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey.

It is not known whether undernutrition causes vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies. The present study aimed to determine whether nutritional status, measured using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scale, and body mass index (BMI) are indicators of lower level serum vitamin B12 and folate in older adults. 1007 outpatients aged 65 years or over were included the study. Read More

J Mol Cell Cardiol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States. Electronic address:

Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal hereditary neurodegenerative disorder, best known for its clinical triad of progressive motor impairment, cognitive deficits and psychiatric disturbances, is caused by CAG-repeat expansion in exon 1 of Huntingtin (HTT). However, in addition to the neurological disease, mutant HTT (mHTT), which is ubiquitously expressed in all tissues, impairs other organ systems. Not surprisingly, cardiovascular dysautonomia as well as the deterioration of circadian rhythms are among the earliest detectable pathophysiological changes in individuals with HD. Read More

Int J Dev Neurosci 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children, Vancouver, Canada. Electronic address:

Aim: The aim of this study was to systematically review evidence about rehabilitation-induced neuroplasticity measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Method: The following databases were searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Two independent reviewers screened articles according to inclusion criteria: (1) peer-review study published in a scientific journal; (2) studies that evaluated a rehabilitation-based intervention; (3) participants aged less than 19 years with a neurodevelopmental disorder; (4) studies that used at least one MRI modality as an outcome measure. Read More

Neuroscience 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Northeastern Univ, Center for Translational NeuroImaging, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address:

The present study was designed to use blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) imaging to "fingerprint" the change in activity in response to oxycodone (OXY) in drug naïve rats before and after repeated exposure to OXY. It was hypothesized that repeated exposure to OXY would initiate adaptive changes in brain organization that would be reflected in an altered response to opioid exposure. Male rats exposed to OXY repeatedly showed conditioned place preference, evidence of drug seeking behavior and putative neuroadaptation. Read More

Hum Pathol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Multinodular and vacuolating neuronal tumor (MVNT) of the cerebrum is a recently recognized rare neuronal tumor, and its pathogenesis is unclear. We analyzed 7 cases of histologically typical MVNT: six were adults [mean age: 43.0years (range: 23-56)] and one was a child (10-year-old). Read More

Pediatr Dev Pathol 2018 Dec 14:1093526618817655. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

1 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.

Alpha thalassemia major is a hemoglobinopathy caused by the inactivation or deletion of all 4 α-globin alleles. We describe a case of α-thalassemia major with atypical ultrasound and neuropathological findings. The mother had her first prenatal visit at 27 4/7 gestational weeks. Read More

J Tissue Eng Regen Med 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Oncology, Old Road Campus Research Building, University of Oxford, UK.

Development of optogenetically controllable human neural network model in three-dimensional (3D) can provide an investigative system that is physiologically relevant or mimic to the human brain. Light-sensitive neurons were generated by transducing channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived neural progenitor cells (Axol) using lentiviruses and cell-type specific promoters. A mixed population of human iPSC-derived cortical neurons, astrocytes and progenitor cells was obtained (Axol-ChR2) upon neural differentiation. Read More

J Vis 2018 Dec;18(13)

German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), University Hospital of Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.

To estimate object speed with respect to the self, retinal signals must be summed with extraretinal signals that encode the speed of eye and head movement. Prior work has shown that differences in perceptual estimates of object speed based on retinal and oculomotor signals lead to biased percepts such as the Aubert-Fleischl phenomenon (AF), in which moving targets appear slower when pursued. During whole-body movement, additional extraretinal signals, such as those from the vestibular system, may be used to transform object speed estimates from a head-centered to a world-centered reference frame. Read More

J Vis 2018 Dec;18(13):10

Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.

Angle perception is an important middle-level visual process, combining line features to generate an integrated shape percept. Previous studies have proposed two theories of angle perception-a combination of lines and a holistic feature following Weber's law. However, both theories failed to explain the dual-peak fluctuations of the just-noticeable difference (JND) across angle sizes. Read More

J Vis 2018 Dec;18(13)

School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.

We previously demonstrated that perceptual learning of Vernier discrimination, when paired with orientation learning at the same retinal location, can transfer completely to untrained locations (Wang, Zhang, Klein, Levi, & Yu, 2014; Zhang, Wang, Klein, Levi, & Yu, 2011). However, Hung and Seitz (2014) reported that the transfer is possible only when Vernier is trained with short staircases, but not with very long staircases. Here we ran two experiments to examine Hung and Seitz's conclusions. Read More

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2018 Dec;59(15):5904-5911

The Gill Center for Biomolecular Science and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States.

Purpose: It has been known for nearly 50 years that cannabis and the psychoactive constituent Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reduce intraocular pressure (IOP). Elevated IOP remains the chief hallmark and therapeutic target for glaucoma, a major cause of blindness. THC likely acts via one of the known cannabinoid-related receptors (CB1, CB2, GPR18, GPR119, GPR55) but this has never been determined explicitly. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0209214. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Research group for Rehabilitation Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Objectives: It is well known that physical activity levels for persons after stroke or acquired brain injuries do not reach existing recommendations. Walking training is highly important since the ability to walk is considered to be a meaningful occupation for most people, and is often reduced after a brain injury. This suggests a need to innovate stroke rehabilitation, so that forms of walking training that are user-friendly and enjoyable can be provided. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0209382. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Kio University, Nara, Japan.

Mechanical and electrical noise stimulation to the body is known to improve the sensorimotor system. This improvement is related to stochastic resonance (SR), a phenomenon described as a "noise benefit" to various sensory and motor systems. The current study investigated the influence of SR on visuomotor temporal integration and hand motor function under delayed visual feedback in healthy young adults. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0209256. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, CEA DRF/I2BM, INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, NeuroSpin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Dyscalculia, a specific learning disability that impacts arithmetical skills, has previously been associated to a deficit in the precision of the system that estimates the approximate number of objects in visual scenes (the so called 'number sense' system). However, because in tasks involving numerosity comparisons dyscalculics' judgements appears disproportionally affected by continuous quantitative dimensions (such as the size of the items), an alternative view linked dyscalculia to a domain-general difficulty in inhibiting task-irrelevant responses. To arbitrate between these views, we evaluated the degree of reciprocal interference between numerical and non-numerical quantitative dimensions in adult dyscalculics and matched controls. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018 Dec 14;12(12):e0006984. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States of America.

Human rabies is an encephalitic disease transmitted by animals infected with lyssaviruses. The most common lyssavirus that causes human infection is rabies virus (RABV), the prototypic member of the genus. The incubation period of RABV in humans varies from few weeks to several months in some instances. Read More

Pediatr Infect Dis J 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch-Institute, Germany.

Background: In August 2015 seventeen neonates with Enterobacter (E.) cloacae colonisation were identified in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Germany. Two developed severe brain abscesses. Read More

Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Objective: To characterize subtle motor signs in children with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the chronic phase of injury.

Design: Fourteen children with moderate (n=6) or severe (n=8) TBI, ages 11-18 years, who had sustained their injury at least 1-year prior to study participation (Range 1-14 years since injury), and 14 matched typically-developing controls were examined using the Physical and Neurological Examination of Subtle Signs (PANESS). To examine the neural correlates of subtle motor signs, measures of total cerebral volume and motor/premotor volume were derived from MRI. Read More

J Craniofac Surg 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing.

Objective: At present, large cranial function area arteriovenous malformation (fAVM) is mainly treated by craniotomy with a high risk of operation and high disability. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the neural intervention technology, fractionated transcatheter arterial embolization (fTAE) may be used to treat the fAVM instead of surgical treatment. However, its effectiveness for treating fAVM has never been explored. Read More

Psychol Aging 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis.

Human activity is structured by goals and subgoals. To understand an everyday activity, a viewer must perceive its goal structure, and viewers may segment activity into units that correspond to perceived goals. In this study, we examined age differences in the ability to perceive hierarchical goal structure in ongoing activity. Read More

J Comp Psychol 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Universite Grenoble Alpes.

Studies on facial attractiveness in human adults, infants, and newborns have consistently reported a visual preference for faces rated as attractive compared with faces rated as unattractive. Biological accounts of facial attractiveness have typically presented such preferences as arising from adaptations for mate choice or as by-products of general sensory bias. In this cross-species study, we examined whether explicit ratings of attractiveness made by human judges would predict implicit visual preferences in other humans and also in rhesus macaques and, if they do, whether such preferences would extend beyond conspecific faces. Read More

ACS Chem Neurosci 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

In an increasingly complex information society, demands for cognitive functioning are growing steadily. In recent years, numerous strategies to augment brain function have been proposed. Evidence for their efficacy (or lack thereof) and side effects has prompted discussions about ethical, societal and medical implications. Read More