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Semin Neurol 2018 Dec 6;38(6):619-626. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.

Posttraumatic headaches are among the most challenging complaints after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). They are a debilitating problem experienced by patients after TBI of all severities. Up to 90% of mild TBI patients experience headache, particularly if female and with a premorbid history of primary headache. Read More

Semin Neurol 2018 Dec 6;38(6):603-607. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.

The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias are a group of distinct primary headache disorders that share common characteristics of strict unilateral headache often accompanied by unilateral cranial autonomic features. Cluster headache is the most well-known example, but other than neurologists, practitioners often have limited familiarity with these disorders and treatment options. Delays in diagnosis are typical and treatment options remain suboptimal, associated with limited scientific research into these brain disorders. Read More

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2018 Dec 6;46(5-6):346-357. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Oslo Delirium Research Group, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Background: Delirium is associated with new-onset dementia, suggesting that delirium pathophysiology involves neuronal injury. Neurofilament light (NFL) is a sensitive biomarker for neuroaxonal injury.

Methods: NFL was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 130), preoperative serum (n = 192), and postoperative serum (n = 280) in hip fracture patients, and in CSF (n = 123) and preoperative serum (n = 134) in cognitively normal older adults undergoing elective surgery. Read More

Neonatology 2018 Dec 6;115(2):182-188. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New

Background: Pre-clinical research, which encompasses studies in animals and in the laboratory, has made significant contributions to the improvement of neonatal outcomes.

Methods: Here, we describe examples of how pre-clinical research can be the starting point on the journey to the development of new interventions to improve neonatal care and outcomes and discuss recent progress in ensuring methodological and ethical rigour in pre-clinical research involving animal models.

Results: Studies in pregnant sheep led to the serendipitous discovery that preterm lambs born after exogenous corticosteroid exposure were able to aerate their lungs. Read More

Transl Oncol 2018 Dec 3;12(2):381-388. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea; Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1, Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-752, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Advanced cancer has been shown to be associated with a higher percentage of epigenetic changes than with genetic mutations. Preclinical models have shown that the combination of paclitaxel, sorafenib, and radiation therapy (RT) plays a crucial role in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of mitochondrial cytochrome c-dependent apoptosis in the mechanism of action of a combination of paclitaxel, sorafenib, and RT in RCC and breast cancer. Read More

Cognition 2018 Dec 3;183:269-276. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Linguistics, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

This cross-modal priming study is one of the first to empirically test the long-held assumption that individual morphemes of multimorphemic words are represented according to a hierarchical structure. The results here support the psychological reality behind this assumption: Recognition of trimorphemic words (e.g. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2018 Nov 26;130(1):111-121. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Department of Linguistics and Languages, McMaster University, Togo Salmon Hall 513, 1280 Main Street, West Hamilton, ON L8S 4M2, Canada; ARiEAL Research Centre, McMaster University, L.R. Wilson Hall, 1280 Main Street, West Hamilton, ON L8S 4M2, Canada; School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, ETB-406, 1280 Main St., West Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada; MaRS Centre, Vector Institute, Canada; McMaster University, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Canada. Electronic address:

Objective: Recent studies demonstrate that sports-related concussions can have negative consequences on long-term brain health. The goal of the present study was to determine whether retired Canadian Football League (CFL) athletes with a history of concussions exhibit alterations in neurocognitive functioning, along with changes in physical, social, and psychological health.

Methods: Our study compared nineteen retired CFL athletes' concussion histories to eighteen healthy age-matched controls with no history of concussion. Read More

Int J Paleopathol 2018 Dec 3;24:197-200. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. Electronic address:

Trauma associated with slaughter is identified occasionally archaeologically in the cranial remains of domesticated animals, with evidence for pole-axing occurring in Europe, especially from the Roman period onwards. The injury typically extends through the frontal bone and sinuses to penetrate the braincase, causing haemorrhage, loss of consciousness, brain damage, and death. Evidence for slaughter methods in the British Neolithic, however, is lacking. Read More

Psychiatry Res 2018 Aug 7;271:306-310. Epub 2018 Aug 7.

Translational Science on Brain Disorders, Department of Health and Behavior, Catholic University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to assess the association between anhedonia and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a well-characterized community sample of individuals with a current depressive episode. This is a cross-sectional study with young adults aged 24-30 years old. Depressive episode and the presence of anhedonia was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview - Plus version (MINI Plus). Read More

J Proteomics 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Institute of Neuroscience and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China; Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China; Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China. Electronic address:

Major depressive disorders impact approximately 17% of the population worldwide, whose high morbidity and considerable adversity have resulted in enormous social and economic burden. In addition, clinically depressed patients often show reduced volume of olfactory bulb (OB) and decreased olfactory sensitivity. Although mounting evidence conveyed that the gut microbiota may implicate the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) via the microbe-gut-brain axis, knowledge about its distinctive molecular mechanism is rudimentary. Read More

Neuroimage 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, 1544 Newton Court, Davis, CA, 95618, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.

The efficacy of cognitive training is controversial, and research progress in the field requires an understanding of factors that promote transfer of training gains and their relationship to changes in brain activity. One such factor may be adaptive task difficulty, as adaptivity is predicted to facilitate more efficient processing by creating a prolonged mismatch between the supply of, and the demand upon, neural resources. To test this hypothesis, we measured behavioral and neural plasticity in fMRI sessions before and after 10 sessions of working memory updating (WMU) training, in which the difficulty of practiced tasks either adaptively increased in response to performance or was fixed. Read More

Neuroimage 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Psychology, Yale University, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, USA; Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, USA.

Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) aims to maximize resolvable information from functional brain scans by considering temporal changes in network structure. Recent work has demonstrated that static, i.e. Read More

Neurosci Lett 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jing Wu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan, 250021, Shandong, China. Electronic address:

Objective: Autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) is a group of inflammatory disorders of the brain. The severity of AIE vary among individuals and it is always a challenge to predict. In this study, we measured the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a novel potential biomarker of inflammatory status in other inflammatory diseases, in AIE patients and evaluated NLR as a biomarker for monitoring AIE progression. Read More

Eur J Pharm Sci 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary. Electronic address:

A new renaissance started in the research and application of cyclodextrins a few years ago. 2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) is used in the formulation of drugs and recently orphan designation was granted for the treatment of Niemann-Pick disease, type C. HPBCD is considered to be safe, but the exact mechanism of action and side effects are not completely explained. Read More

Brain Res Bull 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Encephalopathy, Shaanxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710003, China. Electronic address:

Reticulons (RTNs) are a group of membrane-bound proteins that are dominantly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). RTN1-C, one isoform of RTNs highly expressed in the brain, has been shown to mediate neuronal injury in cerebral ischemia models. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RTN1-C in an in vitro model of Parkinson's disease (PD) mimicked by 1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP) treatment in SN4741 cells. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Biotrial Pharmacology, 7-9 rue Jean-Louis Bertrand, 35042, Rennes, France.

This study aims to investigate the contribution of nigral dopaminergic (DA) cell loss, repeated exposure to DA medication and the combination of both to the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms observed in Parkinson's disease (PD). A bilateral 6-OHDA lesion of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) was performed in rats. A set of animals was repeatedly administered with L-dopa (20 mg/kg/day) and benserazide (5 mg/kg/day) over 10 days starting from day 11 post-lesion. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Program in Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, Tucson, AZ, 85721, United States; Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, Tucson, AZ. 85721, United States; Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Building, Tucson, AZ, 85721, United States. Electronic address:

Dopamine (DA) is an important neuromodulator of motor control across species. In zebra finches, DA levels vary in song nucleus Area X depending upon social context. DA levels are high and song output is less variable when a male finch sings to a female (female directed, FD) compared to when he is singing by himself (undirected, UD). Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:

Early life immune challenges are risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders. In adolescence, they elicit behavioral symptoms that resemble clinical disorders. Stressors during this time may alter signaling from the gut microbiome, which increases the risk for psychiatric disorders. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Developmental Neuropsychobiology Lab, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave NI125, Boston, MA, 02115, United States. Electronic address:

The communicative role of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats is well established, with distinct USVs indicative of different affective states. USVs in the 22 kHz range are typically emitted by adult rats when in anxiety- or fear-provoking situations (e.g. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.

Diminished dopamine D1 stimulation may contribute to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders. However, orthosteric D1 receptor (D1R) agonists produce receptor desensitization and an inverted U-shaped dose-response curve, but positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) do not. We examined the cognitive effects of DETQ, a D1R PAM, in mice genetically modified to express the human D1 receptor ("hD1 mice"). Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Biology and Integrated Bioscience Program, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, 79968, United States.

This study tested the hypotheses that maternal and paternal effects differentially influence expression of their offspring's adult behavior and underlying neural mechanisms. We predicted that maternal influences would be greater than paternal influences on male offspring. We tested these hypotheses by cross-breeding two phenotypically-, behaviorally- and neuroanatomically-distinct populations of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) from Illinois, which are highly prosocial, and Kansas, which are significantly less prosocial. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biology, Hope College, Holland, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI, USA.

Epidemiological data suggest that body mass index and obesity are strong risk factors for depression and anxiety. However, it is difficult to separate cause from effect, as predisposition to obesity may enhance susceptibility to anxiety, or vice versa. Here, we examined the effect of diet and obesity on anxiety-like behaviors in male and female selectively bred obesity-prone and obesity-resistant rats, and outbred Sprague-Dawley rats. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of life sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP 202002, India. Electronic address:

Thiol Protease inhibitors (cystatins) are endogenous natural inhibitors of cysteine proteases. They are present in all mammalians cells and body fluids. Cystatin are allocated into three major families. Read More

Pharmacol Ther 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative review and offer novel insights regarding human research with classic psychedelics (classic hallucinogens), which are 5HT2AR agonists such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, and psilocybin. Classic psychedelics have been administered as sacraments since ancient times. They were of prominent interest within psychiatry and neuroscience in the 1950s to 1960s, and during this time contributed to the emergence of the field of molecular neuroscience. Read More

Antiviral Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Institute for Antiviral Research, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States; Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States; Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Logan, UT, United States. Electronic address:

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a non-polio enterovirus that affects the respiratory system and can cause serious complications, especially in children and older people with weakened immune systems. As an emerging virus, there are no current antiviral therapies or vaccines available. Our goal was to develop a mouse model of human EV-D68 infection that mimicked the disease observed in humans and could be used for evaluation of experimental therapeutics. Read More

Neurotoxicology 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Biology, Neuroscience Program, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington, USA. Electronic address:

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in the brain are the main controllers of reproduction and reproductive behavior in most vertebrates, and are susceptible to endocrine disruption by different bisphenols. While the endocrine disrupting properties of bisphenol A have been well documented, commonly used analogues such as bisphenol F (BPF) are not as well studied. In this study we examined the effects of early, low-dose, chronic BPF exposure on the development of the GnRH neural system in the zebrafish embryo. Read More

Neuropharmacology 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Program of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, ICBM, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.

A number of pre-clinical studies have shown that brain-generated acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of ethanol, exerts reinforcing effects that promote the acquisition of ethanol intake, while chronic intake maintenance appears to be mediated by alcohol-induced brain neuroinflammation/oxidative stress. Recently, it was described that N-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylmethyl)-2,6-dichlorobenzamide (ALDA-1) activates aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2), enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol-derived acetaldehyde to acetate. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of ALDA-1 on both the acquisition and the maintenance of alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring UChB rats. Read More

Surv Ophthalmol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Wills Eye Hospital , Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia PA.

A 51-year-old woman with a previous history of rheumatoid arthritis experienced painless and progressive visual loss in the left eye for three weeks. Fundus examination revealed optic disc pallor in her left eye. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and orbits showed enhancement of the pachymeninges and hypersignal at the left optic nerve. Read More

Surv Ophthalmol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Associate Professor, Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Surgery, University of Calgary.

A 45-year-old Caucasian woman presented with chronic bilateral, painless, progressive, peripheral vision loss. She was found to have bilateral optic atrophy and non-enhancing multifocal white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed elevated myelin basic protein. Read More

Neuropsychologia 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Center for Brain and Cognition, Department of Technology, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08018, Barcelona, Spain.

Our environment is full of statistical regularities, and we are attuned to learn about these regularities by employing Statistical Learning (SL), a domain-general ability that enables the implicit detection of probabilistic regularities in our surrounding environment. The role of brain connectivity on SL has been previously explored, highlighting the relevance of structural and functional connections between frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices. However, whether SL can induce changes in the functional connections of the resting state brain has yet to be investigated. Read More

Neuropsychologia 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University.

It is well-known that both emotional and motivational events greatly impact our behaviour. Based on previous work on the interplay between these two constructs, the present study aimed to test whether and how concurrent emotion and reward signals interact in terms of their basic valence, when both are equally relevant to the task. To this end, we employed a novel fMRI paradigm in which reward availability was explicitly signalled by positive, neutral, or negative facial expressions (using block-wise instructions). Read More

Exp Neurol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Cellular Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Ischemic stroke is an acute neurodegenerative disease that is extremely devastating to patients, their families and society. Stroke is inadequately treated even with endovascular procedures and reperfusion therapy. Using an extensive translational screening process, we have developed a pleiotropic cytoprotective agent with the potential to positively impact a large population of brain ischemia patients and revolutionize the process used for the development of new drugs to treat complex brain disorders. Read More

Exp Neurol 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA. Electronic address:

Synthetic cathinones, often marketed as 'bath salts', have been reported to induce an excited delirium syndrome with characteristic symptoms such as paranoid, hallucination and even aggression. 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI), is one of the psychoactive ingredients in bath salts. The present study utilized cortical EEG and brain microdialysis in rats to compare the effects of MDPV (0. Read More

Brain Res 2018 Dec 3. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research, Oslo University Hospital, Norway. Electronic address:

The spinal locomotor central pattern generator (CPG) in neonatal mice exhibits diverse output patterns, ranging from sub-rhythmic to multi-rhythmic to fictive locomotion, depending on its general level of excitation and neuromodulatory status (Sharples and Whelan, 2017). We have recently reported that the locomotor CPG in neonatal mice rapidly recovers the ability to produce neurochemically induced fictive locomotion following an upper lumbar spinal cord compression injury (Züchner et al., 2018). Read More

Neuron 2018 Dec;100(5):1241-1251.e7

Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Neural Circuit Laboratories, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Large numbers of brain regions are active during behaviors. A high-resolution, brain-wide activity map could identify brain regions involved in specific behaviors. We have developed functional ultrasound imaging to record whole-brain activity in behaving mice at a resolution of ∼100 μm. Read More

Neuron 2018 Dec;100(5):1025-1027

Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address:

Human neural network development occurs at stages inaccessible to longitudinal monitoring. By transplanting human neurons to the adult mouse brain, recent studies explore human neural circuit formation in realistic cellular and physiological environments, establishing new models for human neurodevelopmental disorders. Read More

Neuron 2018 Dec;100(5):1022-1024

Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Biotech Campus, 9 chemin des Mine 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.

Predictive coding and neural oscillations are two descriptive levels of brain functioning whose overlap is not yet understood. Chao et al. (2018) now show that hierarchical predictive coding is instantiated by asymmetric information channeling in the γ and α/β oscillatory ranges. Read More

Neuron 2018 Dec;100(5):1019-1021

Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; BioX, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address:

In this issue of Neuron, Macé et al. (2018) use whole-brain functional ultrasound imaging in mice to unveil the circuits involved reflexive eye movements. They separated the sensory and motor networks and discovered that certain eye movements robustly suppress the amygdala. Read More

Neuron 2018 Dec;100(5):1010-1012

Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS), Durham, NC 27710, USA. Electronic address:

A key step in excitatory synapse maturation is the switch in AMPA receptor subunit composition to GluA2-containing calcium-impermeable receptors. Now, Blanco-Suarez et al. (2018) demonstrate that astrocyte-secreted chordin-like 1 drives this process, enabling synapse maturation and limiting plasticity. Read More

ACS Chem Neurosci 2018 Dec 6. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Cerebral metabolism alterations influence cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition, and is sensitive to brain injury. In subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients, Fisher scale, Hunt-Hess scale and World Federation of Neurological Societies (WFNS) grading scales evaluating SAH severity are inadequate to predict long-term outcome; therefore, in an effort to determine metabolite pattern disparity and discover corresponding biomarkers, we designed an untargeted CSF metabolomic research covering a board range of metabolites of SAH patients with different severity and outcome. The present study demonstrated SAH altered cerebrospinal fluid metabolome involving carbohydrate, lipid and amino acids metabolism. Read More