Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Influence Of Beta And Theta Waves As Predictors Of Simple And Complex Reaction Times In Examined Groups Of Judo Athletes During The Vienna Test, Magdalena Pronczuk, Tomasz Chamera, Alicja Markiel, Jerzy Markowski, Jan Pilch, Piotr Żmijewski, Adam Maszczyk

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Introduction: This research aimed to investigate which waves, Theta or Beta, are significant predictors of visual simple and complex reaction times during the Vienna test, using regression modeling. The research material comprised the test results of male judo athletes (n = 24), selected through mixed sampling (purposive and random). The study was conducted in two cycles, differentiated by frequency but with the same duration of EEG biofeedback sessions, in both the control and experimental groups. The first cycle of the study consisted of 15 sessions held every other day. Each training session lasted for 4 minutes. The second series …

Genomic Loci Influence Patterns Of Structural Covariance In The Human Brain, Junhao Wen, Aristeidis Sotiras, Daniel S Marcus, Pamela Lamontagne, John C Morris, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Normal and pathologic neurobiological processes influence brain morphology in coordinated ways that give rise to patterns of structural covariance (PSC) across brain regions and individuals during brain aging and diseases. The genetic underpinnings of these patterns remain largely unknown. We apply a stochastic multivariate factorization method to a diverse population of 50,699 individuals (12 studies and 130 sites) and derive data-driven, multi-scale PSCs of regional brain size. PSCs were significantly correlated with 915 genomic loci in the discovery set, 617 of which are newly identified, and 72% were independently replicated. Key pathways influencing PSCs involve reelin signaling, apoptosis, neurogenesis, and …

Development Of White Matter Fiber Covariance Networks Supports Executive Function In Youth, Joëlle Bagautdinova, Aristeidis Sotiras, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

During adolescence, the brain undergoes extensive changes in white matter structure that support cognition. Data-driven approaches applied to cortical surface properties have led the field to understand brain development as a spatially and temporally coordinated mechanism that follows hierarchically organized gradients of change. Although white matter development also appears asynchronous, previous studies have relied largely on anatomical tract-based atlases, precluding a direct assessment of how white matter structure is spatially and temporally coordinated. Harnessing advances in diffusion modeling and machine learning, we identified 14 data-driven patterns of covarying white matter structure in a large sample of youth. Fiber covariance networks …

Advanced Structural Brain Aging In Preclinical Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer Disease, Peter R Millar, Brian A Gordon, Julie K Wisch, Tammie L.S. Benzinger, Carlos Cruchaga, Jason J Hassenstab, Laura Ibanez, Celeste Karch, Jorge J Llibre-Guerra, John C Morris, Richard J Perrin, Charlene Supnet-Bell, Chengjie Xiong, Randall J Bateman, Beau M Ances, Eric M Mcdade, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: "Brain-predicted age" estimates biological age from complex, nonlinear features in neuroimaging scans. The brain age gap (BAG) between predicted and chronological age is elevated in sporadic Alzheimer disease (AD), but is underexplored in autosomal dominant AD (ADAD), in which AD progression is highly predictable with minimal confounding age-related co-pathology.

METHODS: We modeled BAG in 257 deeply-phenotyped ADAD mutation-carriers and 179 non-carriers from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network using minimally-processed structural MRI scans. We then tested whether BAG differed as a function of mutation and cognitive status, or estimated years until symptom onset, and whether it was associated with established …

Dna Methylation-Based Epigenetic Biomarkers In Cell-Type Deconvolution And Tumor Tissue Of Origin Identification, Ze Zhang

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that regulates gene expression and is essential to establishing and preserving cellular identity. Genome-wide DNA methylation arrays provide a standardized and cost-effective approach to measuring DNA methylation. When combined with a cell-type reference library, DNA methylation measures allow the assessment of underlying cell-type proportions in heterogeneous mixtures. This approach, known as DNA methylation deconvolution or methylation cytometry, offers a standardized and cost-effective method for evaluating cell-type proportions. While this approach has succeeded in discerning cell types in various human tissues like blood, brain, tumors, skin, breast, and buccal swabs, the existing methods have major …

Chromosome 10q2432 Variants Associate With Brain Arterial Diameters In Diverse Populations: A Genome-Wide Association Study, Minghua Liu, Farid Khasiyev, Sanjeev Sariya, Antonio Spagnolo-Allende, Danurys L Sanchez, Howard Andrews, Qiong Yang, Alexa Beiser, Ye Qiao, Emy A Thomas, Jose Rafael Romero, Tatjana Rundek, Adam M Brickman, Jennifer J Manly, Mitchell Sv Elkind, Sudha Seshadri, Christopher Chen, Saima Hilal, Bruce A Wasserman, Giuseppe Tosto, Myriam Fornage, Jose Gutierrez

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Brain arterial diameters (BADs) are novel imaging biomarkers of cerebrovascular disease, cognitive decline, and dementia. Traditional vascular risk factors have been associated with BADs, but whether there may be genetic determinants of BADs is unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The authors studied 4150 participants from 6 geographically diverse population-based cohorts (40% European, 14% African, 22% Hispanic, 24% Asian ancestries). Brain arterial diameters for 13 segments were measured and averaged to obtain a global measure of BADs as well as the posterior and anterior circulations. A genome-wide association study revealed 14 variants at one locus associated with global BAD at genome-wide …

Maternal Diet During Early Gestation Influences Postnatal Taste Activity-Dependent Pruning By Microglia, Chengsan Sun, Shuqiu Zheng, Justin S A Perry, Geoffrey T Norris, Mei Cheng, Fanzhen Kong, Rolf Skyberg, Jianhua Cang, Alev Erisir, Jonathan Kipnis, David L Hill

2020-Current year OA Pubs

A key process in central sensory circuit development involves activity-dependent pruning of exuberant terminals. Here, we studied gustatory terminal field maturation in the postnatal mouse nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) during normal development and in mice where their mothers were fed a low NaCl diet for a limited period soon after conception. Pruning of terminal fields of gustatory nerves in controls involved the complement system and is likely driven by NaCl-elicited taste activity. In contrast, offspring of mothers with an early dietary manipulation failed to prune gustatory terminal fields even though peripheral taste activity developed normally. The ability to …

Identifying Canonical And Replicable Multi-Scale Intrinsic Connectivity Networks In 100k+ Resting-State Fmri Datasets., A Iraji, Z Fu, A Faghiri, M Duda, J Chen, S Rachakonda, T Deramus, P Kochunov, B M Adhikari, A Belger, J M Ford, D H Mathalon, G D Pearlson, S G Potkin, A Preda, J A Turner, T G M Van Erp, J R Bustillo, K Yang, K Ishizuka, A Faria, A Sawa, K Hutchison, E A Osuch, Jean Theberge, C Abbott, B A Mueller, D Zhi, C Zhuo, S Liu, Y Xu, M Salman, J Liu, Y Du, J Sui, T Adali, V D Calhoun

Department of Medicine Publications

Despite the known benefits of data-driven approaches, the lack of approaches for identifying functional neuroimaging patterns that capture both individual variations and inter-subject correspondence limits the clinical utility of rsfMRI and its application to single-subject analyses. Here, using rsfMRI data from over 100k individuals across private and public datasets, we identify replicable multi-spatial-scale canonical intrinsic connectivity network (ICN) templates via the use of multi-model-order independent component analysis (ICA). We also study the feasibility of estimating subject-specific ICNs via spatially constrained ICA. The results show that the subject-level ICN estimations vary as a function of the ICN itself, the data length, …

Neuroimaging-Based Classification Of Ptsd Using Data-Driven Computational Approaches: A Multisite Big Data Study From The Enigma-Pgc Ptsd Consortium., Xi Zhu, Yoojean Kim, Orren Ravid, Xiaofu He, Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, Sigal Zilcha-Mano, Amit Lazarov, Seonjoo Lee, Chadi G Abdallah, Michael Angstadt, Christopher L Averill, C Lexi Baird, Lee A Baugh, Jennifer U Blackford, Jessica Bomyea, Steven E Bruce, Richard A Bryant, Zhihong Cao, Kyle Choi, Josh Cisler, Andrew S Cotton, Judith K Daniels, Nicholas D Davenport, Richard J Davidson, Michael D Debellis, Emily L Dennis, Maria Densmore, Terri Deroon-Cassini, Seth G Disner, Wissam El Hage, Amit Etkin, Negar Fani, Kelene A Fercho, Jacklynn Fitzgerald, Gina L Forster, Jessie L Frijling, Elbert Geuze, Atilla Gonenc, Evan M Gordon, Staci Gruber, Daniel W Grupe, Jeffrey P Guenette, Courtney C Haswell, Ryan J Herringa, Julia Herzog, David Bernd Hofmann, Bobak Hosseini, Anna R Hudson, Ashley A Huggins, Jonathan C Ipser, Neda Jahanshad, Meilin Jia-Richards, Tanja Jovanovic, Milissa L Kaufman, Mitzy Kennis, Anthony King, Philipp Kinzel, Saskia B J Koch, Inga K Koerte, Sheri M Koopowitz, Mayuresh S Korgaonkar, John H Krystal, Ruth Lanius, Christine L Larson, Lauren A M Lebois, Gen Li, Israel Liberzon, Guang Ming Lu, Yifeng Luo, Vincent A Magnotta, Antje Manthey, Adi Maron-Katz, Geoffery May, Katie Mclaughlin, Sven C Mueller, Laura Nawijn, Steven M Nelson, Richard W J Neufeld, Jack B Nitschke, Erin M O'Leary, Bunmi O Olatunji, Miranda Olff, Matthew Peverill, K Luan Phan, Rongfeng Qi, Yann Quidé, Ivan Rektor, Kerry Ressler, Pavel Riha, Marisa Ross, Isabelle M Rosso, Lauren E Salminen, Kelly Sambrook, Christian Schmahl, Martha E Shenton, Margaret Sheridan, Chiahao Shih, Maurizio Sicorello, Anika Sierk, Alan N Simmons, Raluca M Simons, Jeffrey S Simons, Scott R Sponheim, Murray B Stein, Dan J Stein, Jennifer S Stevens, Thomas Straube, Delin Sun, Jean Theberge, Paul M Thompson, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Nic J A Van Der Wee, Steven J A Van Der Werff, Theo G M Van Erp, Sanne J H Van Rooij, Mirjam Van Zuiden, Tim Varkevisser, Dick J Veltman, Robert R J M Vermeiren, Henrik Walter, Li Wang, Xin Wang, Carissa Weis, Sherry Winternitz, Hong Xie, Ye Zhu, Melanie Wall, Yuval Neria, Rajendra A Morey

Department of Medicine Publications

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in data-driven computational approaches have been helpful in devising tools to objectively diagnose psychiatric disorders. However, current machine learning studies limited to small homogeneous samples, different methodologies, and different imaging collection protocols, limit the ability to directly compare and generalize their results. Here we aimed to classify individuals with PTSD versus controls and assess the generalizability using a large heterogeneous brain datasets from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD Working group.

METHODS: We analyzed brain MRI data from 3,477 structural-MRI; 2,495 resting state-fMRI; and 1,952 diffusion-MRI. First, we identified the brain features that best distinguish individuals with PTSD from controls …

Denoising Task-Related Fmri: Balancing Noise Reduction Against Signal Loss, M E Hoeppli, M A Garenfeld, C K Mortensen, H Nahman-Averbuch, C D King, R C Coghill

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Preprocessing fMRI data requires striking a fine balance between conserving signals of interest and removing noise. Typical steps of preprocessing include motion correction, slice timing correction, spatial smoothing, and high-pass filtering. However, these standard steps do not remove many sources of noise. Thus, noise-reduction techniques, for example, CompCor, FIX, and ICA-AROMA have been developed to further improve the ability to draw meaningful conclusions from the data. The ability of these techniques to minimize noise while conserving signals of interest has been tested almost exclusively in resting-state fMRI and, only rarely, in task-related fMRI. Application of noise-reduction techniques to task-related fMRI …

Cognitive, Behavioral, And Circadian Rhythm Interventions For Insomnia Alter Emotional Brain Responses, Jeanne Leerssen, Moji Aghajani, Tom Bresser, Lara Rösler, Anderson M. Winkler, Jessica C. Foster-Dingley, Eus J.W. Van Someren

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background

The highest risk of depression is conveyed by insomnia. This risk can be mitigated by sleep interventions. Understanding brain mechanisms underlying increased emotional stability following insomnia treatment could provide insight relevant to the prevention of depression. Here, we investigated how different sleep interventions alter emotion-related brain activity in people with insomnia at high risk of developing depression.

Methods

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess how the amygdala response to emotional stimuli (negative facial expression) in 122 people with insomnia disorder differed from 36 control subjects and how the amygdala response changed after 6 weeks of either no …

Neuroimaging-Based Classification Of Ptsd Using Data-Driven Computational Approaches: A Multisite Big Data Study From The Enigma-Pgc Ptsd Consortium, Xi Zhu, Evan M Gordon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in data-driven computational approaches have been helpful in devising tools to objectively diagnose psychiatric disorders. However, current machine learning studies limited to small homogeneous samples, different methodologies, and different imaging collection protocols, limit the ability to directly compare and generalize their results. Here we aimed to classify individuals with PTSD versus controls and assess the generalizability using a large heterogeneous brain datasets from the ENIGMA-PGC PTSD Working group.

METHODS: We analyzed brain MRI data from 3,477 structural-MRI; 2,495 resting state-fMRI; and 1,952 diffusion-MRI. First, we identified the brain features that best distinguish individuals with PTSD from controls …

Organ Aging Signatures In The Plasma Proteome Track Health And Disease, Hamilton Se-Hwee Oh, Yun Ju Sung, Lihua Wang, Jigyasha Timsina, Dan Western, Menghan Liu, Pat Kohlfeld, John Budde, Carlos Cruchaga, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Animal studies show aging varies between individuals as well as between organs within an individual

Single-Cell Analysis Of Chromatin Accessibility In The Adult Mouse Brain, Songpeng Zu, Yang Eric Li, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Recent advances in single-cell technologies have led to the discovery of thousands of brain cell types; however, our understanding of the gene regulatory programs in these cell types is far from complete

Denoising Task-Related Fmri: Balancing Noise Reduction Against Signal Loss, M E Hoeppli, M A Garenfeld, C K Mortensen, H Nahman-Averbuch, C D King, R C Coghill

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Preprocessing fMRI data requires striking a fine balance between conserving signals of interest and removing noise. Typical steps of preprocessing include motion correction, slice timing correction, spatial smoothing, and high-pass filtering. However, these standard steps do not remove many sources of noise. Thus, noise-reduction techniques, for example, CompCor, FIX, and ICA-AROMA have been developed to further improve the ability to draw meaningful conclusions from the data. The ability of these techniques to minimize noise while conserving signals of interest has been tested almost exclusively in resting-state fMRI and, only rarely, in task-related fMRI. Application of noise-reduction techniques to task-related fMRI …

Enlarged Perivascular Spaces In Infancy And Autism Diagnosis, Cerebrospinal Fluid Volume, And Later Sleep Problems, Dea Garic, Robert C Mckinstry, Kelly N Botteron, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Perivascular spaces (PVS) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are essential components of the glymphatic system, regulating brain homeostasis and clearing neural waste throughout the lifespan. Enlarged PVS have been implicated in neurological disorders and sleep problems in adults, and excessive CSF volume has been reported in infants who develop autism. Enlarged PVS have not been sufficiently studied longitudinally in infancy or in relation to autism outcomes or CSF volume.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether enlarged PVS are more prevalent in infants who develop autism compared with controls and whether they are associated with trajectories of extra-axial CSF volume (EA-CSF) and sleep …

Characteristic Dynamic Functional Connectivity During Sevoflurane-Induced General Anesthesia, J. Miao, M. Tantawi, Mahdi Alizadeh, Sara Thalheimer, Faezeh Vedaei, Victor Romo, Feroze B. Mohamed, Chengyuan Wu

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

General anesthesia (GA) during surgery is commonly maintained by inhalational sevoflurane. Previous resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) studies have demonstrated suppressed functional connectivity (FC) of the entire brain networks, especially the default mode networks, transitioning from the awake to GA condition. However, accuracy and reliability were limited by previous administration methods (e.g. face mask) and short rs-fMRI scans. Therefore, in this study, a clinical scenario of epilepsy patients undergoing laser interstitial thermal therapy was leveraged to acquire 15 min of rs-fMRI while under general endotracheal anesthesia to maximize the accuracy of sevoflurane level. Nine recruited patients had fMRI acquired during …

Neonatal Brain Mri And Short-Term Outcomes After Acute Provoked Seizures, Yi Li, Renée A Shellhaas, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: We investigated how diagnosis and injury location on neonatal brain MRI following onset of acute provoked seizures was associated with short term outcome.

STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter cohort of neonates with acute provoked seizures enrolled in the Neonatal Seizure Registry. MRIs were centrally evaluated by a neuroradiologist for location of injury and radiologic diagnosis. Clinical outcomes were determined by chart review. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between MRI findings and outcomes.

RESULTS: Among 236 newborns with MRI at median age 4 days (IQR 3-8), 91% had abnormal MRI. Radiologic diagnoses of intracranial hemorrhage (OR 3.2 …

Type 2 Immunity In The Brain And Brain Borders, Tornike Mamuladze, Jonathan Kipnis

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Recent research in neuroimmunology has revolutionized our understanding of the intricate interactions between the immune system and the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS, an "immune-privileged organ", is now known to be intimately connected to the immune system through different cell types and cytokines. While type 2 immune responses have traditionally been associated with allergy and parasitic infections, emerging evidence suggests that these responses also play a crucial role in CNS homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. Type 2 immunity encompasses a delicate interplay among stroma, Th2 cells, innate lymphoid type 2 cells (ILC2s), mast cells, basophils, and the cytokines interleukin (IL)-4, …

Experimentally Induced Active And Quiet Sleep Engage Non-Overlapping Transcriptional Programs In Drosophila, Niki Anthoney, Lucy Tainton-Heap, Hang Luong, Eleni Notaras, Amber B Kewin, Qiongyi Zhao, Trent Perry, Philip Batterham, Paul J Shaw, Bruno Van Swinderen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Sleep in mammals can be broadly classified into two different physiological categories: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep (SWS), and accordingly REM and SWS are thought to achieve a different set of functions. The fruit fly

Investigate The Possibility Of Using Phosphorescence In Clinical Oncology As An Early Prognostic Test In Detecting Brain Carcinogenesis., Yuriy O Vinnyk, Igor A Kryvoruchko, Valeriy V Boyko, Yulia V Ivanova, Svetlana Gramatiuk, Karine Sargsyan

Journal Articles

Phosphorescence is considered one of the non-invasive glioblastoma testing methods based on studying molecular energy and the metabolism of L-tryptophan (Trp) through KP, which provides essential information on regulating immunity and neuronal function. This study aimed to conduct a feasibility study using phosphorescence in clinical oncology as an early prognostic test in detecting Glioblastoma. This study was conducted on 1039 patients who were operated on with follow-up between January 1, 2014, and December 1, 2022, and retrospectively evaluated in participating institutions in Ukraine (the Department of Oncology, Radiation Therapy, Oncosurgery, and Palliative Care at the Kharkiv National Medical University). Method …

Time- And Region-Dependent Blood-Brain Barrier Impairment In A Rat Model Of Organophosphate-Induced Status Epilepticus, Pedro N Bernardino, Brad A Hobson, Sydney L Huddleston, Peter M Andrew, Jeremy A Macmahon, Naomi H Saito, Valerie A Porter, Donald A Bruun, Danielle J Harvey, Joel R Garbow, Angie Gelli, Abhijit J Chaudhari, Pamela J Lein

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Acute organophosphate (OP) intoxication can trigger seizures that progress to status epilepticus (SE), and survivors often develop chronic morbidities, including spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS). The pathogenic mechanisms underlying OP-induced SRS are unknown, but increased BBB permeability is hypothesized to be involved. Previous studies reported BBB leakage following OP-induced SE, but key information regarding time and regional distribution of BBB impairment during the epileptogenic period is missing. To address this data gap, we characterized the spatiotemporal progression of BBB impairment during the first week post-exposure in a rat model of diisopropylfluorophosphate-induced SE, using MRI and albumin immunohistochemistry. Increased BBB permeability, which …

Are You Numb Yet?, Monica Lozano Garcia, Chelsea Erazo Macias, Victoria Cuello, Kelsey Baker

Research Colloquium

Background: Recent research has suggested that after a spinal cord injury (SCI), detrimental reorganization of neural structures favors stronger muscles while inhibiting weaker muscles. Temporary deafferentation (TD) is a technique that uses short-term anesthesia, to inactivate sensation pathways from stronger muscles so that the brain releases inhibition that was placed on weaker muscles, thereby strengthening them. Here, we seek to evaluate when peak TD is achieved to define when strength-building exercises on a weaker muscle should begin.

Methods: 5% lidocaine cream was applied to the right biceps of 7 healthy volunteers. We measured sensation every 15 minutes after …

A Blood Biomarker Test For Brain Amyloid Impacts The Clinical Evaluation Of Cognitive Impairment, Mark Monane, B Joy Snider, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine clinicians' patient selection and result interpretation of a clinically validated mass spectrometry test measuring amyloid beta and ApoE blood biomarkers combined with patient age (PrecivityAD® blood test) in symptomatic patients evaluated for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other causes of cognitive decline.

METHODS: The Quality Improvement and Clinical Utility PrecivityAD Clinician Survey (QUIP I, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05477056) was a prospective, single-arm cohort study among 366 patients evaluated by neurologists and other cognitive specialists. Participants underwent blood biomarker testing and received an amyloid probability score (APS), indicating the likelihood of a positive result …

The Association Of Long-Term Exposure To Criteria Air Pollutants, Fine Particulate Matter Components, And Airborne Trace Metals With Late-Life Brain Amyloid Burden In The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (Aric) Study, Erin E Bennett, Dean F Wong, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest associations between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and outcomes related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Whether a link exists between pollutants and brain amyloid accumulation, a biomarker of AD, is unclear. We assessed whether long-term air pollutant exposures are associated with late-life brain amyloid deposition in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants.

METHODS: We used a chemical transport model with data fusion to estimate ambient concentrations of PM

RESULTS: At PET imaging, eligible participants (N = 318) had a mean age of 78 years, 56% were female, 43% were Black, and 27% had mild cognitive impairment. We …

Spinal Cord Injury: What About The Brain?, Monica Lozano Garcia, Kelsey Baker

Research Symposium

Background: Recent research has suggested that the brain may also undergo neurodegeneration after a spinal cord injury (SCI). Here, we evaluated neurodegeneration in the brain of patients with SCI and related neurodegeneration to rehabilitation performance, spine degeneration, and motor function.

Methods: T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted images of 13 SCI patients and 13 healthy controls were obtained. We evaluated fractional anisotropy in the motor cortex (MC), the sulci in front of the MC, the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), and the cerebral peduncles (CP) in both hemispheres to determine neurodegeneration. Statistical analysis was performed between patients with SCI …

Can Alternative Medical Methods Evoke Neuro-Functional Somatosensory Responses? A Case Study Suggesting Functional Improvement, Alhasn Otaif, Mashan E. Alshammari, Christine G. Gerin

Research Symposium

Somatosensory pathways act as the avenue in transferring information concerning the body and its interaction with the external environment to the brain. We aim to demonstrate that through studying somatosensory, motor cortical and subcortical networks, we can explain functional recovery after stimulations applied as an alternative medical treatment. Those stimulations might have evidenced neural pathways and networks important in recovery of function. Materials and methods: The de-identified medical reports of nine patients with initial presentations of cerebral trauma or stroke inducing paralysis were studied.These included the alternative treatments they received and other available materials such as videos and photographs. Patients …

Methamphetamine-Induced Region-Specific Transcriptomic And Epigenetic Changes In The Brain Of Male Rats, Benpeng Miao, Xiaoyun Xing, Viktoriia Bazylianska, Pamela Madden, Anna Moszczynska, Bo Zhang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Psychostimulant methamphetamine (METH) is neurotoxic to the brain and, therefore, its misuse leads to neurological and psychiatric disorders. The gene regulatory network (GRN) response to neurotoxic METH binge remains unclear in most brain regions. Here we examined the effects of binge METH on the GRN in the nucleus accumbens, dentate gyrus, Ammon's horn, and subventricular zone in male rats. At 24 h after METH, ~16% of genes displayed altered expression and over a quarter of previously open chromatin regions - parts of the genome where genes are typically active - showed shifts in their accessibility. Intriguingly, most changes were unique …

Blockade Of Interferon Signaling Decreases Gut Barrier Integrity And Promotes Severe West Nile Virus Disease, Shih-Ching Lin, Fang R Zhao, Hana Janova, Adrian Gervais, Summer Rucknagel, Kristy O Murray, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Michael S Diamond

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The determinants of severe disease caused by West Nile virus (WNV) and why only ~1% of individuals progress to encephalitis remain poorly understood. Here, we use human and mouse enteroids, and a mouse model of pathogenesis, to explore the capacity of WNV to directly infect gastrointestinal (GI) tract cells and contribute to disease severity. At baseline, WNV poorly infects human and mouse enteroid cultures and enterocytes in mice. However, when STAT1 or type I interferon (IFN) responses are absent, GI tract cells become infected, and this is associated with augmented GI tract and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, accumulation of gut-derived …

Non-Uniform Temporal Scaling Of Developmental Processes In The Mammalian Cortex, Annalisa Paolino, Elizabeth H Haines, Evan J Bailey, Dylan A Black, Ching Moey, Fernando García-Moreno, Linda J Richards, Rodrigo Suárez, Laura R Fenlon

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The time that it takes the brain to develop is highly variable across animals. Although staging systems equate major developmental milestones between mammalian species, it remains unclear how distinct processes of cortical development scale within these timeframes. Here, we compare the timing of cortical development in two mammals of similar size but different developmental pace: eutherian mice and marsupial fat-tailed dunnarts. Our results reveal that the temporal relationship between cell birth and laminar specification aligns to equivalent stages between these species, but that migration and axon extension do not scale uniformly according to the developmental stages, and are relatively more …