Neurosciences Commons^™

Attentional Filtering Of Visual Information By Neuronal Ensembles In The Primate Lateral Prefrontal Cortex., Sébastien Tremblay, Florian Pieper, Adam Sachs, Julio Martinez-Trujillo

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The activity of neurons in the primate lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is strongly modulated by visual attention. Such a modulation has mostly been documented by averaging the activity of independently recorded neurons over repeated experimental trials. However, in realistic settings, ensembles of simultaneously active LPFC neurons must generate attentional signals on a single-trial basis, despite the individual and correlated variability of neuronal responses. Whether, under these circumstances, the LPFC can reliably generate attentional signals is unclear. Here, we show that the simultaneous activity of neuronal ensembles in the primate LPFC can be reliably decoded to predict the allocation of attention …

Management Of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations: From Diagnosis To Treatment, Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Nohra Chalouhi, Md, Ameet Chitale, Robert Starke, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Robert H. Rosenwasswer Md, P. M. Jabbour

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

The Piriform, Perirhinal, And Entorhinal Cortex In Seizure Generation., Marta S Vismer, Patrick A Forcelli, Mark D Skopin, Karen Gale, Mohamad Z. Koubeissi

Neurology Faculty Publications

Understanding neural network behavior is essential to shed light on epileptogenesis and seizure propagation. The interconnectivity and plasticity of mammalian limbic and neocortical brain regions provide the substrate for the hypersynchrony and hyperexcitability associated with seizure activity. Recurrent unprovoked seizures are the hallmark of epilepsy, and limbic epilepsy is the most common type of medically-intractable focal epilepsy in adolescents and adults that necessitates surgical evaluation. In this review, we describe the role and relationships among the piriform (PIRC), perirhinal (PRC), and entorhinal cortex (ERC) in seizure-generation and epilepsy. The inherent function, anatomy, and histological composition of these cortical regions are …

Age Related Decline In Memory: Examining The Mediation Effect Of Processing, Executive Functioning And Intelligence In Normal Adults, Jada J. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple mediation analyses that collectively examine the prominent theories of cognitive aging (i.e., Common Cause, Processing, and Executive Decline Hypotheses) along with other cognitive domains that are sensitive to aging are rare. Moreover, having identified that cognition begins to decline as early as 30 years old, few studies have examined the mechanisms that underlie memory change among younger aging individuals. As a result, it is unclear whether relevant mediating variables have been excluded from early research on age-related memory decline, or to what extent rehabilitative strategies are applicable as early interventions for maintaining cognitive functioning into late life.

The present …

Parcellation Scheme For A Spatio-Temporal Atlas Of Fetal Brain Lobe Development, Jasmine Kaidbey

GW Research Days 2015

Introduction

Fetal brain development is a complex and dynamic process. During the third trimester of pregnancy the brain’s surface landscape changes from a smooth layer into a complex canopy with convolutions called gyri. The emergence of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has allowed for in vivo acquisition of high-resolution images of the fetal brain. Although a timeline for the emergence of important gyri exists; we currently lack an in vivo MRI model—or atlas—of the developing brain. Therefore, our objective was to develop a scheme to parcelate the third trimester in vivo fetal brain into lobes, and apply this scheme onto …

Deficits In Audiovisual Speech Perception In Normal Aging Emerge At The Level Of Whole-Word Recognition., Ryan A Stevenson, Caitlin E Nelms, Sarah H Baum, Lilia Zurkovsky, Morgan D Barense, Paul A Newhouse, Mark T Wallace

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Over the next 2 decades, a dramatic shift in the demographics of society will take place, with a rapid growth in the population of older adults. One of the most common complaints with healthy aging is a decreased ability to successfully perceive speech, particularly in noisy environments. In such noisy environments, the presence of visual speech cues (i.e., lip movements) provide striking benefits for speech perception and comprehension, but previous research suggests that older adults gain less from such audiovisual integration than their younger peers. To determine at what processing level these behavioral differences arise in healthy-aging populations, we administered …

Prevalence Of Increases In Functional Connectivity In Visual, Somatosensory And Language Areas In Congenital Blindness., Lizette Heine, Mohamed A Bahri, Carlo Cavaliere, Andrea Soddu, Steven Laureys, Maurice Ptito, Ron Kupers

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

There is ample evidence that congenitally blind individuals rely more strongly on non-visual information compared to sighted controls when interacting with the outside world. Although brain imaging studies indicate that congenitally blind individuals recruit occipital areas when performing various non-visual and cognitive tasks, it remains unclear through which pathways this is accomplished. To address this question, we compared resting state functional connectivity in a group of congenital blind and matched sighted control subjects. We used a seed-based analysis with a priori specified regions-of-interest (ROIs) within visual, somato-sensory, auditory and language areas. Between-group comparisons revealed increased functional connectivity within both the …

Nicotine Receptors Mediating Sensorimotor Gating And Its Enhancement By Systemic Nicotine., Farena Pinnock, Daniel Bosch, Tyler Brown, Nadine Simons, John R Yeomans, Cleusa Deoliveira, Susanne Schmid

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle occurs when intensity stimuli precede stronger startle-inducing stimuli by 10-1000 ms. PPI deficits are found in individuals with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders, and they correlate with other cognitive impairments. Animal research and clinical studies have demonstrated that both PPI and cognitive function can be enhanced by nicotine. PPI has been shown to be mediated, at least in part, by mesopontine cholinergic neurons that project to pontine startle neurons and activate muscarinic and potentially nicotine receptors (nAChRs). The subtypes and anatomical location of nAChRs involved in mediating and modulating PPI remain unresolved. We tested the …

Prolonged In Vivo Retention Of A Cathepsin D Targeted Optical Contrast Agent In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease., Jonatan A Snir, Mojmir Suchy, Keith St Lawrence, Robert H E Hudson, Stephen H Pasternak, Robert Bartha

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

BACKGROUND: Cathepsin D (CatD) is a lysosomal protease that is elevated early in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have previously developed a Targeted contrast agent (CA) to detect CatD activity in vivo, consisting of a magnetic resonance imaging/fluorescent moiety linked to a cell penetrating peptide (CPP) by means of a CatD cleavage site and have demonstrated its uptake in the brain of an AD mouse model.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterize the in vivo retention of a near infra-red fluorescent dye labeled version of this CA.

METHODS: Six adult C57Bl/6 wild-type mice and six adult 5XFAD transgenic …

High-Field Functional Imaging Of Pitch Processing In Auditory Cortex Of The Cat., Blake E. Butler, Amee J Hall, Stephen G Lomber

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The perception of pitch is a widely studied and hotly debated topic in human hearing. Many of these studies combine functional imaging techniques with stimuli designed to disambiguate the percept of pitch from frequency information present in the stimulus. While useful in identifying potential "pitch centres" in cortex, the existence of truly pitch-responsive neurons requires single neuron-level measures that can only be undertaken in animal models. While a number of animals have been shown to be sensitive to pitch, few studies have addressed the location of cortical generators of pitch percepts in non-human models. The current study uses high-field functional …

Automatic Segmentation Of The Hippocampus For Preterm Neonates From Early-In-Life To Term-Equivalent Age., Ting Guo, Julie L Winterburn, Jon Pipitone, Emma G Duerden, Min Tae M Park, Vann Chau, Kenneth J Poskitt, Ruth E Grunau, Anne Synnes, Steven P Miller, M Mallar Chakravarty

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

INTRODUCTION: The hippocampus, a medial temporal lobe structure central to learning and memory, is particularly vulnerable in preterm-born neonates. To date, segmentation of the hippocampus for preterm-born neonates has not yet been performed early-in-life (shortly after birth when clinically stable). The present study focuses on the development and validation of an automatic segmentation protocol that is based on the MAGeT-Brain (Multiple Automatically Generated Templates) algorithm to delineate the hippocampi of preterm neonates on their brain MRIs acquired at not only term-equivalent age but also early-in-life.

METHODS: First, we present a three-step manual segmentation protocol to delineate the hippocampus for preterm …

Are There Right Hemisphere Contributions To Visually-Guided Movement? Manipulating Left Hand Reaction Time Advantages In Dextrals., David P Carey, E Grace Otto-De Haart, Gavin Buckingham, H Chris Dijkerman, Eric L Hargreaves, Melvyn A Goodale

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Many studies have argued for distinct but complementary contributions from each hemisphere in the control of movements to visual targets. Investigators have attempted to extend observations from patients with unilateral left- and right-hemisphere damage, to those using neurologically-intact participants, by assuming that each hand has privileged access to the contralateral hemisphere. Previous attempts to illustrate right hemispheric contributions to the control of aiming have focussed on increasing the spatial demands of an aiming task, to attenuate the typical right hand advantages, to try to enhance a left hand reaction time advantage in right-handed participants. These early attempts have not been …

Stability Of Self-Referent Encoding Task Performance And Associations With Change In Depressive Symptoms From Early To Middle Childhood., Brandon L Goldstein, Elizabeth P Hayden, Daniel N Klein

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Depressed individuals exhibit memory biases on the self-referent encoding task (SRET), such that those with depression exhibit poorer recall of positive, and enhanced recall of negative, trait adjectives (referred to as positive and negative processing biases). However, it is unclear when SRET biases emerge, whether they are stable, and if biases predict, or are predicted by, depressive symptoms. To address this, a community sample of 434 children completed the SRET and a depressive symptoms measure at ages 6 and 9. Negative and positive processing exhibited low, but significant, stability. At ages 6 and 9, depressive symptoms correlated with higher negative, …

Fusion Analysis Of First Episode Depression: Where Brain Shape Deformations Meet Local Composition Of Tissue., Mahdi Ramezani, Purang Abolmaesumi, Amir Tahmasebi, Rachael Bosma, Ryan Tong, Tom Hollenstein, Kate Harkness, Ingrid Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Computational neuroanatomical techniques that are used to evaluate the structural correlates of disorders in the brain typically measure regional differences in gray matter or white matter, or measure regional differences in the deformation fields required to warp individual datasets to a standard space. Our aim in this study was to combine measurements of regional tissue composition and of deformations in order to characterize a particular brain disorder (here, major depressive disorder). We use structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data from young adults in a first episode of depression, and from an age- and sex-matched group of non-depressed individuals, and create …

An Fmri Comparison Of Neural Activity Associated With Recognition Of Familiar Melodies In Younger And Older Adults., Ritu Sikka, Lola L Cuddy, Ingrid S Johnsrude, Ashley D Vanstone

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Several studies of semantic memory in non-musical domains involving recognition of items from long-term memory have shown an age-related shift from the medial temporal lobe structures to the frontal lobe. However, the effects of aging on musical semantic memory remain unexamined. We compared activation associated with recognition of familiar melodies in younger and older adults. Recognition follows successful retrieval from the musical lexicon that comprises a lifetime of learned musical phrases. We used the sparse-sampling technique in fMRI to determine the neural correlates of melody recognition by comparing activation when listening to familiar vs. unfamiliar melodies, and to identify age …

Ego Depletion Interferes With Rule-Defined Category Learning But Not Non-Rule-Defined Category Learning., John P Minda, Rahel Rabi

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Considerable research on category learning has suggested that many cognitive and environmental factors can have a differential effect on the learning of rule-defined (RD) categories as opposed to the learning of non-rule-defined (NRD) categories. Prior research has also suggested that ego depletion can temporarily reduce the capacity for executive functioning and cognitive flexibility. The present study examined whether temporarily reducing participants' executive functioning via a resource depletion manipulation would differentially impact RD and NRD category learning. Participants were either asked to write a story with no restrictions (the control condition), or without using two common letters (the ego depletion condition). …

Evidence Of Distinctive Structural Alterations That Differentiate Adhd Boys With And Without A Comorbid Reading Disability, Dhruman Dilip Goradia

Wayne State University Dissertations

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that often co-occur. Children with ADHD and co-occurring RD (ADHD/+RD) tend to show greater cognitive deficits than children with ADHD alone (ADHD/-RD). However, the extents to which comorbid RD impact structural alteration in children with ADHD have never been investigated. The overall goal of this study was to assess structural alterations in the subcortical, cortical and white matter that may differentiate ADHD/-RD from ADHD/+RD. The general hypothesis was that ADHD/+RD would show extensive alterations in regions implicated in ADHD than ADHD/-RD as well as show additional abnormalities in …

Neural Alterations Influencing Skilled Reading In Adhd: A Task-Based Fmri Study, Brianne Mohl

Wayne State University Dissertations

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous, neurodevelopmental disorder which co-occurs often with Reading Disability (RD). ADHD with and without RD consistently have higher inattentive ratings compared with typically developing controls, with co-occurring ADHD and RD (ADHD/+RD) also demonstrating impaired phonological processing. Accordingly, inattention has been associated with greater phonological impairment, though neither the neural correlates of the co-occurring disorders nor the association are well understood from a functional neuroimaging perspective. The goal was to assess to what extent ADHD/+RD differ from ADHD without RD (ADHD/-RD) and typically developing controls (TDC) in functional activation of attention- and reading-related areas during various …

Genetic Modifiers Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy And Dilated Cardiomyopathy., Andrea Barp, Luca Bello, Luisa Politano, Paola Melacini, Chiara Calore, Eric P. Hoffman, +16 Additional Authors

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major complication and leading cause of death in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). DCM onset is variable, suggesting modifier effects of genetic or environmental factors. We aimed to determine if polymorphisms previously associated with age at loss of independent ambulation (LoA) in DMD (rs28357094 in the SPP1 promoter, rs10880 and the VTTT/IAAM haplotype in LTBP4) also modify DCM onset.

METHODS: A multicentric cohort of 178 DMD patients was genotyped by TaqMan assays. We performed a time-to-event analysis of DCM onset, with age as time variable, and finding of left ventricular ejection fraction < 50% and/or end diastolic volume > 70 mL/m2 as …

Using A Novel Optogenetic Approach To Directly Assess 5-Ht1a Somatodendritic Autoreceptor Function In Response To Chronic Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment, Kelly Marie Mcgregor

Wayne State University Dissertations

Antidepressant drugs are widely used but their mechanism of action remains only partially understood. One leading hypothesis holds that a key effect of chronic treatment with a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) is loss of somatodendritic 5-HT1A receptor-mediated autoinhibition in serotonergic neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). However, technical limitations have prevented direct testing of this hypothesis. In the current study we took advantage of optogenetic strategies to assess the effects of the classic SSRI fluoxetine on 5-HT1A receptor-mediated autoinhibition. We conducted these experiments in mice expressing the light-sensitive ion channel Channelrhodopsin (ChR) in 5-HT neurons to facilitate their …

Neuroscience, Mindreading, And The Courts: The Example Of Pain, Henry T. Greely

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Targeting Methylglyoxal And Ppar Gamma To Alleviate Neuropathic Pain Associated With Type 2 Diabetes, Ryan B. Griggs

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Neuropathic pain affects up to 50% of the 29 million diabetic patients in the United States. Neuropathic pain in diabetes manifests as a disease of the peripheral and central nervous systems. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is far greater than type 1 (90%), yet the overwhelming focus on type 1 models this has left the mechanisms of pain in type 2 diabetes largely unknown. Therefore I aimed to improve the current mechanistic understanding of pain associated with type 2 diabetes using two preclinical rodent models: Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats and db/db mice. In addition, I highlight the translational importance …

Panel 1: Legal And Neuroscientific Perspectives On Chronic Pain, David Seminowicz, Amanda Pustilnik, Stephen Rigg, Andre Davis, Karen D. Davis, Hank Greely

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Panel 2: “Excess” Pain, Hyperalgesia, And The Variability Of Subjective Experience, Amanda Pustilnik, David Seminowicz, Stephen Rigg, Joel Greenspan, Morris Hoffman, Adam Kolber, Michael Pardo

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Panel 3: Chronic Pain, “Psychogenic” Pain, And Emotion, David Seminowicz, Amanda Pustilnik, M. Kaylie Gioioso, Jennifer Chandler, Robert Dinerstein, Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite, Tor D. Wager

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Panel 4: Translational Expectations And Issues: Making It Work In Practice, Amanda Pustilnik, David Seminowicz, M. Kaylie Gioioso, Martha Farah, Nancy Gertner, Stacey Tovino

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Axonal Injury, Biomarker Expression And Mechanical Response In A Rodent Head Impact Acceleration Model, Yan Li

Wayne State University Dissertations

In the United States 1.4 million people sustain traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year, resulting in 235,000 hospitalizations and 50,000 fatalities annually. Traumatic axonal injury (TAI) is a serious outcome of TBI that accounts for 40-50% of hospitalizations due to head injury and one third of the mortality due to TBI, and it is difficult to diagnose and evaluate. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine mechanical injury predictors for TAI and identify potential biomarkers to evaluate TAI.

In this dissertation, a modified Marmarou impact acceleration injury model was developed to allow the monitoring of velocity of the impactor …

Effects Of Aggregated Alpha-Synuclein On Cultured Neuronal Cells, David Freeman

Dissertations

α-synuclein dysregulation is a critical aspect of Parkinson's disease pathology. Recent studies have observed that α-synuclein aggregates are cytotoxic to cells in culture and that this toxicity can be spread between cells. However, the molecular mechanisms governing this cytotoxicity and spread are poorly characterized. Recent studies of viruses and bacteria, which achieve their cytoplasmic entry by rupturing intracellular vesicles, have utilized the redistribution of galectin proteins as a tool to measure vesicle rupture by these organisms. Using this approach, we demonstrate that α-synuclein aggregates can induce the rupture of lysosomes following their endocytosis in neuronal cell lines. This rupture can …

Extended Treatment Window Exists For Improving Sensorimotor Recovery Using Anti-Nogo A Immunotherapy In Adult Rats With Chronic Stroke Deficits, Katherine Marie Podraza

Dissertations

Stroke related death ranks as the fourth most common cause of mortality in the United States. Current therapeutic options following stroke are limited. One potential therapy involves the use of anti-Nogo-A immunotherapy post-stroke. Our laboratory has shown that the administration of this novel treatment results in sensorimotor recovery in adult and aged rats. This therapy has been shown to be efficacious when applied immediately, 24 hours, and 1 week post-stroke in rats with mild to moderate sensorimotor deficits. In addition, recent results suggest that administration of anti-Nogo-A immunotherapy up to 9 weeks after stroke still induces functional recovery and neuroanatomical …

Bracing Of The Trunk And Neck Has A Differential Effect On Head Control During Gait, S. Morrison, D. M. Russell, K. Kelleran, M. L. Walker

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

During gait, the trunk and neck are believed to play an important role in dissipating the transmission of forces from the ground to the head. This attenuation process is important to ensure head control is maintained. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of externally restricting the motion of the trunk and/or neck segments on acceleration patterns of the upper body and head and related trunk muscle activity. Twelve healthy adults performed three walking trials on a flat, straight 65-m walkway, under four different bracing conditions: 1) control-no brace; 2) neck-braced; 3) trunk-braced; and 4) neck-trunk …