Imaging the neural circuitry and chemical control of aggressive motivation

Background  

With the advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in awake animals it is possible to resolve patterns of neuronal activity across the entire brain with high spatial and temporal resolution. Synchronized changes in neuronal activity across multiple brain areas can be viewed as functional neuroanatomical circuits coordinating the thoughts, memories and emotions for particular behaviors. To this end, fMRI in conscious rats combined with 3D computational analysis was used to identifying the putative distributed neural circuit involved in aggressive motivation and how this circuit is affected by drugs that block aggressive behavior.     

Human in vitro reporter model of neuronal development and early differentiation processes

Background  

During developmental and adult neurogenesis, doublecortin is an early neuronal marker expressed when neural stem cells assume a neuronal cell fate. To understand mechanisms involved in early processes of neuronal fate decision, we investigated cell lines for their capacity to induce expression of doublecortin upon neuronal differentiation and develop in vitro reporter models using doublecortin promoter sequences.     

Chinese characters reveal impacts of prior experience on very early stages of perception

Background  

Visual perception is strongly determined by accumulated experience with the world, which has been shown for shape, color, and position perception, in the field of visuomotor learning, and in neural computation. In addition, visual perception is tuned to statistics of natural scenes. Such prior experience is modulated by neuronal top-down control the temporal properties of which had been subject to recent studies. Here, we deal with these temporal properties and address the question how early in time accumulated past experience can modulate visual perception.     

由单幅图像恢复物体三维形状的应用研究

由阴影恢复物体表面形状的方法是计算机三维视觉领域中的一个重要分支。首先给出了利用多幅图像由阴影恢复物体表面三维形状算法的计算结果 ,并进行了详细分析 ,进而提出了针对单幅图像的改进算法 ,包括引入表面光滑约束、边界条件和误差的灰度加权调整等。利用合成图像验证了这种算法的准确性。最后结合实际焊接过程熔池成像特点 ,应用这种算法利用单幅焊接熔池图像成功地获取了焊接熔池表面三维形状     

Imaging cytoplasmic cAMP in mouse brainstem neurons

Background  

cAMP is an ubiquitous second messenger mediating various neuronal functions, often as a consequence of increased intracellular Ca²⁺ levels. While imaging of calcium is commonly used in neuroscience applications, probing for cAMP levels has not yet been performed in living vertebrate neuronal tissue before.     

Sub region-specific modulation of synchronous neuronal burst firing after a kainic acid insult in organotypic hippocampal cultures

Background  

Excitotoxicity occurs in a number of pathogenic states including stroke and epilepsy. The adaptations of neuronal circuits in response to such insults may be expected to play an underlying role in pathogenesis. Synchronous neuronal firing can be induced in isolated hippocampal slices and involves all regions of this structure, thereby providing a measure of circuit activity. The effect of an excitotoxic insult (kainic acid, KA) on Mg²⁺-free-induced synchronized neuronal firing was tested in organotypic hippocampal culture by measuring extracellular field activity in CA1 and CA3.     

Dynamic visualization of membrane-inserted fraction of pHluorin-tagged channels using repetitive acidification technique

Background  

Changes in neuronal excitability, synaptic efficacy and generally in cell signaling often result from insertion of key molecules into plasma membrane (PM). Many of the techniques used for monitoring PM insertion lack either spatial or temporal resolution.     

A ketogenic diet as a potential novel therapeutic intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Background  

The cause of neuronal death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is uncertain but mitochondrial dysfunction may play an important role. Ketones promote mitochondrial energy production and membrane stabilization.     

Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of the morphological development of neurons

Background

The morphological development of neurons is a very complex process involving both genetic and environmental components. Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation are valuable tools in helping us unravel particular aspects of how individual neurons grow their characteristic morphologies and eventually form appropriate networks with each other.

Methods

A variety of mathematical models that consider (1) neurite initiation (2) neurite elongation (3) axon pathfinding, and (4) neurite branching and dendritic shape formation are reviewed. The different mathematical techniques employed are also described.

Results

Some comparison of modelling results with experimental data is made. A critique of different modelling techniques is given, leading to a proposal for a unified modelling environment for models of neuronal development.

Conclusion

A unified mathematical and numerical simulation framework should lead to an expansion of work on models of neuronal development, as has occurred with compartmental models of neuronal electrical activity.

     

Signaling involved in neurite outgrowth of postnatally born subventricular zone neurons in vitro

Background  

Neurite outgrowth is a key process during neuronal migration and differentiation. Complex intracellular signaling is involved in the initiation of neurite protrusion and subsequent elongation. Although, in general many constituents of the machinery involved in this multi-stage process are common for neurons in distinct brain areas, there are notable differences between specific neuronal subtypes.     

Calcium signals can freely cross the nuclear envelope in hippocampal neurons: somatic calcium increases generate nuclear calcium transients

Background  

In hippocampal neurons, nuclear calcium signaling is important for learning- and neuronal survival-associated gene expression. However, it is unknown whether calcium signals generated by neuronal activity at the cell membrane and propagated to the soma can unrestrictedly cross the nuclear envelope to invade the nucleus. The nuclear envelope, which allows ion transit via the nuclear pore complex, may represent a barrier for calcium and has been suggested to insulate the nucleus from activity-induced cytoplasmic calcium transients in some cell types.     

Reelin expression during embryonic development of the pig brain

Background  

Reelin is an extracellular glycoprotein of crucial importance in the developmental organisation of neurons in the mammalian cerebral cortex and other laminated brain regions. The pig possesses a gyrencephalic brain that bears resemblance to the human brain. In order to establish an animal model for neuronal migration disorders in the pig, we have studied the expression pattern and structure of Reelin during pig brain development.     

基于视觉心理学的SFS流形算法研究

通过视觉方法获取形状在科学研究及工程实践中有着重要作用,灰度图像是最容易获取的视觉信息之一。目前由灰度重构的形状(SFS,shape from shading)受到了广泛的关注,但现有的算法稳定性差、效率低,一直阻碍着SFS方法的推广应用。受近期的视觉心理学研究成果的启发,针对SFS问题,从局部分析入手,即:在图像上,在每一灰度极值点附近,根据灰度单调变化的情况,形成一个椭圆形邻域,对应着表面凹凸区;在每一椭圆域上,形状可用抛物面逼近,其参数可由局部辐射度约束求解;整个图像被椭圆形邻域覆盖,这些覆盖可构成一个二维流形;借助于流形上单位分解函数,各局部抛物面粘合在一起,形成光滑的整体形状;总体形状在整幅图像的灰度约束下再进行全局优化,可得到最终的重构结果。给出了初步算例,算法的稳定性和效率均有大幅度提高。     

Adaptation of NS cells growth and differentiation to high-throughput screening-compatible plates

Background  

There is an urgent need of neuronal cell models to be applied to high-throughput screening settings while recapitulating physiological and/or pathological events occurring in the Central Nervous System (CNS). Stem cells offer a great opportunity in this direction since their self renewal capacity allows for large scale expansion. Protocols for directed differentiation also promise to generate populations of biochemically homogenous neuronal progenies. NS (Neural Stem) cells are a novel population of stem cells that undergo symmetric cell division in monolayer and chemically defined media, while remaining highly neurogenic.     

GT1b-induced neurotoxicity is mediated by the Akt/GSK-3/tau signaling pathway but not caspase-3 in mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons

Background  

Gangliosides, sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids exist in mammalian cell membranes particularly neuronal membranes. The trisialoganglioside (GT1b) is one of the major brain gangliosides and acts as an endogenous regulator in the brain. We previously showed GT1b induces mesencephalic dopaminergic (DA) neuronal death, both in vivo and in vitro. We further investigate the underlying mechanisms of GT1b neurotoxicity.     

Midkine,heparin-binding growth factor,blocks kainic acid-induced seizure and neuronal cell death in mouse hippocampus

Background  

Midkine (MK), a member of the heparin-binding growth factor family, which includes MK and pleiotrophin, is known to possess neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties in the central nervous system. Previous studies have shown that MK is an effective neuroprotective agent in reducing retinal degeneration caused by excessive light and decreasing hippocampal neuronal death in ischemic gerbil brain. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether MK acts as an anticonvulsant in kainic acid (KA)-induced seizure in mouse and blocks KA-mediated neuronal cell death in hippocampus.     

Neural stem cells from protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma knockout mice generate an altered neuronal phenotype in culture

Background  

The LAR family Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase sigma (PTPσ) has been implicated in neuroendocrine and neuronal development, and shows strong expression in specific regions within the CNS, including the subventricular zone (SVZ). We established neural stem cell cultures, grown as neurospheres, from the SVZ of PTPσ knockout mice and sibling controls to determine if PTPσ influences the generation and the phenotype of the neuronal, astrocyte and oligodendrocyte cell lineages.     

Polysialylated-neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) in the human trigeminal ganglion and brainstem at prenatal and adult ages

Background  

The polysialylated neuronal cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is considered a marker of developing and migrating neurons and of synaptogenesis in the immature vertebrate nervous system. However, it persists in the mature normal brain in some regions which retain a capability for morphofunctional reorganization throughout life. With the aim of providing information relevant to the potential for dynamic changes of specific neuronal populations in man, this study analyses the immunohistochemical occurrence of PSA-NCAM in the human trigeminal ganglion (TG) and brainstem neuronal populations at prenatal and adult age.     

Response of SI cortex to ipsilateral,contralateral and bilateral flutter stimulation in the cat

Background  

While SII cortex is considered to be the first cortical stage of the pathway that integrates tactile information arising from both sides of the body, SI cortex is generally not considered as a region in which neuronal response is modulated by simultaneous stimulation of bilateral (and mirror-image) skin sites.