Brain Plasticity - Volume 8, issue 2

Authors: Lledo, Pierre-Marie

Article Type: Review Article

Abstract: Understanding the brain is not only intrinsically fascinating to apprehend life’s complexity or to further progress in fundamental biosciences, but it is also highly relevant to increase our well-being since the brain exhibits a power over the body that makes it capable both of triggering illness or facilitating the healing process. Considering the dual role at play by the brain, using ascending and descending pathways to combine information issued from the external world and the internal environment, this review challenges the cerebro-centered vision of the brain. In our daily life, we construct a representation of the outside world by …transforming chemical, pressure changes, and light waves into tastes, smells, touches, sounds and sights. In doing so, we create our experience of the external world by interpreting our senses through a process called exteroception . But to be compelling, this Descartes’ vision of the brain has to be completed by integration of events from inside our body. The way the brain constructs our inner sensations called interoception, is now starting to be unrevealed. As such, brain sciences have undergone, and will undergo, an important revolution, redefining its boundaries beyond the skull to prefer a more holistic vision carried out by the notion of an embodied brain acting as a coincidence detector to combine sensory experiences with corporeal homeostasis. The goal of this review is to highlight some mechanisms by which the brain activity is controlled by internal cues for better prediction. The gut-brain axis is here taken as a canonical example to discuss about the communication between the milieu intérieur and brain functions that shapes how we feel, and how we think. Show more

Keywords: Gut-brain axis, microbiome, plasticity, interoception

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-220142

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 129-132, 2022

Authors: de Assis, Gilmara Gomes | Hoffman, Jay R.

Article Type: Systematic Review

Abstract: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the brain’s most-produced neurotrophin during the lifespan, essentially involved in multiple mechanisms of nervous system development and function. The production/release of BDNF requires multi-stage processing that appears to be regulated at various stages in which the presence of a polymorphism “Val66Met” can exert a critical influence. Aim: To synthesize the knowledge on the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on intracellular processing and function of BDNF. Methods: We performed a systematic review and collected all available studies on the post-translation processes of BDNF, regarding the Val66Met polymorphism. Searches were performed up to 21st …March 2021. Results: Out of 129 eligible papers, 18 studies addressed or had findings relating to BDNF post-translation processes and were included in this review. Discussion: Compilation of experimental findings reveals that the Val66Met polymorphism affects BDNF function by slightly altering the processing, distribution, and regulated release of BDNF. Regarding the critical role of pro-BDNF as a pro-apoptotic factor, such alteration might represent a risk for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders. Show more

Keywords: Val66Met polymorphism, pro-BDNF cleavage, Post-translation, BDNF secretion, Brain development, Neuroplasticity

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-210132

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 133-142, 2022

Authors: Rashid, Mohammad Abdur | Oliveros, Alfredo | Kim, Yu Shin | Jang, Mi-Hyeon

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Background: Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is a neurotoxic side effect of chemotherapy that has yet to have an effective treatment. Objective: Using cisplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy together with excitatory cortical neurons derived from human induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) to model of CICI, our recent study demonstrated that dysregulation of brain NAD+ metabolism contributes to cisplatin-induced impairments in neurogenesis and cognitive function, which was prevented by administration of the NAD+ precursor, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN). However, it remains unclear how cisplatin causes neurogenic dysfunction and the mechanism by which NMN prevents cisplatin-induced cognitive impairment. Given that mitochondrial dysfunction …is thought to play a prominent role in age-related neurodegenerative disease and chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity, we sought to explore if NMN prevents chemotherapy-related neurotoxicity by attenuating cisplatin-induced mitochondrial damage. Results: We demonstrate that cisplatin induces neuronal DNA damage, increases generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreases ATP production, all of which are indicative of oxidative DNA damage and mitochondrial functional defects. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that cisplatin caused loss of cristae membrane integrity and matrix swelling in human cortical neurons. Notably, pretreatment with NMN prevents cisplatin-induced defects in mitochondria of human cortical neurons. Conclusion: Our results suggest that increased mitochondrial oxidative stress and functional defects play key roles in cisplatin-induced neurotoxicity. Thus, NMN may be an effective therapeutic strategy to prevent cisplatin-induced deleterious effects on mitochondria, making this organelle a key factor in amelioration of cisplatin-induced cognitive impairments. Show more

Keywords: Cisplatin, chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, chemobrain, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), nicotinamide mononucleotide, mitochondria

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-220143

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 143-152, 2022

Authors: Barnes, Jill N. | Burns, Jeffrey M. | Bamman, Marcas M. | Billinger, Sandra A. | Bodine, Sue C. | Booth, Frank W. | Brassard, Patrice | Clemons, Tameka A. | Fadel, Paul J. | Geiger, Paige C. | Gujral, Swathi | Haus, Jacob M. | Kanoski, Scott E. | Miller, Benjamin F. | Morris, Jill K. | O’Connell, Kristin M.S. | Poole, David C. | Sandoval, Darleen A. | Smith, J. Carson | Swerdlow, Russell H. | Whitehead, Shawn N. | Vidoni, Eric D. | van Praag, Henriette

Article Type: Meeting Report

Abstract: An inaugural workshop supported by “The Leo and Anne Albert Charitable Trust,” was held October 4–7, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona, to focus on the effects of exercise on the brain and to discuss how physical activity may prevent or delay the onset of aging-related neurodegenerative conditions. The Scientific Program Committee (led by Dr. Jeff Burns) assembled translational, clinical, and basic scientists who research various aspects of the effects of exercise on the body and brain, with the overall goal of gaining a better understanding as to how to delay or prevent neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, research topics included the links …between cardiorespiratory fitness, the cerebrovasculature, energy metabolism, peripheral organs, and cognitive function, which are all highly relevant to understanding the effects of acute and chronic exercise on the brain. The Albert Trust workshop participants addressed these and related topics, as well as how other lifestyle interventions, such as diet, affect age-related cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. This report provides a synopsis of the presentations and discussions by the participants, and a delineation of the next steps towards advancing our understanding of the effects of exercise on the aging brain. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, exercise, cardiorespiratory fitness, blood vessels, mitochondria, cerebrovasculature, neurotrophins, cognition

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-220146

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 153-168, 2022

Authors: Fang, Evandro F. | Bergersen, Linda Hildegard | Storm-Mathisen, Jon

Article Type: Article Commentary

Abstract:  This is a summary of the 2022 Nansen Neuroscience Lectures. On 10 October 2022, Professors Henriette van Praag and David Gems gave the 2022 Nansen Neuroscience Lectures on the theme “Is ageing inevitable?” in the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, Norway. While van Praag gave a lecture entitled “The benefits of exercise for brain function”, Gems gave the 2nd lecture discussing “What causes ageing? Lessons from The Worm”. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms of ageing will pave the way to the development of future interventions to pre-empt the development of the diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, …of later life. Show more

Keywords: Brain aging, mechanisms of ageing, Fridtjof Nansen

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-220145

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 169-172, 2022

Authors: Sakhare, Ashwin | Stradford, Joy | Ravichandran, Roshan | Deng, Rong | Ruiz, Julissa | Subramanian, Keshav | Suh, Jaymee | Pa, Judy

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/BPL-219002

Citation: Brain Plasticity, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 173-173, 2022