Journal of Integrative Neuroscience - Volume 16, issue 4

Authors: Tian, Ji-Sha | Zhai, Qi-Jin | Zhao, Ying | Chen, Rui | Zhao, Lian-Dong

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one of the commonest neural degenerations in an aging population, and has become a global health challenge. 2-(2-benzofuranyl)-2-imidazoline (2-BFI) was reported to effectively improve the neural damage of patients with neuropathological disorders. In the present study, we investigated the effect of 2-BFI on the improvement of antioxidative, inflammation, and apoptosis in AD rats. Sprague-Dawley rats (2 months old, n = 40 ) were used in this study and after injection of A β 1 - 42 into hippocampal CA1 (Cornu Ammonis) region, the rats were given high, moderate …and low dose of 2-BFI though intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection. Then spatial memory and navigation ability were analyzed by Morris water maze. For molecular testing, chemical colorimetry, ELISA and immunoblotting were performed to measure the activities of antioxidative enzymes, the abundance of immune cytokines and expression of apoptotic proteins, respectively. Hematoxylin and Eosin staining were used to analyze the pathological changes. We observed that 2-BFI significantly ameliorated the learning and memory abilities in rat models with AD by dosage treatment, as demonstrated by the shortened learning latency and greater times of travel across the platform quadrant. Additionally, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), were decreased after treatment on 2-BFI with dosage dependency, while the activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) and (GPX) glutathione peroxidase were in turn enhanced, suggesting that 2-BFI could protect the antioxidative enzymes and reduce oxidative stress in the hippocampus. Moreover, the expression of inflammatory factors including TNF-a and IL-1 β were decreased after 2-BFI treatment. Additionally, neuronal apoptosis was also attenuated, as shown by Western blot results. Taken together, the cognitive impairment in AD rats could be significantly improved by 2-BFI in a dose-dependent manner through suppressing oxidant accumulation, inhibition of inflammatory response, thus enhancing neural viability. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, 2-BFI, ROS, inflammatory, apoptosis

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170032

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 385-400, 2017

Authors: Bhatia, Suman | Singh, Phool | Sharma, Prabha

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Hodgkin-Huxley model has been reframed to incorporate the physical parameters of fluid inside the axon. The reframed model comprises of set of partial differential equations containing the physical parameters: density, mass fraction of sodium, potassium and chlorine ions, longitudinal diffusivity of ions and rate of additions of ions along with the temperature. Obtained conduction velocity of 19.5 m / sec at a temperature of 18.5 degree celcius and conduction velocity dependency on temperature within the range 5 to 25 degree celcius are two important results that strongly validate the proposed model. The behavior of all the …physical parameters has been characterized with respect to the action potential. Action potential conduction velocity along with axoplasmic fluid viscosity has been characterized with respect to different temperatures. Longitudinal diffusivity of ions is also quantified. Show more

Keywords: H–H model, diffusivity of ions, axoplasmic fluid viscosity, conduction velocity

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170029

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 401-417, 2017

Authors: Jahromy, Fateme Zareayan | Daliri, Mohammed Reza

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Predicting and decoding the recorded neural activity for visual stimuli is the topic of many studies. This prediction can be made by comparing the model’s responses to different stimuli with the available recorded brain signal. The neural activities can be decoded then by finding the stimulus which has generated the nearest model’s response to the recorded signal. In this study, a model is proposed which can estimate the response of human brain to images from different conceptual categories by inserting the visual stimuli as the model input after filtering by Gabor wavelets. This helped us to find each image’s low …level visual features. Afterward, the extracted image features were applied to the input of a curve fitting neural network. As the output, the range of intracranial field potential was estimated. This was performed separately for each pixel of the image. To evaluate the model’s accuracy, two factors were used, namely the Pearson correlation and Normalized root mean square error. The results show that the proposed model can accurately estimate the brain’s response to conceptual categories To decode the brain’ activity based on the observed semantic category in each test observations by using of the model, we calculated the distance between the recorded signal and the model responses to all stimuli from different categories and assigned the category of the nearest model response to brain’s response in that trial. To this end, a K-nearest neighbors classifier based on Euclidean distance was used. This leaded to a classification accuracy which was significantly higher than chance level. So, the proposed model can be used to decode the activity of the brain in response to the visual stimuli. Show more

Keywords: Brain modeling, Gabor wavelets, neural network, K-nearest neighbors classifier, intracranial field potential

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170028

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 419-428, 2017

Authors: Ke, Ming | Jin, Bixia | Liu, Guangyao | Yang, Xiaoping

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Previous studies suggested that the patients with generalized tonic–clonic seizure had structural abnormalities in the thalamus, cingulated cortex and some other specific brain regions. Concurrently, the abnormality in thalamocortical network and basal ganglia network has been found in idiopathic generalized epilepsy. The cingulated cortex, a nexus of information processing and regulation in human brain, is implicated in the propagation of generalized spike in IGE and the previous studies have suggested that the structural features and functional connectivity of the cingulated cortex have been changed. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the alterations in the cingulated cortex in generalized …tonic–clonic seizure by combining morphological and functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. 19 patients with generalized tonic–clonic seizure and 19 age-and gender-matched healthy controls were involved in the study. The three-dimensional high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired for voxel-based morphometry analysis, two-sample t -test run on the T1-weighted structural images revealed clusters exhibiting significant decreases in grey-matter volume in the generalized tonic–clonic seizure group, located within the cingulated cortex, thalamus, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and cerebellum. The decreased gray matter volume in the cingulated cortex indicating that the cingulated cortex has structural impairments in generalized tonic–clonic seizure patients. The bilateral cingulated cortex, as detected with decreased gray matter volume in patients with generalized tonic–clonic seizure through voxel-based morphometry analysis, was selected as seed regions for functional connectivity analysis. Compared with controls, we found decreased functional connectivity to left anterior cingulated cortex (ROI1) in the cuneus, frontal lobe and precentral gyrus. There was no significant result when seeding at the right anterior cingulum gyrus (ROI2). The results of the ROI3 (left middle cingulum) revealed the significantly decreased functional connectivity in the parietal lobe and frontal lobe. Seeding at the ROI4 (right middle cingulum), decreased functional connectivity showed in the occipital lobe, temporal lobe, frontal lobe. Seeding at the ROI5 (left posterior cingulum), decreased functional connectivity showed in the temporal lobe and frontal lobe. Seeding at the ROI6 (right posterior cingulum), decreased functional connectivity showed in the cuneus and frontal lobe. We did not find any increased functional connectivity of the posterior cingulated cortex (ROI3–ROI6) for the generalized tonic–clonic seizure patients in comparison to the controls (p < 0.001 ). Our findings demonstrated that the abnormalities of the functional connectivity were likely to be related to the decreased gray matter volume in the cingulated cortex. Show more

Keywords: Epilepsy, voxel-based morphometry, cingulated cortex, functional connectivity

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170026

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 429-439, 2017

Authors: Singh, Jyotsna | Singh, Phool | Malik, Vikas

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Parkinson disease alters the information patterns in movement related pathways in brain. Experimental results performed on rats show that the activity patterns changes from single spike activity to mixed burst mode in Parkinson disease. However the cause of this change in activity pattern is not yet completely understood. Subthalamic nucleus is one of the main nuclei involved in the origin of motor dysfunction in Parkinson disease. In this paper, a single compartment conductance based model is considered which focuses on subthalamic nucleus and synaptic input from globus pallidus (external). This model shows highly nonlinear behavior with respect to various intrinsic …parameters. Behavior of model has been presented with the help of activity patterns generated in healthy and Parkinson condition. These patterns have been compared by calculating their correlation coefficient for different values of intrinsic parameters. Results display that the activity patterns are very sensitive to various intrinsic parameters and calcium shows some promising results which provide insights into the motor dysfunction. Show more

Keywords: Spiking patterns, Parkinson disease, dopaminergic neuron, subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus, hyper direct pathways

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170027

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 441-452, 2017

Authors: Bor, Amartuvshin | Nishijo, Muneko | Nishimaru, Hiroshi | Nakamura, Tomoya | Tran, Nghi Ngoc | Van Le, Quang | Takamura, Yusaku | Matsumoto, Jumpei | Nishino, Yoshikazu | Nishijo, Hisao

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Environmental exposure to dioxins, consumption of a high fat diet, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β signaling in the brain affect feeding behavior, which is an important determinant of body growth. In the present study, we investigated the effects of prenatal exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and high fact diet after weaning on body growth and expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptor β in the brain in rat pups. Subjects from the control and dioxin exposure groups were assigned to 1 of 3 different diet groups: standard diet, high fat diet in the juvenile period, or high fat diet in …adulthood. Body weight gain rate in the juvenile high fat diet group and the length gain rate in the adult high fat diet group were greater than the corresponding values in the standard diet group only in male offspring, although the effects of dioxin exposure on growth were not significant. Consumption of a high fat diet decreased platelet-derived growth factor receptor β levels in the amygdala and hippocampus in both sexes compared to control groups, while 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin decreased platelet-derived growth factor receptor platelet-derived growth factor receptor β levels in the amygdala and striatum only in females receiving an high fat diet. Furthermore, platelet-derived growth factor receptor β levels in the hippocampus and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β striatum were inversely correlated with increases in body length, while changes in platelet-derived growth factor receptor β in the amygdala and nucleus accumbens were significantly correlated to body weight gain or body mass index. In conclusion, these findings suggest that these 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and high fat diet-induced changes in body growth and feeding behaviors might be partially mediated by changes in brain platelet-derived growth factor receptor β levels. Show more

Keywords: Emotion, body growth, high fat diet, dioxin, platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, brain, rat offspring

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170025

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 453-470, 2017

Authors: Safari, Roghaiyeh | Tunca, Zeliha | Özerdem, Ayşegül | Ceylan, Deniz | Yalçın, Yaprak | Sakizli, Meral

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor and other neurotrophins have an important role in the development of mental disorders. Here, we aim to assess the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms at potentially regulated regions of GDNF on the severity and functionality of bipolar disorders and GDNF serum levels in bipolar disorder patients and healthy volunteers. Severity and functionality of bipolar disorders were evaluated using the Clinical Global Impression and Global Assessment of Functioning scales in sixty-six bipolar disorder patients. The GDNF serum levels obtained from bipolar disorder patients and healthy volunteers who had reported SNPs information by our group. GAF scales were …lower and GDNF serum levels were higher in bipolar disorder patients with T/A genotype at 5:37812784 and 5:37812782 compared to patients with T/T genotype. There were significant differences in severity and functionality scores, but not in GDNF serum levels, between patients with G/G and G/A genotype of rs62360370 G > A SNP.rs2075680 C > A and rs79669773 T > C SNPs had no effect on bipolar disorder severity and functionality scores and GDNF serum levels. The results suggest that some SNPs of GDNF have potential association with severity and functionality of bipolar disorder. In addition, except two SNPs, none of GDNF SNPs were associated with GDNF serum levels. Show more

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, neurogenomics, single nucleotide polymorphism, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170031

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 471-481, 2017

Authors: El Haj, Mohamad | Antoine, Pascal | Nandrino, Jean Louis

Article Type: Brief Report

Abstract: A body of research has investigated the cognitive and affective features of imagining the future. Our study aimed at extending this research by evaluating expressions that are triggered by future thinking. Participants were asked to remember and to imagine personal events. Both past and future thinking were video-recorded and the recording was later analyzed by a software for facial analysis that detects and classifies basic emotional expressions (i.e., happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted and neutral). The analysis showed more emotional and fewer neutral facial expressions during imagining the future than during remembering the past. These findings mirror a wealth …of psychological research highlighting the emotional valence of future thinking, which has been mainly assessed in this research by subjective methodologies. Our work provides an empirical description of facial expressions that can be triggered by imagining the future. Show more

Keywords: Autobiographical memory, facial expressions, future thinking, imagining the future

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170030

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 483-492, 2017

Authors: Cacha, L.A. | Ali, J. | Rizvi, Z.H. | Yupapin, P.P. | Poznanski, R.R.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Using steady-state electrical properties of non-ohmic dendrite based on cable theory, we derive electrotonic potentials that do not change over time and are localized in space. We hypothesize that clusters of such stationary, local and permanent pulses are the electrical signatures of enduring memories which are imprinted through nonsynaptic plasticity, encoded through epigenetic mechanisms, and decoded through electrotonic processing. We further hypothesize how retrieval of an engram is made possible by integration of these permanently imprinted standing pulses in a neural circuit through neurotransmission in the extracellular space as part of conscious recall that acts as a guiding template in …the reconsolidation of long-term memories through novelty characterized by uncertainty that arises when new fragments of memories reinstate an engram by way of nonsynaptic plasticity that permits its destabilization. Collectively, these findings seem to reinforce this hypothesis that electrotonic processing in non-ohmic dendrites yield insights into permanent electrical signatures that could reflect upon enduring memories as fragments of long-term memory engrams. Show more

Keywords: Cable theory, epigenetic mechanisms, charged proteins, memory engram, electrotonic processing, nonsynaptic diffusion neurotransmission, signaling cascades, nonsynaptic plasticity

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170038

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 493-509, 2017

Article Type: Other

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 511-514, 2017