Planet Neuroscience

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Journal of Molecular Neuroscience

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

IGF-1 Alleviates Mitochondrial Apoptosis through the GSK3β/NF-κB/NLRP3 Signaling Pathway in LPS-Treated PC-12 Cells

Abstract

Inflammation contributes to mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal apoptosis. The aim of this study was to determine whether insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) alleviates mitochondrial apoptosis in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated PC-12 cells, and to further explore the mechanism involved. Prepared PC-12 cells were treated with IGF-1, Mdivi-1 (DRP1 blocker), LY294002 (PI3K blocker), betulinic acid (NF-κB activator) or their combinations. Mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP generation were then measured to assess mitochondrial function. The rate of apoptosis was determined using flow cytometry. The expression of several apoptosis proteins (i.e. Bax, cleaved caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-3) and signaling proteins (i.e. p-GSK3β, NF-κB and NLRP3) was measured using western blotting. Compared with the control cells, the LPS-treated cells showed evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction, increased apoptosis and upregulation of apoptosis proteins, which were significantly alleviated by Mdivi-1. These findings indicate that neuronal apoptosis was activated partly through the mitochondrial pathway. IGF-1 treatment inhibited mitochondrial apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in the LPS-treated cells. The reagent also increased the expression of p-GSK3β and decreased the expression of NF-κB and NLRP3. Both LY294002 and betulinic acid reversed the protective effect of IGF-1. In addition, LY294002 affected the expression of the three signaling proteins, while betulinic acid only affected the expression of NF-κB and NLRP3. These findings indicated a GSK3β/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway was existed and was involved in the protective mechanism of IGF-1. In conclusion, IGF-1 alleviated mitochondrial apoptosis through GSK3β/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway in LPS-treated PC-12 cells.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Chronic Neuroinflammation Induced by Lipopolysaccharide Injection into the Third Ventricle Induces Behavioral Changes

Abstract

The existence of Gram-negative bacteria in the brain, regardless of underlying immune status has been demonstrated by recent studies. The colocalization of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with Aβ_1-40/42 in amyloid plaques supports the hypothesis that brain microbes may be the cause, triggering chronic neuroinflammation, leading to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To investigate the behavioral changes induced by infectious neuroinflammation, we chose the third ventricle as the site of a single LPS injection (20 μg or 80 μg) in male Wistar rats to avoid mechanical injury to forebrain structures while inducing widespread inflammation throughout the brain. Chronic neuroinflammation induced by LPS resulted in depressive-like behaviors and the impairment of spatial learning; however, there was no evidence of the development of pathological hallmarks (e.g., the phosphorylation of tau) for 10 months following LPS injection. The acceleration of cholesterol metabolism via CYP46A1 and the retardation of cholesterol synthesis via HMGCR were observed in the hippocampus of rats treated with either low-dose or high-dose LPS. The rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol metabolism (CYP46A1) in SH-SY5Y cells and synthesis (HMGCR) in U251 cells were altered by inflammation stimulators, including LPS, IL-1β, and TNF-α, through the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway. The data suggest that chronic neuroinflammation provoked by the administration of LPS into the third ventricle may induce depressive-like symptoms and that the loss of cholesterol might be a biomarker of chronic neuroinflammation. The lack of pathological hallmarks of AD in our model indicates that Gram-negative bacteria infection might not be a single cause of AD.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Association Study of Opioid Receptor Delta-Type 1 (OPRD1) Gene Variants with Nicotine Dependence in an Iranian Population

Abstract

Twins studies indicate that many individual factors are associated with genetic polymorphisms in tobacco use, dependence vulnerability, and the ability to quit smoking. Opioid receptor delta-type 1 (OPRD1) is one of the most important genes in the opioid pathway. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the association of variants located in the intron 1 of the OPRD1 gene, including rs2236857, rs2236855, and rs760589, with susceptibility to nicotine dependence among northern Iranians. DNA of 426 individuals, including 224 smokers and 202 healthy people, were extracted with the salting-out standard technique, qualified with Agarose gel, then quantified with Nanodrop, and finally genotyped by Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) PCR. All statistical analyses were performed by SNPAlyze version 8.1 and SPSS version 20. Results revealed no significant association of all three studied variants with the susceptibility to nicotine dependence in any models of inheritance. However, there were five haplotypes with an overall frequency higher than 0.05; no significant impact of any of them on nicotine dependence was observed. Altogether, rs2236857, rs2236855, and rs760589 were not associated with nicotine dependence among northern Iranians.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Photobiomodulation Promotes Neuronal Axon Regeneration After Oxidative Stress and Induces a Change in Polarization from M1 to M2 in Macrophages via Stimulation of CCL2 in Neurons: Relevance to Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

To study the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) on axon regeneration and secretion change of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) under oxidative stress after spinal cord injury (SCI), and further explore the effect of changes in DRG secretion caused by PBM on the polarization of macrophages. The PBM-DRG model was constructed to perform PBM on neurons under oxidative stress simulated in vitro. And the irradiation conditions were as follows: wavelength, 810 nm; power density, 2 mW/cm²; irradiation area, 4.5 cm²; and irradiation time, 440 s. Then resulted in an energy of 4 J (2 mW/cm² × 4.5 cm² × 440 s). About 100 μM H₂0₂ was added to the culture medium to simulate oxidative stress after SCI. An ROS (reactive oxygen species) assay kit was used to measure ROS contend in the DRG. The survival level of the neurons was measured using the CCK-8 method, and the axon regeneration of neurons was observed by using immunofluorescence. The secretion level of CCL2 from DRG was determined by RT-qPCR and ELISA. Further culturing macrophages of DRG-conditioned medium culture, the expression level of iNOS and Arg-1 in macrophages was assessed using Western blot analysis. The expression level of TNF-α and IL-1β was determined by ELISA. After adding the neutralizing antibody of CCL2 to the DRG neuron-conditioned medium following PBM irradiation to culture macrophages to observe the effects on macrophage polarization and secretion. PBM could reduce ROS levels in neurons, increase neuronal survival under oxidative stress, and promote neuronal axon regeneration. In addition, PBM could also promote CCL2 secretion by DRG under oxidative stress. By constructing a DRG supernatant-M1 macrophage adoptive culture model, we found that the supernatant of DRG after PBM intervention could reduce the expression level of iNOS and the secretion of TNF-α and IL-1β in M1 macrophages; at the same time, it could also up-regulate the expression of Arg-1, one of the markers of M2 macrophages. Furthermore, these effects could be prevented by the addition of neutralizing antibodies of CCL2. PBM could promote survival and axonal regeneration of DRG under SCI oxidative stress, increase the secretion level of CCL2 by DRG, and this change can reduce the polarization of macrophages to M1, further indicating that PBM could promote spinal cord injury repair.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A First Step for the Molecular Characterization of Neurological Involvement of Behçet Syndrome: an Italian Pivotal Study

Abstract

Behçet syndrome (BS) is a vasculitis characterized by several clinical manifestations including the rare neurological involvement (neuro-BS, NBS). The aim of our pivotal study was to investigate the mutational status of several inflammation-related genes in a cohort of Italian patients with and without the neurological involvement (20 NBS vs 40 no-NBS patients). The preliminary in silico single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) selection and primer design were performed by NCBI Primer-Blast tool. Genomic DNA was isolated and amplified using PCR. PCR amplicons were sequenced and bioinformatically analysed. Twelve tagSNPs were selected and genotyped: ERAP1 rs30187, rs17482078, and rs27044; IL10 rs1800872 and rs1518111, IL12A rs17810546, IL23R rs17375018, IL23R-IL12RB2 rs924080, STAT4 rs7572482, CCR1 rs7616215, KLRC4 rs2617170, and UBAC2 rs3825427. ERAP1 and IL23R SNPs showed statistically significant higher frequencies in NBS group than no-NBS. ERAP1 rs30187 AA was more common in no-NBS patients (20.0% NBS vs 47.5% no-NBS; p < 0.05), while rs17482078 GA frequency was higher in NBS patients (55.0% NBS vs 22.5% no-NBS; p < 0.05, OR: 4.21). IL23R rs17375018 GG was more frequent in NBS group (65.0% NBS vs 40.0% no-NBS; p < 0.05), according to a previous finding. No other statistically significant differences were found. In conclusion, ERAP1 and IL23R SNPs were found associated with neurological involvement of BS. Additional and larger analyses were required to verify our preliminary findings.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cypermethrin Induces the Activation of Rat Primary Microglia and Expression of Inflammatory Proteins

Abstract

Cypermethrin activates microglia, which is found to be decisive in neurodegeneration in the experimental rats. While the involvement of microglial activation in toxicant-induced neurodegeneration is reported, the effect of low concentration of cypermethrin on the expression of inflammatory proteins from the rat primary microglia is not yet properly understood. The study intended to delineate the effect of low concentration of cypermethrin on the expression and release of proteins from the microglia. Rat primary microglial cells were treated with cypermethrin to check the expression of inflammatory proteins. Cypermethrin-treated microglia conditioned media and cells were collected to measure the expression and release of inflammatory proteins. Cypermethrin augmented the protein kinase C-δ (PKC-δ), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38 and p42/44, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, and MMP-9 levels in the cell lysate and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in the microglia conditioned media. Pre-treatment with minocycline, a microglial activation inhibitor or rottlerin, a PKC-δ inhibitor, notably reduced the release of TNF-α in the conditioned media and expression of iNOS protein in the microglia. Minocycline reduced the expression of PKC-δ, phosphorylated p38 and p42/44 MAPKs, MMP-3, and MMP-9 proteins in the microglia. While cypermethrin-treated conditioned media induced the toxicity in the rat primary neurons, minocycline or rottlerin reduced the cypermethrin treated microglia conditioned media-induced toxicity. The outcomes of the present study suggest that cypermethrin activates microglia and releases TNF-α and IL-1β as well as up-regulates the expression of PKC-δ, iNOS, phosphorylated p38 and p42/44 MAPKs, MMP-3, and MMP-9 proteins, which could contribute to neurodegeneration.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

L-3-n-Butylphthalide Effectively Improves the Glymphatic Clearance and Reduce Amyloid-β Deposition in Alzheimer’s Transgenic Mice

Abstract

Amyloid-β (Aβ) deposit in the parenchyma is a major characteristic in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and the impaired glymphatic clearance contributes to the Aβ accumulation. It was reported that L-3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) showed the potential neuroprotective effect in the rodent models of AD. The effects of NBP on the glymphatic system were explored in this study. In the wild-type mice, both CSF tracer influx and perivascular drainage increased after NBP treatment compared with vehicle treatment. Moreover, NBP promoted the perivascular drainage of Aβ via increased cerebral pulsation, which could be inhibited by propranolol. Then, we studied the potential of 3-month NBP treatment on Aβ deposits in 8-month-old APP/PS1 transgenic mice. NBP daily treatments remarkably improved cognitive behavior in Morris water maze. Furthermore, NBP could reduce Aβ deposition and decrease parenchymal Aβ levels. In addition, NBP markedly improved the perivascular AQP4 localization. Our results indicated that NBP could enhance the glymphatic clearance and reduce parenchymal Aβ deposit in the APP/PS1 mice, suggesting that it may have potential in the treatment of AD.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

LncRNA H19 Regulates Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Induced Apoptosis and Inflammation of BV2 Microglia Cells Through Targeting miR-325-3p/NEUROD4 Axis

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating traumatic event worldwide. Work from the past decade has highlighted the key involvement of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in SCI. Nevertheless, the molecular action of lncRNA H19 in SCI is still not fully understood. The levels of H19, microRNA (miR)-325-3p, and neuronal differentiation 4 (NEUROD4) were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or western blot. Flow cytometry was performed to assess cell apoptosis. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), and IL-6 were detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Targeted relationships among H19, miR-325-3p, and NEUROD4 were confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), or RNA pull-down assays. Our data showed that H19 level was overexpressed in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated BV2 cells. H19 silencing alleviated LPS-evoked cell apoptosis and inflammation. Mechanistically, H19 in BV2 cells directly targeted miR-325-3p, and NEUROD4 was a direct target of miR-325-3p. Moreover, miR-325-3p was a functional target of H19 in regulating cell apoptosis and inflammation induced by LPS. Enforced expression of miR-325-3p relieved LPS-evoked cell apoptosis and inflammation through reducing NEUROD4. Furthermore, H19 in BV2 cells regulated NEUROD4 expression through targeting miR-325-3p. Our results identified that the silencing of H19 attenuated LPS-evoked microglia cell apoptosis and inflammation after SCI at least partially through targeting the miR-325-3p/NEUROD4 axis, highlighting a novel approach for SCI management.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Exosomal miR-146a Is Involved in Altered Expression of Alzheimer’s Risk Genes Via Suppression of TLR4 Signaling

Abstract

Repeated exposure to toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) ligands, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), reduces responses of monocytes/macrophages to LPS (LPS/endotoxin tolerance). Microglial exposure to Aβ deposits, a TLR4 ligand, may cause “Aβ/LPS tolerance,” leading to decreased Aβ clearance. We demonstrated that microglial activation by LPS is diminished in Aβ deposit-bearing 12-month-old model mice of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), compared with non-AD mice and Aβ deposit-free 2-month-old AD mice. Because miR-146a plays a predominant role in inducing TLR tolerance in macrophages and because miR-146a in extracellular vesicles (EVs) shed by inflammatory macrophages increases in circulation, we investigated potential roles of miR-146a and inflammatory EVs in inducing TLR tolerance in microglia and in altering expression of inflammatory AD risk genes. We found that miR-146a upregulation induces TLR tolerance and alters expression of inflammatory AD risk genes in response to LPS treatment in BV2 microglia. LPS brain injection altered expression of the AD risk genes in 12-month-old AD mice but not in non-AD littermates. EVs from inflammatory macrophages polarize BV2 microglia to M1 phenotype and induce TLR tolerance. Microglia exposed to Aβ in the brain show reduced cytokine responses to systemic inflammation due to peripheral LPS injection, indicating TLR/Aβ tolerance in microglia. Our results suggest that increased miR-146a induces microglial Aβ/LPS tolerance and that circulating EVs shed by inflammatory macrophages contribute to microglial Aβ/LPS tolerance, leading to reduced Aβ clearance. Our study also suggests that altered expression of inflammatory AD risk genes may contribute to AD development via the same molecular mechanism underlying LPS tolerance.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Circ-VPS18 Knockdown Enhances TMZ Sensitivity and Inhibits Glioma Progression by MiR-370/RUNX1 Axis

Abstract

Glioma is a prevalent primary brain tumor. Temozolomide (TMZ) has been used to treat glioma. However, the resistance of TMZ to glioma poses heavy burden to glioma treatment. In this study, the effects of glioma resistance to TMZ and underlying mechanism were revealed. The expression levels of circ-VPS18, microRNA-370 (miR-370) and runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The protein expression of RUNX1, multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1), and multi-drug resistance gene-1 (MDR1) was determined by western blot. The functional effects of circ-VPS18 knockdown on TMZ sensitivity and glioma progression were revealed by cell counting kit-8 proliferation (CCK-8), flow cytometry, and transwell assays. The impacts of circ-VPS18 deletion on TMZ sensitivity in vivo were illustrated by in vivo tumor formation assay. The binding relationship between miR-370 and circ-VPS18 or RUNX1 was predicted by starBase v2.0 online database and identified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Circ-VPS18 expression and the mRNA and protein levels of RUNX1 were dramatically upregulated, and miR-370 expression was significantly downregulated in glioma cells, TMZ-resistant glioma tissues, or tissue compared with control groups. Functionally, circ-VPS18 knockdown improved TMZ sensitivity, induced cell apoptosis, whereas repressed cell viability, migration and invasion in U251/TR and LN229/TR cells, which was reversed by miR-370 inhibitor. Additionally, RUNX1 overexpression hindered the effects of miR-370 on TMZ sensitivity and glioma progression. Circ-VPS18 knockdown enhanced TMZ sensitivity in vivo. Mechanistically, circ-VPS18 functioned as a sponge of miR-370 and miR-370 targeted RUNX1. Circ-VPS18 knockdown improved TMZ sensitivity and repressed glioma progression by sponging miR-370 to downregulate RUNX1 expression, which provided a new insight in further studying glioma resistance to TMZ.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

TNFAIP1 Is Upregulated in APP/PS1 Mice and Promotes Apoptosis in SH-SY5Y Cells by Binding to RhoB

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) poses a significant threat to human life and health. The intraneuronal accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques in the brains of AD patients results in neuronal cell death, which is a key factor that triggers multiple changes in the pathogenesis of AD. The inhibition of Aβ-induced neuronal cell death may potentially help in the intervention and treatment of AD. Our previous study reported that tumor necrosis factor α-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1) is induced by and promotes Aβ_25–35-induced neurotoxicity in mouse neuronal cells, but the roles and regulatory mechanisms of TNFAIP1 are still largely unknown. In this study, our experimental results show that TNFAIP1 and p-TNFAIP1 (phosphorylation of TNFAIP1 at Ser280) are overexpressed in the neurons of the cortex and hippocampus in the brains of APP/PS1 mice, and the transcription factor NF-κB is involved in the Aβ-induced upregulation of TNFAIP1. Moreover, our results suggest that TNFAIP1 contributes to the Aβ-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (∆Ψm), and neuronal cell death in human SH-SY5Y cells. We further revealed that Aβ increases the binding of TNFAIP1 to RhoB, and knockdown of RhoB attenuates the TNFAIP1-induced apoptosis of human SH-SY5Y cells. These data suggest that TNFAIP1 is closely associated with AD pathogenesis, and overexpression of TNFAIP1 in the neurons of the brains of AD patients plays a role in apoptosis, at least in part, via RhoB signaling.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Differential Expression of Cytokine-Coding Genes among Migraine Patients with and without Aura and Normal Subjects

Abstract

Migraine is a prevalent disorder in humans and represents one of the top 10 causes of years lived with disability. Several genetic and environmental factors are involved in the pathobiology of migraine. A number of studies have underscored the role of dysregulated immune reactions. We compared the expression levels IL-2, IL-4, CXCL8, IL-17, IFN-γ, TGF-β and TNF-α cytokines in blood specimens of patients with migraine and those of healthy persons to identify any possible dysregulation in their expression and to propose mechanisms for this disorder. Expression of INF-γ was suggestively higher in migraine cases than in healthy individuals (posterior beta = 0.35, adjusted P value = 0.017). In addition, expression of this cytokine was lower in female subjects than in male subjects (posterior beta = −0.712, adjusted P value = 0.012). Expression of IL-4, TGF-β and TNF-α was also higher in cases compared with controls (posterior beta = 1.34, adjusted P value = 0.04; posterior beta = 0.849, adjusted P value = 0.036; posterior beta = 0.451, adjusted P value = 0.042, respectively). On the other hand, CXCL8 expression was lower in migraine cases than in controls (posterior beta = −0.78, adjusted P value = 0.039). Expression levels of IL-1B, IL-17 and IL-2 were not meaningfully different between cases and controls. The current study highlights the dysregulation of cytokine-coding genes in the blood of patients with migraine.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Investigation of Sexual Satisfaction in Women with Epilepsy and Its Clinical Correlates

Abstract

Women with epilepsy are at increased risk of sexual dysfunction. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the effect of antiepileptic drugs on sexual function and satisfaction in women with epilepsy. In this cross-sectional study, 80 married women with epilepsy who were under treatment with antiepileptic drugs for at least 1 year were evaluated. Sexual function in patients was assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index. The mean age (± standard deviation [SD]) of women was 28.8 (± 5.9) years. The mean (± SD) duration of epilepsy was 8.6 (± 4.1) years. Thirteen women (16.2%) had focal epilepsy and 67 (83.7%) had generalized epilepsy. The mean (± SD) overall sexual performance of patients was 20.5 (± 4.7). Fifteen patients (21.3%) had decreased sexual function and 78.2% had unfavorable sexual performance. Generalized epilepsy, multi-drug regimen, disease duration of more than 10 years, and age > 30 years were associated with sexual dysfunction. Due to the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women with epilepsy, special attention should be given to appropriate management of these patients.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Two Cases of Female Chinese Adult-Onset Krabbe Disease with One Novel Mutation and a Review of Literature

Abstract

This study presented two Chinese adult female patients who were diagnosed with adult-onset Krabbe disease (KD) and reviewed this disease in Chinese patients. Two young female adults in their 20s were enrolled in this study. Clinical data, including symptoms, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning, and laboratory studies were collected. Sequence alignment and structural modeling were carried out to analyze the pathogenesis of the disease. Both patients were adult-onset and both had a mild clinical course, presented with spastic weakness. The MRI study showed demyelination confined to the corticospinal tracts and parieto-occipital white matter. The β-galactocerebrosidase (GALC) activity was obviously decreased in both patients. Gene test of GALC showed that both patients were compound heterozygotes; proband I was a carrier of p.L634S (c.1901 T > C) and p.I250T (c.749 T > C), while proband II was a carrier of p.L634S (c.1901 T > C) and a new variant of c.283_284del. Molecular analysis revealed the variants may influence the function of GALC. We provided two Chinese adult-onset KD, and the clinical and genetic characteristics of proband II was especially rare due to asymmetric symptoms, spinal cord involvement, and the identification of a new point mutation c.283_284del in the GALC gene. Variant c.749 T > C can present mild syndromes except for severe cases. c.283_284del is a new variant that may occur in adult-onset type.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

LncRNA Neat1 Promotes Regeneration after Spinal Cord Injury by Targeting miR-29b

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that lncRNA NEAT1 and miR-29b are closely associated with repair of the injured spinal cord. However, the mechanism by which lncRNA NEAT1 promotes regeneration after spinal cord injury by regulating miR-29b has not been reported. To explore this mechanism, we established a rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI). The experimental rats were randomly assigned to one of six groups: the sham, model, si-NEAT1, miR-29b, si-NEAT1 + negative control and si-NEAT1 + si-miR-29b groups. The hind limb motor function of the rats was evaluated on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 after modelling using the BBB rating scale. Seven days after the operation, attenuation of pathological changes in injured spinal cord tissues was evaluated by HE staining. Anterior horn neurons and cavities in the injured area were counted by Nissl staining. In addition, the TUNEL assay was employed to study neuronal apoptosis in the anterior horn, and the expression of the apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bax was analysed by western blotting. Finally, the protein expression of GFAP, NCAM, GAP43, and SCG10 was measured by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. BBB scores revealed that decreasing the level of NEAT1 improved the hind limb motor function of the rats by increasing miR-29b expression. H&E and Nissl staining showed that silencing NEAT1 attenuated lesions in the spinal cord and decreased the number of cavities in the injured spinal cord by upregulating miR-29b. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting suggested that silencing NEAT1 significantly downregulated GFAP expression and upregulated GAP43, SCG10 and NCAM expression by inducing overexpression of miR-29b. The TUNEL assay and western blotting also showed that silencing NEAT1 attenuated neuronal apoptosis.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Serum Progesterone and Testosterone Levels in Schizophrenia Patients at Different Stages of Treatment

Abstract

It has been suggested that dysregulation of hormones is associated with schizophrenia (SCZ). This study aimed to measure the serum levels of progesterone and testosterone in 125 SCZ patients at different stages of treatment and 96 healthy control (HC) subjects. Our results showed that first-episode drug-free SCZ patients had significantly increased testosterone levels when compared with HC subjects, and chronic medication, but not short-term medication, further increased the serum testosterone levels in the patients. Further analysis suggested that the sex of the patients did not affect testosterone levels. In contrast, serum progesterone levels did not show significant differences between first-episode, drug-free SCZ patients and controls, and the antipsychotics increased progesterone levels in the male SCZ patients, but not female patients. Interestingly, our analyses demonstrated that the serum progesterone levels were negatively correlated with PANSS total score and PNASS positive score, suggesting a correlation between blood hormone levels and disease severity in SCZ patients. Taken together, our data showed differential changes in serum testosterone and progesterone levels in SCZ patients with or without antipsychotics, and our results suggest that increased sex hormone levels may be a defensive response to protect the human body under stress.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Identification of Systems Level Molecular Signatures from Glioblastoma Multiforme Derived Extracellular Vesicles

Abstract

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal malignancies of the central nervous system characterized by high mortality rate. The complexity of GBM pathogenesis, progression, and prognosis is not fully understood yet. GBM-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry several oncogenic elements that facilitate GBM progression. The purpose of this study was to identify systems level molecular signatures from GBM-derived EVs using integrative analysis of publicly available transcriptomic data generated from plasma and serum samples. The dataset contained 19 samples in total, of which 15 samples were from plasma (11 GBM patients and 4 healthy samples) and 4 samples were from serum (2 GBM and 2 healthy samples). We carried out statistical analysis to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), functional enrichment analysis of the DEGs, protein–protein interaction networks, module analysis, transcription factors and target gene regulatory networks analysis, and identification of hub genes. The differential expression of the identified hub genes were validated with the independent TCGA-GBM dataset. We have identified a few crucial genes and pathways associated with GBM prognosis and therapy resistance. The DEGs identified from plasma were associated with inflammatory processes and viral infection. On the other hand, the hub genes identified from the serum samples were significantly associated with protein ubiquitinylation processes and cytokine signaling regulation. The findings indicate that GBM-derived plasma and serum DEGs may be associated with distinct cellular processes and pathways which facilitate GBM progression. The findings will provide better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of GBM pathogenesis and progression. These results can further be utilized for developing and validating minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic molecular biomarkers for GBM.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Changes in Appetite Regulation-Related Signaling Pathways in the Brain of Mice Supplemented with Non-nutritive Sweeteners

Abstract

Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are commonly used to prevent weight gain and development of metabolic diseases associated with consumption of high-energy diets. Recent studies have demonstrated that these compounds may have unwanted detrimental effects under specific circumstances in vivo. In particular, an association between NNS consumption and changes in signaling pathways involved in the hunger-satiety system in the brain has been reported. Nonetheless, the extent of alterations in brain signaling pathways associated with consumption of these compounds has not been determined. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of frequent consumption of NNSs on the expression of proteins involved in signaling pathways related to appetite control in the brain in vivo. Eight-week-old BALB/c mice were supplemented with sucrose, sucralose, or steviol glycosides in their daily drinking water for 6 weeks. Subsequently, total brain protein extracts were used to analyze the expression of total and phosphorylated JAK2, STAT5, ERK 1/2, JNK, as well as SHP-2 and POMC, by western blot. Serum concentrations of leptin and α-MSH were quantified by ELISA. Results show that consumption of NNSs promotes significant changes in these signaling pathways, reducing the expression of pSTAT5/STAT5, pERK 1/2, SHP-2, and pJNK/JNK in male mice supplemented with steviol glycosides. Furthermore, consumption of steviol glycosides induced a decrease of α-MSH in male mice. In contrast, steviol glycosides induced overexpression of pSTAT5, pERK, and SHP-2 in females. These data suggest that chronic consumption of NNSs promotes sex-specific changes in signaling pathways related to the central hunger-satiety system in vivo.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Molecular Mechanism of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF)-BB-Mediated Protection Against MPP + Toxicity in SH-SY5Y Cells

Abstract

As an important endogenous growth factor, PDGF-BB can effectively promote neurogenesis, thus is considered as a potential agent for Parkinson’s disease (PD) therapy. However, the protective function of PDGF-BB on neuronal cells, especially the molecular mechanism, remains less clear, which is needed to explore before its clinical practice. In this study, we investigated the function and mechanism of PDGF-BB against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP⁺) toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, a widely used cellular tool for PD-related molecular study. Our results indicated that PDGF-BB exerts a prominent protective effect against neurotoxin MPP⁺-triggered ROS generation and cellular loss. We further dissected the molecular mechanism involved in this process by using specific pharmacological inhibitors and validated that the distinct signaling pathways PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β and MEK/ERK are involved in the process against MPP⁺ toxicity upon PDGF-BB treatment. We also detected that activation of upstream PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β and MER/ERK signaling pathways contribute to phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of the downstream effector cyclic response element-binding protein (CREB), a known transcription factor to exhibit neuroprotective and growth-promoting effects. Using genetic approach, we further confirmed that the activation of CREB is involved in PDGF-BB-mediated protection in MPP⁺-exposed SH-SY5Y cells. Together, these data demonstrated the protective effect of PDGF-BB in MPP⁺-mediated toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells and verified the involved molecular mechanism in PDGF-BB-mediated neuroprotection.

in Journal of Molecular Neuroscience on June 01, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

In This Issue [This Week in PNAS]

in PNAS on May 18, 2021 03:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

G2S3: A gene graph-based imputation method for single-cell RNA sequencing data

by Weimiao Wu, Yunqing Liu, Qile Dai, Xiting Yan, Zuoheng Wang

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Real-time single-cell characterization of the eukaryotic transcription cycle reveals correlations between RNA initiation, elongation, and cleavage

by Jonathan Liu, Donald Hansen, Elizabeth Eck, Yang Joon Kim, Meghan Turner, Simon Alamos, Hernan Garcia

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Robust switches in thalamic network activity require a timescale separation between sodium and T-type calcium channel activations

by Kathleen Jacquerie, Guillaume Drion

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

scHiCTools: A computational toolbox for analyzing single-cell Hi-C data

by Xinjun Li, Fan Feng, Hongxi Pu, Wai Yan Leung, Jie Liu

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mathematical modeling of multiple pathways in colorectal carcinogenesis using dynamical systems with Kronecker structure

by Saskia Haupt, Alexander Zeilmann, Aysel Ahadova, Hendrik Bläker, Magnus von Knebel Doeberitz, Matthias Kloor, Vincent Heuveline

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Correction: Time of day is associated with paradoxical reductions in global signal fluctuation and functional connectivity

by Csaba Orban, Ru Kong, Jingwei Li, Michael W. L. Chee, B. T. Thomas Yeo

in PLoS Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Integrated transcriptomics and epigenomics reveal chamber-specific and species-specific characteristics of human and mouse hearts

by Junpeng Gao, Yuxuan Zheng, Lin Li, Minjie Lu, Xiangjian Chen, Yu Wang, Yanna Li, Xiaomeng Liu, Yun Gao, Yunuo Mao, Peng Zhao, Jinan Zhang, Fuchou Tang, Lei Song, Lu Wen, Jizheng Wang

in PLoS Biology on May 18, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Streaming cascade-based speech translation leveraged by a direct segmentation model

Publication date: Available online 17 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Javier Iranzo-Sánchez, Javier Jorge, Pau Baquero-Arnal, Joan Albert Silvestre-Cerdà, Adrià Giménez, Jorge Civera, Albert Sanchis, Alfons Juan

in Neural Networks on May 18, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Geometrically regulating evolutionary dynamics in biofilms

Author(s): Youness Azimzade and Abbas Ali Saberi

The theoretical understanding of evolutionary dynamics in spatially structured populations often relies on nonspatial models. Biofilms are among such populations where a more accurate understanding is of theoretical interest and can reveal new solutions to existing challenges. Here, we studied how t...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, L050401] Published Tue May 18, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 18, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Exploring dissipative sources of non-Markovian biochemical reaction systems

Author(s): Xiyan Yang, Yiren Chen, Tianshou Zhou, and Jiajun Zhang

Many biological processes including important intracellular processes are governed by biochemical reaction networks. Usually, these reaction systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium, implying free-energy dissipation. On the other hand, single reaction events happen often in a memory manner...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052411] Published Tue May 18, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 18, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Universal Regular Conditional Distributions via Probability Measure-Valued Deep Neural Models. (arXiv:2105.07743v1 [cs.LG])

This paper introduces a general framework for explicitly constructing universal deep neural models with inputs from a complete, separable, and locally-compact metric space $\mathcal{X}$ and outputs in the Wasserstein-1 $\mathcal{P}_1(\mathcal{Y})$ space over a complete and separable metric space $\mathcal{Y}$. We find that any model built using the proposed framework is dense in the space $C(\mathcal{X},\mathcal{P}_1(\mathcal{Y}))$ of continuous functions from $\mathcal{X}$ to $\mathcal{P}_1(\mathcal{Y})$ in the corresponding uniform convergence on compacts topology, quantitatively. We identify two methods in which the curse of dimensionality can be broken. The first approach constructs subsets of $C(\mathcal{X},\mathcal{P}_1(\mathcal{Y}))$ consisting of functions that can be efficiently approximated. In the second approach, given any fixed $f \in C(\mathcal{X},\mathcal{P}_1(\mathcal{Y}))$, we build non-trivial subsets of $\mathcal{X}$ on which $f$ can be efficiently approximated. The results are applied to three open problems lying at the interface of applied probability and computational learning theory. We find that the proposed models can approximate any regular conditional distribution of a $\mathcal{Y}$-valued random element $Y$ depending on an $\mathcal{X}$-valued random element $X$, with arbitrarily high probability. The proposed models are also shown to be capable of generically expressing the aleatoric uncertainty present in most randomized machine learning models. The proposed framework is used to derive an affirmative answer to the open conjecture of Bishop (1994); namely: mixture density networks are generic regular conditional distributions. Numerical experiments are performed in the contexts of extreme learning machines, randomized DNNs, and heteroscedastic regression.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Chimeras unfolded. (arXiv:2105.07541v1 [nlin.CD])

The instability of mixing in the Kuramoto model of coupled phase oscillators is the key to understanding a range of spatiotemporal patterns, which feature prominently in collective dynamics of systems ranging from neuronal networks, to coupled lasers, to power grids. In this paper, we describe a codimension-2 bifurcation of mixing whose unfolding, in addition to the classical scenario of the onset of synchronization, also explains the formation of clusters and chimeras. We use a combination of linear stability analysis and Penrose diagrams to identify and analyze a variety of spatiotemporal patterns including stationary and traveling coherent clusters and twisted states, as well as their combinations with regions of incoherent behavior called chimera states. The linear stability analysis is used to estimate of the velocity distribution within these structures. Penrose diagrams, on the other hand, predict accurately the basins of their existence. Furthermore, we show that network topology can endow chimera states with nontrivial spatial organization. In particular, we present twisted chimera states, whose coherent regions are organized as stationary or traveling twisted states. The analytical results are illustrated with numerical bifurcation diagrams computed for the Kuramoto model with uni-, bi-, and tri-modal frequency distributions and all-to-all and nonlocal nearest-neighbor connectivity.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Bayesian reconstruction of memories stored in neural networks from their connectivity. (arXiv:2105.07416v1 [q-bio.NC])

The advent of comprehensive synaptic wiring diagrams of large neural circuits has created the field of connectomics and given rise to a number of open research questions. One such question is whether it is possible to reconstruct the information stored in a recurrent network of neurons, given its synaptic connectivity matrix. Here, we address this question by determining when solving such an inference problem is theoretically possible in specific attractor network models and by providing a practical algorithm to do so. The algorithm builds on ideas from statistical physics to perform approximate Bayesian inference and is amenable to exact analysis. We study its performance on three different models and explore the limitations of reconstructing stored patterns from synaptic connectivity.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Towards a Predictive Processing Implementation of the Common Model of Cognition. (arXiv:2105.07308v1 [cs.AI])

In this article, we present a cognitive architecture that is built from powerful yet simple neural models. Specifically, we describe an implementation of the common model of cognition grounded in neural generative coding and holographic associative memory. The proposed system creates the groundwork for developing agents that learn continually from diverse tasks as well as model human performance at larger scales than what is possible with existant cognitive architectures.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A brain basis of dynamical intelligence for AI and computational neuroscience. (arXiv:2105.07284v1 [q-bio.NC])

The deep neural nets of modern artificial intelligence (AI) have not achieved defining features of biological intelligence, including abstraction, causal learning, and energy-efficiency. While scaling to larger models has delivered performance improvements for current applications, more brain-like capacities may demand new theories, models, and methods for designing artificial learning systems. Here, we argue that this opportunity to reassess insights from the brain should stimulate cooperation between AI research and theory-driven computational neuroscience (CN). To motivate a brain basis of neural computation, we present a dynamical view of intelligence from which we elaborate concepts of sparsity in network structure, temporal dynamics, and interactive learning. In particular, we suggest that temporal dynamics, as expressed through neural synchrony, nested oscillations, and flexible sequences, provide a rich computational layer for reading and updating hierarchical models distributed in long-term memory networks. Moreover, embracing agent-centered paradigms in AI and CN will accelerate our understanding of the complex dynamics and behaviors that build useful world models. A convergence of AI/CN theories and objectives will reveal dynamical principles of intelligence for brains and engineered learning systems. This article was inspired by our symposium on dynamical neuroscience and machine learning at the 6th Annual US/NIH BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

FOGA: Flag Optimization with Genetic Algorithm. (arXiv:2105.07202v1 [cs.NE])

Recently, program autotuning has become very popular especially in embedded systems, when we have limited resources such as computing power and memory where these systems run generally time-critical applications. Compiler optimization space gradually expands with the renewed compiler options and inclusion of new architectures. These advancements bring autotuning even more important position. In this paper, we introduced Flag Optimization with Genetic Algorithm (FOGA) as an autotuning solution for GCC flag optimization. FOGA has two main advantages over the other autotuning approaches: the first one is the hyperparameter tuning of the genetic algorithm (GA), the second one is the maximum iteration parameter to stop when no further improvement occurs. We demonstrated remarkable speedup in the execution time of C++ source codes with the help of optimization flags provided by FOGA when compared to the state of the art framework OpenTuner.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Joint estimation of multiple Granger causal networks: Inference of group-level brain connectivity. (arXiv:2105.07196v1 [cs.LG])

This paper considers joint learning of multiple sparse Granger graphical models to discover underlying common and differential Granger causality (GC) structures across multiple time series. This can be applied to drawing group-level brain connectivity inferences from a homogeneous group of subjects or discovering network differences among groups of signals collected under heterogeneous conditions. By recognizing that the GC of a single multivariate time series can be characterized by common zeros of vector autoregressive (VAR) lag coefficients, a group sparse prior is included in joint regularized least-squares estimations of multiple VAR models. Group-norm regularizations based on group- and fused-lasso penalties encourage a decomposition of multiple networks into a common GC structure, with other remaining parts defined in individual-specific networks. Prior information about sparseness and sparsity patterns of desired GC networks are incorporated as relative weights, while a non-convex group norm in the penalty is proposed to enhance the accuracy of network estimation in low-sample settings. Extensive numerical results on simulations illustrated our method's improvements over existing sparse estimation approaches on GC network sparsity recovery. Our methods were also applied to available resting-state fMRI time series from the ADHD-200 data sets to learn the differences of causality mechanisms, called effective brain connectivity, between adolescents with ADHD and typically developing children. Our analysis revealed that parts of the causality differences between the two groups often resided in the orbitofrontal region and areas associated with the limbic system, which agreed with clinical findings and data-driven results in previous studies.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

NeuroGen: activation optimized image synthesis for discovery neuroscience. (arXiv:2105.07140v1 [q-bio.NC])

Functional MRI (fMRI) is a powerful technique that has allowed us to characterize visual cortex responses to stimuli, yet such experiments are by nature constructed based on a priori hypotheses, limited to the set of images presented to the individual while they are in the scanner, are subject to noise in the observed brain responses, and may vary widely across individuals. In this work, we propose a novel computational strategy, which we call NeuroGen, to overcome these limitations and develop a powerful tool for human vision neuroscience discovery. NeuroGen combines an fMRI-trained neural encoding model of human vision with a deep generative network to synthesize images predicted to achieve a target pattern of macro-scale brain activation. We demonstrate that the reduction of noise that the encoding model provides, coupled with the generative network's ability to produce images of high fidelity, results in a robust discovery architecture for visual neuroscience. By using only a small number of synthetic images created by NeuroGen, we demonstrate that we can detect and amplify differences in regional and individual human brain response patterns to visual stimuli. We then verify that these discoveries are reflected in the several thousand observed image responses measured with fMRI. We further demonstrate that NeuroGen can create synthetic images predicted to achieve regional response patterns not achievable by the best-matching natural images. The NeuroGen framework extends the utility of brain encoding models and opens up a new avenue for exploring, and possibly precisely controlling, the human visual system.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Edges in Brain Networks: Contributions to Models of Structure and Function. (arXiv:2105.07069v1 [q-bio.NC])

Network models describe the brain as sets of nodes and edges that represent its distributed organization. So far, most discoveries in network neuroscience have prioritized insights that highlight distinct groupings and specialized functional contributions of network nodes. Importantly, these functional contributions are determined and expressed by the web of their interrelationships, formed by network edges. Here, we underscore the important contributions made by brain network edges for understanding distributed brain organization. Different types of edges represent different types of relationships, including connectivity and similarity among nodes. Adopting a specific definition of edges can fundamentally alter how we analyze and interpret a brain network. Furthermore, edges can associate into collectives and higher-order arrangements, describe time series, and form edge communities that provide insights into brain network topology complementary to the traditional node-centric perspective. Focusing on the edges, and the higher-order or dynamic information they can provide, discloses previously underappreciated aspects of structural and functional network organization.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 18, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Investigation of the fine structure of antihydrogen

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03367-9

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator biodiversity

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23228-3

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Biomimetic high performance artificial muscle built on sacrificial coordination network and mechanical training process

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23204-x

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Superconductor-insulator transition in space charge doped one unit cell Bi_2.1Sr_1.9CaCu₂O_8+x

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23183-z

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Spectral bias and task-model alignment explain generalization in kernel regression and infinitely wide neural networks

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23103-1

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A BAFF/APRIL axis regulates obesogenic diet-driven weight gain

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23084-1

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Low coordination number copper catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ methanation in a membrane electrode assembly

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23065-4

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A well-timed shift from local to global agreements accelerates climate change mitigation

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23056-5

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The effect of generic market entry on antibiotic prescriptions in the United States

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23049-4

in Nature Communications on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Why the China Mars rover’s landing site has geologists excited

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01340-0

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Contrails: tweaking flight altitude could be a climate win

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01339-7

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

UNESCO embraces open science to shape society’s future

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01338-8

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

University of Cape Town’s battle to tackle a racist legacy

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01321-3

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

How COVID is changing the study of human behaviour

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01317-z

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Universal health care must be a priority — even amid COVID

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01313-3

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Virus variants: GISAID policies incentivize surveillance in global south

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01310-6

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Statistics: unify ecosystems valuation

Nature, Published online: 18 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01309-z

in Nature on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Journal of Computational Neuroscience

in Journal of Computational Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cortical propagating waves: amplifying and suppressive?

in Journal of Computational Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Modeling the interaction among three cerebellar disorders of eye movements: periodic alternating, gaze-evoked and rebound nystagmus

Abstract

A woman, age 44, with a positive anti-YO paraneoplastic cerebellar syndrome and normal imaging developed an ocular motor disorder including periodic alternating nystagmus (PAN), gaze-evoked nystagmus (GEN) and rebound nystagmus (RN). During fixation there was typical PAN but changes in gaze position evoked complex, time-varying oscillations of GEN and RN. To unravel the pathophysiology of this unusual pattern of nystagmus, we developed a mathematical model of normal function of the circuits mediating the vestibular-ocular reflex and gaze-holding including their adaptive mechanisms. Simulations showed that all the findings of our patient could be explained by two, small, isolated changes in cerebellar circuits: reducing the time constant of the gaze-holding integrator, producing GEN and RN, and increasing the gain of the vestibular velocity-storage positive feedback loop, producing PAN. We conclude that the gaze- and time-varying pattern of nystagmus in our patient can be accounted for by superposition of one model that produces typical PAN and another model that produces typical GEN and RN, without requiring a new oscillator in the gaze-holding system or a more complex, nonlinear interaction between the two models. This analysis suggest a strategy for uncovering gaze-evoked and rebound nystagmus in the setting of a time-varying nystagmus such as PAN. Our results are also consistent with current ideas of compartmentalization of cerebellar functions for the control of the vestibular velocity-storage mechanism (nodulus and ventral uvula) and for holding horizontal gaze steady (the flocculus and tonsil).

in Journal of Computational Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Recurrence-mediated suprathreshold stochastic resonance

Abstract

It has previously been shown that the encoding of time-dependent signals by feedforward networks (FFNs) of processing units exhibits suprathreshold stochastic resonance (SSR), which is an optimal signal transmission for a finite level of independent, individual stochasticity in the single units. In this study, a recurrent spiking network is simulated to demonstrate that SSR can be also caused by network noise in place of intrinsic noise. The level of autonomously generated fluctuations in the network can be controlled by the strength of synapses, and hence the coding fraction (our measure of information transmission) exhibits a maximum as a function of the synaptic coupling strength. The presence of a coding peak at an optimal coupling strength is robust over a wide range of individual, network, and signal parameters, although the optimal strength and peak magnitude depend on the parameter being varied. We also perform control experiments with an FFN illustrating that the optimized coding fraction is due to the change in noise level and not from other effects entailed when changing the coupling strength. These results also indicate that the non-white (temporally correlated) network noise in general provides an extra boost to encoding performance compared to the FFN driven by intrinsic white noise fluctuations.

in Journal of Computational Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Decoding Spatial Memory Retrieval in Cubical Space Using fMRI Signals

The way spatial memory retrieval is represented in the brain remains unclear to date. Previous studies have displayed a hippocampus-centered navigation network using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis. There have been some studies on the representation of navigation behavior by signal distribution patterns, but only in the hippocampus and adjacent structures. In this study, we aimed to determine (1) the brain regions that represent information in both intensity and distribution patterns during spatial memory retrieval and (2) whether the patterns of neural responses represent spatial memory retrieval behavior performance. Both univariate analysis [general linear model (GLM)] and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) were employed to reveal the spatial distributions of brain responses elicited by spatial memory retrieval. Correlation analyses were performed to detect the correspondences between brain responses and behavior performance. We found that spatial memory retrieval occurred in widespread brain regions, including the bilateral hippocampi, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, bilateral superior parietal lobules, bilateral occipital lobes, and cerebellum. The amplitude of activation in the left hippocampus showed a significant negative correlation (r = −0.46, p = 0.039) with the number of task completions. Additionally, within-subject classification accuracies based on the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal patterns of the right middle temporal gyrus (rMTG) rostral areas in the Brainnetome Atlas showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.78, p < 0.0001) with retrieval accuracy. In summary, our findings have implications for understanding the separation between navigational and non-navigational states and emphasizing the utility of MVPA in the whole brain.

in Frontiers in Neural Circuits on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Upregulation of lncRNA147410.3 in the Brain of Mice With Chronic Toxoplasma Infection Promoted Microglia Apoptosis by Regulating Hoxb3

Toxoplasma gondii is neurotropic and affects the function of nerve cells, while the mechanism is unclear. LncRNAs are abundantly enriched in the brain and participated in the delicate regulation of the central nervous system (CNS) development. However, whether these lncRNAs are involved in the regulation of microglia activation during the process of T. gondii infection is largely unknown. In this study, the upregulation of a novel lncRNA147410.3 (ENSMUST00000147410.3) was identified as a key factor to influence this process. The target gene of lncRNA147410.3 was predicted and identified as Hoxb3. The localization of lncRNA147410.3 in the brain and cells was proved in the nucleus of neuroglia through FISH assay. Furthermore, the function of lncRNA147410.3 on neuronal cell was confirmed that lncRNA147410.3 could affect proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of mouse microglia by positively regulating Hoxb3. Thus, our study explored the modulatory action of lncRNA147410.3 in T. gondii infected mouse brain, providing a scientific basis for using lncRNA147410.3 as a therapeutic target to treat neurological disorder induced by T. gondii.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Avoiding culture shock with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

PHAROH lncRNA regulates Myc translation in hepatocellular carcinoma via sequestering TIAR

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The hepcidin regulator erythroferrone is a new member of the erythropoiesis-iron-bone circuitry

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Psychomotor impairments and therapeutic implications revealed by a mutation associated with infantile Parkinsonism-Dystonia

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Modeling the impact of racial and ethnic disparities on COVID-19 epidemic dynamics

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Random sub-diffusion and capture of genes by the nuclear pore reduces dynamics and coordinates interchromosomal movement

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

R7 photoreceptor axon targeting depends on the relative levels of lost and found expression in R7 and its synaptic partners

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Calibration of cell-intrinsic interleukin-2 response thresholds guides design of a regulatory T cell biased agonist

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Competitive coordination of the dual roles of the Hedgehog co-receptor in homophilic adhesion and signal reception

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Integrated sensing of host stresses by inhibition of a cytoplasmic two-component system controls M. tuberculosis acute lung infection

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Polymerization of misfolded Z alpha-1antitrypin protein lowers CX3CR1 expression in human PBMCs

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multi-step vs. single-step resistance evolution under different drugs, pharmacokinetics and treatment regimens

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Local circuit allowing hypothalamic control of hippocampal area CA2 activity and consequences for CA1

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

PIE-1 SUMOylation promotes germline fates and piRNA-dependent silencing in C. elegans

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

HDAC1 SUMOylation promotes Argonaute-directed transcriptional silencing in C. elegans

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Integrated transcriptomic and neuroimaging brain model decodes biological mechanisms in aging and Alzheimer’s disease

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

ß2-Arrestin germline knockout does not attenuate opioid respiratory depression

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Live-imaging of endothelial Erk activity reveals dynamic and sequential signalling events during regenerative angiogenesis

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

HSPCs display within-family homogeneity in differentiation and proliferation despite population heterogeneity

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The severity of microstrokes depends on local vascular topology and baseline perfusion

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Novel cell types and developmental lineages revealed by single-cell RNA-seq analysis of the mouse crista ampullaris

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The organizational principles of de-differentiated topographic maps in somatosensory cortex

in eLife on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Astrocyte Ca2+ Signaling is Facilitated in an Scn1a+/- Mouse Model of Dravet Syndrome

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Subcellular localization of PKA catalytic subunits provides a basis for their distinct functions in the retina

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The mirror neuron system compensates for amygdala dysfunction-associated social deficits in individuals with higher autistic traits

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mobile Footprinting: Linking Individual Distinctiveness in Mobility Patterns to Mood, Sleep, and Brain Functional Connectivity

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Basal Ganglia Responses to Electrical Stimulation of the Posterior Hypothalamic Nucleus

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Δ133p53α Protects Human Astrocytes from Amyloid-Beta Induced Senescence and Neurotoxicity

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Spatiotemporal context modulates encoding and retrieval of overlapping events

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Attentional modulation of intrinsic timescales in visual cortex and spatial networks

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cortical network structure mediates response to stimulation: an optogenetic study in non-human primates

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Rat sensitivity to multipoint statistics is predicted by efficient coding of natural scenes

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Synaptic Plasticity in the Agranular Insular Cortex Predicts Escalated Ethanol Consumption

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Deconstructing the Cortical Sources of Frequency Following Responses to Speech: A Cross-species Approach

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cortical Oscillatory Dysrhythmias in Visual Snow Syndrome: A MEG Study

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Fiberoptic Probe For Hemodynamic Spectroscopy in Freely Moving Mice Shows Cerebrovascular Dysregulation In Alzheimers and Glioma Models

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 18, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Profile of Scott Edwards [Profiles]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:49 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Thermal resistance effect on anomalous diffusion of molecules under confinement [Chemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:49 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Encapsulation of ribozymes inside model protocells leads to faster evolutionary adaptation [Biophysics and Computational Biology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:49 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Moving beyond the constraints of chemistry via crystal structure discovery with isotropic multiwell pair potentials [Applied Physical Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:49 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Circulating immunity protects the female reproductive tract from Chlamydia infection [Immunology and Inflammation]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Roles of KLF4 and AMPK in the inhibition of glycolysis by pulsatile shear stress in endothelial cells [Physiology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The unintended consequences of US immigration enforcement policies [Social Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Trapping a cross-linked lysine-tryptophan radical in the catalytic cycle of the radical SAM enzyme SuiB [Biochemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Short-lived intermediate in N2O generation by P450 NO reductase captured by time-resolved IR spectroscopy and XFEL crystallography [Chemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

HIV envelope tail truncation confers resistance to SERINC5 restriction [Microbiology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Terahertz detection based on nonlinear Hall effect without magnetic field [Applied Physical Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Permafrost carbon feedbacks threaten global climate goals [Sustainability Science]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Reconstitution of {beta}-adrenergic regulation of CaV1.2: Rad-dependent and Rad-independent protein kinase A mechanisms [Physiology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Plant species richness at archaeological sites suggests ecological legacy of Indigenous subsistence on the Colorado Plateau [Anthropology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Gut microbiome contributions to altered metabolism in a pig model of undernutrition [Microbiology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Critical slowing down suggests that the western Greenland Ice Sheet is close to a tipping point [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Background-free dual-mode optical and 13C magnetic resonance imaging in diamond particles [Chemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Microchemomechanical devices using DNA hybridization [Applied Physical Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Global abundance estimates for 9,700 bird species [Ecology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Genomic basis of parallel adaptation varies with divergence in Arabidopsis and its relatives [Evolution]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A synthetic C4 shuttle via the {beta}-hydroxyaspartate cycle in C3 plants [Plant Biology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

On the evolution of chaperones and cochaperones and the expansion of proteomes across the Tree of Life [Biophysics and Computational Biology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Short hydrogen bonds enhance nonaromatic protein-related fluorescence [Biophysics and Computational Biology]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

An additive algorithm for origami design [Applied Physical Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Coastal eutrophication drives acidification, oxygen loss, and ecosystem change in a major oceanic upwelling system [Environmental Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Oligomodal metamaterials with multifunctional mechanics [Applied Physical Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The SHREAD gene therapy platform for paracrine delivery improves tumor localization and intratumoral effects of a clinical antibody [Biochemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Odor-driven face-like categorization in the human infant brain [Psychological and Cognitive Sciences]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

G-quadruplex structural variations in human genome associated with single-nucleotide variations and their impact on gene activity [Biochemistry]

in PNAS on May 17, 2021 07:10 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

MiMeNet: Exploring microbiome-metabolome relationships using neural networks

by Derek Reiman, Brian T. Layden, Yang Dai

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 17, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cortical propagation tracks functional recovery after stroke

by Gloria Cecchini, Alessandro Scaglione, Anna Letizia Allegra Mascaro, Curzio Checcucci, Emilia Conti, Ihusan Adam, Duccio Fanelli, Roberto Livi, Francesco Saverio Pavone, Thomas Kreuz

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 17, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ventricular, atrial, and outflow tract heart progenitors arise from spatially and molecularly distinct regions of the primitive streak

by Kenzo Ivanovitch, Pablo Soro-Barrio, Probir Chakravarty, Rebecca A. Jones, Donald M. Bell, S. Neda Mousavy Gharavy, Despina Stamataki, Julien Delile, James C. Smith, James Briscoe

in PLoS Biology on May 17, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A brian-inspired computational model for spatio-temporal information processing

Publication date: Available online 16 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Xiaohan Lin, Xiaolong Zou, Zilong Ji, Tiejun Huang, Si Wu, Yuanyuan Mi

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Encephalitis with Autoantibodies against the Glutamate Kainate Receptors GluK2

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 11:41 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Effectiveness of glass beads for plating cell cultures

Author(s): Alidivinas Prusokas, Michelle Hawkins, Conrad A. Nieduszynski, and Renata Retkute

Cell plating, the spreading out of a liquid suspension of cells on a surface followed by colony growth, is a common laboratory procedure in microbiology. Despite this, the exact impact of its parameters on colony growth has not been extensively studied. A common protocol involves the shaking of glas...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052410] Published Mon May 17, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 17, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dynamics of genetic code evolution: The emergence of universality

Author(s): John-Antonio Argyriadis, Yang-Hui He, Vishnu Jejjala, and Djordje Minic

We study the dynamics of genetic code evolution. The model of Vetsigian et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 10696 (2006)] and Vetsigian [Collective evolution of biological and physical systems, Ph.D. thesis, 2005] uses the mechanism of horizontal gene transfer to demonstrate convergence of the g...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052409] Published Mon May 17, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 17, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Adaptive ensemble perception tracking

Publication date: Available online 15 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Zikun Zhou, Nana Fan, Kai Yang, Hongpeng Wang, Zhenyu He

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multiple clustering for identifying subject clusters and brain sub-networks using functional connectivity matrices without vectorization

Publication date: Available online 15 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Tomoki Tokuda, Okito Yamashita, Junichiro Yoshimoto

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Robust Optimization and Validation of Echo State Networks for learning chaotic dynamics

Publication date: Available online 14 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Alberto Racca, Luca Magri

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Learning to recognize while learning to speak: Self-supervision and developing a speaking motor

Publication date: Available online 14 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Xiang Wu, Juyang Weng

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Probabilistic robustness estimates for feed-forward neural networks

Publication date: October 2021

Source: Neural Networks, Volume 142

Author(s): Nicolas Couellan

in Neural Networks on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Applying stem cells and CRISPR engineering to uncover the etiology of schizophrenia

Publication date: August 2021

Source: Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Volume 69

Author(s): Peter James Michael Deans, Kristen J. Brennand

in Current Opinion in Neurobiology on May 17, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Issue Information

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Annals of Neurology: Volume 89, Number 6, June 2021

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Alpha‐Synuclein Oligomers and Neurofilament Light Chain Predict Phenoconversion of Pure Autonomic Failure

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder: Therapeutic Innovations and Complex Decision‐Making

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

To Reduce the Risk of Dementia, Focus on the Patient

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Gut Microbiome in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Superficial Siderosis: A Clinical Review

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A Recurrent EIF2AK2 Missense Variant Causes Autosomal‐Dominant Isolated Dystonia

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Detection of Brain Somatic Mutations in Cerebrospinal Fluid from Refractory Epilepsy Patients

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Unravelling the Neural Basis of Spatial Delusions After Stroke

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Approaches to Understanding COVID‐19 and its Neurological Associations

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Characterization of the Insular Role in Cardiac Function through Intracranial Electrical Stimulation of the Human Insula

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Amylin Analog Pramlintide Induces Migraine‐like Attacks in Patients

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

NIA‐AA Alzheimer's Disease Framework: Clinical Characterization of Stages

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Meningeal CGRP‐Prolactin Interaction Evokes Female‐Specific Migraine Behavior

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Staufen1 in Human Neurodegeneration

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

How Can an Na+ Channel Inhibitor Ameliorate Seizures in Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome?

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Frailty and Risk of Dementia in Mild Cognitive Impairment Subtypes

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mitochondrial DNA Analysis from Exome Sequencing Data Improves Diagnostic Yield in Neurological Diseases

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multiple Sclerosis Is Rare in Epstein–Barr Virus–Seronegative Children with Central Nervous System Inflammatory Demyelination

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Pembrolizumab‐Induced Migrating Cortico‐Subcortical Brain Lesions

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Long‐Term Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in Aquaporin‐4 IgG‐Positive NMOSD

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Prediction Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis by Deep Learning with Patient Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

To Zoom or Not to Zoom: The Should I Travel Index Revisited during the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cocaine and Levamisole Cerebral Toxicity

in Annals of Neurology on May 17, 2021 06:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Efficient Spiking Neural Networks with Radix Encoding. (arXiv:2105.06943v1 [cs.NE])

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) have advantages in latency and energy efficiency over traditional artificial neural networks (ANNs) due to its event-driven computation mechanism and replacement of energy-consuming weight multiplications with additions. However, in order to reach accuracy of its ANN counterpart, it usually requires long spike trains to ensure the accuracy. Traditionally, a spike train needs around one thousand time steps to approach similar accuracy as its ANN counterpart. This offsets the computation efficiency brought by SNNs because longer spike trains mean a larger number of operations and longer latency. In this paper, we propose a radix encoded SNN with ultra-short spike trains. In the new model, the spike train takes less than ten time steps. Experiments show that our method demonstrates 25X speedup and 1.1% increment on accuracy, compared with the state-of-the-art work on VGG-16 network architecture and CIFAR-10 dataset.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multi-Objective Optimisation of Cortical Spiking Neural Networks With Genetic Algorithms. (arXiv:2105.06824v1 [cs.NE])

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) communicate through the all-or-none spiking activity of neurons. However, fitting the large number of SNN model parameters to observed neural activity patterns, for example, in biological experiments, remains a challenge. Previous work using genetic algorithm (GA) optimisation on a specific efficient SNN model, using the Izhikevich neuronal model, was limited to a single parameter and objective. This work applied a version of GA, called non-dominated sorting GA (NSGA-III), to demonstrate the feasibility of performing multi-objective optimisation on the same SNN, focusing on searching network connectivity parameters to achieve target firing rates of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal types, including across different network connectivity sparsity. We showed that NSGA-III could readily optimise for various firing rates. Notably, when the excitatory neural firing rates were higher than or equal to that of inhibitory neurons, the errors were small. Moreover, when connectivity sparsity was considered as a parameter to be optimised, the optimal solutions required sparse network connectivity. We also found that for excitatory neural firing rates lower than that of inhibitory neurons, the errors were generally larger. Overall, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of implementing multi-objective GA optimisation on network parameters of recurrent and sparse SNN.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Quantifying the Impact of Boundary Constraint Handling Methods on Differential Evolution. (arXiv:2105.06757v1 [cs.NE])

Constraint handling is one of the most influential aspects of applying metaheuristics to real-world applications, which can hamper the search progress if treated improperly. In this work, we focus on a particular case - the box constraints, for which many boundary constraint handling methods (BCHMs) have been proposed. We call for the necessity of studying the impact of BCHMs on metaheuristics' performance and behavior, which receives seemingly little attention in the field. We target quantifying such impacts through systematic benchmarking by investigating 28 major variants of Differential Evolution (DE) taken from the modular DE framework (by combining different mutation and crossover operators) and $13$ commonly applied BCHMs, resulting in $28 \times 13 = 364$ algorithm instances after pairing DE variants with BCHMs. After executing the algorithm instances on the well-known BBOB/COCO problem set, we analyze the best-reached objective function value (performance-wise) and the percentage of repaired solutions (behavioral) using statistical ranking methods for each combination of mutation, crossover, and BBOB function group. Our results clearly show that the choice of BCHMs substantially affects the empirical performance as well as the number of generated infeasible solutions, which allows us to provide general guidelines for selecting an appropriate BCHM for a given scenario.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Verification of Size Invariance in DNN Activations using Concept Embeddings. (arXiv:2105.06727v1 [cs.CV])

The benefits of deep neural networks (DNNs) have become of interest for safety critical applications like medical ones or automated driving. Here, however, quantitative insights into the DNN inner representations are mandatory. One approach to this is concept analysis, which aims to establish a mapping between the internal representation of a DNN and intuitive semantic concepts. Such can be sub-objects like human body parts that are valuable for validation of pedestrian detection. To our knowledge, concept analysis has not yet been applied to large object detectors, specifically not for sub-parts. Therefore, this work first suggests a substantially improved version of the Net2Vec approach (arXiv:1801.03454) for post-hoc segmentation of sub-objects. Its practical applicability is then demonstrated on a new concept dataset by two exemplary assessments of three standard networks, including the larger Mask R-CNN model (arXiv:1703.06870): (1) the consistency of body part similarity, and (2) the invariance of internal representations of body parts with respect to the size in pixels of the depicted person. The findings show that the representation of body parts is mostly size invariant, which may suggest an early intelligent fusion of information in different size categories.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

SpikeMS: Deep Spiking Neural Network for Motion Segmentation. (arXiv:2105.06562v1 [cs.CV])

Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) are the so-called third generation of neural networks which attempt to more closely match the functioning of the biological brain. They inherently encode temporal data, allowing for training with less energy usage and can be extremely energy efficient when coded on neuromorphic hardware. In addition, they are well suited for tasks involving event-based sensors, which match the event-based nature of the SNN. However, SNNs have not been as effectively applied to real-world, large-scale tasks as standard Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) due to the algorithmic and training complexity. To exacerbate the situation further, the input representation is unconventional and requires careful analysis and deep understanding. In this paper, we propose \textit{SpikeMS}, the first deep encoder-decoder SNN architecture for the real-world large-scale problem of motion segmentation using the event-based DVS camera as input. To accomplish this, we introduce a novel spatio-temporal loss formulation that includes both spike counts and classification labels in conjunction with the use of new techniques for SNN backpropagation. In addition, we show that \textit{SpikeMS} is capable of \textit{incremental predictions}, or predictions from smaller amounts of test data than it is trained on. This is invaluable for providing outputs even with partial input data for low-latency applications and those requiring fast predictions. We evaluated \textit{SpikeMS} on challenging synthetic and real-world sequences from EV-IMO, EED and MOD datasets and achieving results on a par with a comparable ANN method, but using potentially 50 times less power.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Distilling Optimal Neural Networks: Rapid Search in Diverse Spaces. (arXiv:2012.08859v2 [cs.LG] UPDATED)

Today, state-of-the-art Neural Architecture Search (NAS) methods cannot scale to many hardware platforms or scenarios at a low training costs and/or can only handle non-diverse, heavily constrained architectural search-spaces. To solve these issues, we present DONNA (Distilling Optimal Neural Network Architectures), a novel pipeline for rapid and diverse NAS, that scales to many user scenarios. In DONNA, a search consists of three phases. First, an accuracy predictor is built using blockwise knowledge distillation. This predictor enables searching across diverse networks with varying macro-architectural parameters such as layer types and attention mechanisms as well as across micro-architectural parameters such as block repeats and expansion rates. Second, a rapid evolutionary search phase finds a set of Pareto-optimal architectures for any scenario using the accuracy predictor and on-device measurements. Third, optimal models are quickly finetuned to training-from-scratch accuracy. With this approach, DONNA is up to 100x faster than MNasNet in finding state-of-the-art architectures on-device. Classifying ImageNet, DONNA architectures are 20% faster than EfficientNet-B0 and MobileNetV2 on a Nvidia V100 GPU and 10% faster with 0.5% higher accuracy than MobileNetV2-1.4x on a Samsung S20 smartphone. In addition to NAS, DONNA is used for search-space extension and exploration, as well as hardware-aware model compression.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 17, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Publisher Correction: Closing the gate to distractors during decision-making

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00870-0

in Nature Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Functionally distinct POMC-expressing neuron subpopulations in hypothalamus revealed by intersectional targeting

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00854-0

in Nature Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Diversity in immunogenomics: the value and the challenge

Nature Methods, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01169-5

in Nature Methods on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

PYMEVisualize: an open-source tool for exploring 3D super-resolution data

Nature Methods, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01165-9

in Nature Methods on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ultrahigh-energy photons up to 1.4 petaelectronvolts from 12 γ-ray Galactic sources

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03498-z

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Generalized superradiance for producing broadband coherent radiation with transversely modulated arbitrarily diluted bunches

Nature Physics, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01257-5

in Nature Physics on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Free electron to electride transition in dense liquid potassium

Nature Physics, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01244-w

in Nature Physics on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Generation and measurement of intense few-femtosecond superradiant extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser pulses

Nature Photonics, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00815-w

in Nature Photomics on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Community composition of microbial microcosms follows simple assembly rules at evolutionary timescales

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23247-0

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Polymer-free corticosteroid dimer implants for controlled and sustained drug delivery

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23232-7

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A universal strategy towards high–energy aqueous multivalent–ion batteries

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23209-6

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Genetic fate-mapping reveals surface accumulation but not deep organ invasion of pleural and peritoneal cavity macrophages following injury

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23197-7

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Internalization and vacuolar targeting of the brassinosteroid hormone receptor BRI1 are regulated by ubiquitination

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23193-x

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Electrochemical ammonia synthesis via nitrate reduction on Fe single atom catalyst

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23115-x

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A global resource for genomic predictions of antimicrobial resistance and surveillance of Salmonella Typhi at pathogenwatch

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23091-2

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Early turbulence and pulsatile flows enhance diodicity of Tesla’s macrofluidic valve

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23009-y

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

On-demand synthesis of phosphoramidites

Nature Communications, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22945-z

in Nature Communications on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Daily briefing: Why it took so long to grapple with airborne COVID-19

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01342-y

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

First nuclear detonation created ‘impossible’ quasicrystals

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01332-0

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Settling in: the first four years of a lab leader

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01330-2

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

COVID vaccines can block variant hitting Asia, lab study finds

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01329-9

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Designing nano-sized chemotherapy

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01322-2

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The singing neutrino Nobel laureate who nearly bombed Nevada

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01318-y

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

How new principal investigators tackled a tumultuous year

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01311-5

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ancient human faeces reveal gut microbes of the past

Nature, Published online: 17 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01266-7

in Nature on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Journal of Neurology

in Journal of Neurology on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A computational model of the shrimp-goby escape and communication system

Abstract

Fish escape from approaching threats via a stereotyped escape behavior. This behavior, and the underlying neural circuit organized around the Mauthner cell command neurons, have both been extensively investigated experimentally, mainly in two laboratory model organisms, the goldfish and the zebrafish. However, fish biodiversity is enormous, a number of variants of the basal escape behavior exist. In marine gobies (a family of small benthic fishes) which share burrows with alpheid shrimp, the escape behavior has likely been partially modified into a tactile communication system which allow the fish to communicate the approach of a predatory fish to the shrimp. In this communication system, the goby responds to intermediate-strength threats with a brief tail-flick which the shrimp senses with its antennae.

We investigated the shrimp goby escape and communication system with computational models. We asked how the circuitry of the basal escape behavior could be modified to produce behavior akin to the shrimp-goby communication system. In a simple model, we found that mutual inhibitions between Mauthner cells can be tuned to produce an oscillatory response to intermediate strength inputs, albeit only in a narrow parameter range.

Using a more detailed model, we found that two modifications of the fish locomotor system transform it into a model reproducing the shrimp goby behavior. These modifications are: 1. modifying the central pattern generator which drives swimming such that it is quiescent when receiving no inputs; 2. introducing a direct sensory input to this central pattern generator, bypassing the Mauthner cells.

in Journal of Computational Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Navigating migraine care through the COVID-19 pandemic: an update

Abstract

The worldwide treatment gap for migraine before COVID-19 inevitably widens as attention focuses on an international emergency. Migraine hits people particularly in their early and middle years, potentially reduces quality of life and productivity, and remains a common emergency presentation. This article examines the impact of COVID-19 on migraine, and changing aspects of migraine care during and after the pandemic. Many risk factors for severe COVID-19—older age, male gender, cardiac and respiratory diseases, diabetes, obesity, and immunosuppression—are less frequent in migraineurs. Telemedicine is effective for migraine follow-up, and needs ongoing evaluation. Most migraine treatments can start or continue in acute COVID-19, with care to avoid drug interactions. Close contact procedures (botulinum toxin, acupuncture and steroid injections) are avoided in lockdown or in the vulnerable. Secondary effects of COVID-19, including long COVID and its economic impact, are probably equal or greater in people with migraine. Migraine and other long-term conditions need adequate resourcing to prevent personal, social and economic suffering. Treating migraine, a sequel of COVID, potentially reduces the impact of long COVID.

in Journal of Neurology on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cannabinoid Signaling in Auditory Function and Development

Plants of the genus Cannabis have been used by humans for millennia for a variety of purposes. Perhaps most notable is the use of certain Cannabis strains for their psychoactive effects. More recently, several biologically active molecules within the plants of these Cannabis strains, called phytocannabinoids or simply cannabinoids, have been identified. Furthermore, within human cells, endogenous cannabinoids, or endocannabinoids, as well as the receptors and secondary messengers that give rise to their neuromodulatory effects, have also been characterized. This endocannabinoid system (ECS) is composed of two primary ligands—anandamide and 2-arachidonyl glycerol; two primary receptors—cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2; and several enzymes involved in biosynthesis and degradation of endocannabinoid ligands including diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL). Here we briefly summarize cannabinoid signaling and review what has been discerned to date with regard to cannabinoid signaling in the auditory system and its roles in normal physiological function as well as pathological conditions. While much has been uncovered regarding cannabinoid signaling in the central nervous system, less attention has been paid to the auditory system specifically. Still, evidence is emerging to suggest that cannabinoid signaling is critical for the development, maturation, function, and survival of cochlear hair cells (HCs) and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs). Furthermore, cannabinoid signaling can have profound effects on synaptic connectivity in CNS structures related to auditory processing. While clinical cases demonstrate that endogenous and exogenous cannabinoids impact auditory function, this review highlights several areas, such as SGN development, where more research is warranted.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Role of Cellular Calcium Disorder in Varicella Zoster Virus-Induced Post-Herpetic Neuralgia

As a typical neuropathic pain, post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common complication of herpes zoster (HZ), which seriously affects the normal life and work of patients. The unclear pathogenesis and lack of effective drugs make the clinical efficacy of PHN unsatisfactory. Here, we obtained the transcriptome profile of neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and DRG in rats infected with varicella zoster virus (VZV) by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) combined with publicly available gene array data sets. Next, the data processing of the transcriptome map was analyzed using bioinformatics methods, including the screening of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), Gene Ontology (GO), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Finally, real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the expression of calcium-related genes, and calcium fluorescent probes and calcium colorimetry were used to evaluate the distribution and content of calcium ions in cells after VZV infection. Transcriptome data analysis (GO and KEGG enrichment analysis) showed that calcium disorder played an important role in SH-SY5Y cells infected by VZV and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of the PHN rat model. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression levels of calcium-related genes BHLHA15, CACNA1F, CACNG1, CHRNA9, and STC2 were significantly upregulated, while the expression levels of CHRNA10, HRC, and TNNT3 were significantly downregulated in SH-SY5Y cells infected with VZV. Our calcium fluorescent probe and calcium colorimetric test results showed that VZV could change the distribution of calcium ions in infected cells and significantly increase the intracellular calcium content. In conclusion, our results revealed that the persistence of calcium disorder caused by VZV in nerve cells might be a crucial cause of herpetic neuralgia, and a potential target for clinical diagnosis and treatment of PHN.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Single-Nucleus Chromatin Accessibility Landscape Reveals Diversity in Regulatory Regions Across Distinct Adult Rat Cortex

Rats have been widely used as an experimental organism in psychological, pharmacological, and behavioral studies by modeling human diseases such as neurological disorders. It is critical to identify and characterize cell fate determinants and their regulatory mechanisms in single-cell resolutions across rat brain regions. Here, we applied droplet-based single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (snATAC-seq) to systematically profile the single-cell chromatin accessibility across four dissected brain areas in adult Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats with a total of 59,023 single nuclei and identified 16 distinct cell types. Interestingly, we found that different cortex regions exhibit diversity in both cellular compositions and gene regulatory regions. Several cell-type-specific transcription factors (TFs), including SPI1, KLF4, KLF6, and NEUROD2, have been shown to play important roles during the pathogenesis of various neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), astrocytic gliomas, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disabilities. Therefore, our single-nucleus atlas of rat cortex could serve as an invaluable resource for dissecting the regulatory mechanisms underlying diverse cortex cell fates and further revealing the regulatory networks of neuropathogenesis.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Photoacoustic Mouse Brain Imaging Using an Optical Fabry-Pérot Interferometric Ultrasound Sensor

Photoacoustic (PA, or optoacoustic, OA) mesoscopy is a powerful tool for mouse cerebral imaging, which offers high resolution three-dimensional (3D) images with optical absorption contrast inside the optically turbid brain. The image quality of a PA mesoscope relies on the ultrasonic transducer which detects the PA signals. An all-optical ultrasound sensor based on a Fabry-Pérot (FP) polymer cavity has the following advantages: broadband frequency response, wide angular coverage and small footprint. Here, we present 3D PA mesoscope for mouse brain imaging using such an optical sensor. A heating laser was used to stabilize the sensor’s cavity length during the imaging process. To acquire data for a 3D angiogram of the mouse brain, the sensor was mounted on a translation stage and raster scanned. 3D images of the mouse brain vasculature were reconstructed which showed cerebrovascular structure up to a depth of 8 mm with high quality. Imaging segmentation and dual wavelength imaging were performed to demonstrate the potential of the system in preclinical brain research.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Distribution of Skull Score and Skull Density Ratio in Tremor Patients for MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a minimum-invasive surgical approach to non-incisionally cause the thermos-coagulation inside the human brain. The skull score (SS) has already been approved as one of the most dominant factors related to a successful MRgFUS treatment. In this study, we first reveal the SS distribution of the tremor patients, and correlate the SS with the image feature from customized skull density ratio (cSDR). This correlation might give a direction to future clinical studies for improving the SS.

Two hundred and forty-six patients received a computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain, and a bone-enhanced filter was applied and reconstructed to a high spatial resolution CT images. The SS of all patients would be estimated by the MRgFUS system after importing the reconstructed CT images into the MRgFUS system. The histogram and the cumulative distribution of the SS from all the patients were calculated to show the percentage of the patients whose SS lower than 0.3 and 0.4. The same CT images of all patients were utilized to calculated the cSDR by first segmented the trabecular bone and the cortical bone from the CT images and divided the average trabecular bone intensity (aTBI) by the average cortical bone intensity (aCBI). The Pearson’s correlations between the SS and the cSDR, aTBI, and the aCBI were calculated, respectively.

There were 19.19 and 50% of the patient who had the SS lower than the empirical threshold 0.3 and 0.4, respectively. The Pearson’s correlation between the SS and the cSDR, aCBI, and the aTBI were R = 0.8145, 0.5723, and 0.8842.

Half of the patients were eligible for the MRgFUS thalamotomy based on the SS, and nearly 20% of patients were empirically difficult to achieve a therapeutic temperature during MRgFUS. The SS and our cSDR are highly correlated, and the SS had a higher correlation with aTBI than with aCBI. This is the first report to explicitly reveal the SS population and indicate a potential way to increase the chance to achieve a therapeutic temperature for those who originally have low SS.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A Probabilistic Atlas of the Pineal Gland in the Standard Space

Pineal gland (PG) is a structure located in the midline of the brain, and is considered as a main part of the epithalamus. There are numerous reports on the facilitatory role of this area for brain function; hormone secretion and its role in sleep cycle are the major reports. However, reports are rarely available on the direct role of this structure in brain cognition and in information processing. A suggestion for the limited number of such studies is the lack of a standard atlas for the PG; none of the available MRI templates and atlases has provided parcellations for this structure. In this study, we used the three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted MRI data of 152 healthy young volunteers, and provided a probabilistic map of the PG in the standard Montreal Neurologic Institute (MNI) space. The methods included collecting the data using a 64-channel head coil on a 3-Tesla Prisma MRI Scanner, manual delineation of the PG by two experts, and robust template and atlas construction algorithms. This atlas is freely accessible, and we hope importing this atlas in the well-known neuroimaging software packages would help to identify other probable roles of the PG in brain function. It could also be used to study pineal cysts, for volumetric analyses, and to test any associations between the cognitive abilities of the human and the structure of the PG.

in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Idiosyncratic Characteristics of Postural Sway in Normal and Perturbed Standing

Are people with a characteristically large physiological sway rendered particularly unstable when standing on a moving surface? Is postural sway in standing individuals idiosyncratic? In this study, we examine postural sway in individuals standing normally, and when subtle continuous sinusoidal disturbances are applied to their support platform. We calculate consistency between conditions to verify if sway can be considered characteristic of each individual. We also correlate two different aspects of participants’ responses to disturbance; their sway velocity and their regulation of body orientation.

Nineteen healthy adults (age 29.2 ± 3.2 years) stood freely on footplates coaxially aligned with their ankles and attached to a motorized platform. They had their eyes closed, and hips and knees locked with a light wooden board attached to their body. Participants either stood quietly on a fixed platform or on a slowly tilting platform (0.1 Hz sinusoid; 0.2 and 0.4 deg). Postural sway size was separated into two entities: (1) the spontaneous sway velocity component (natural random relatively rapid postural adjustments, RMS body angular velocity) and (2) the evoked tilt gain component (much slower 0.1 Hz synchronous tilt induced by the movement of the platform, measured as peak-to-peak (p-p) gain, ratio of body angle to applied footplate rotation).

There was no correlation between the velocity of an individual’s sway and their evoked tilt gain (r = 0.34, p = 0.15 and r = 0.30, p = 0.22). However, when considered separately, each of the two measurements showed fair to good absolute agreement within conditions. Spontaneous sway velocity consistently increased as participants were subjected to increasing disturbance. Participants who swayed more (or less) did so across all conditions [ICC_(3,k) = 0.95]. Evoked tilt gain also showed consistency between conditions [ICC_(3,k) = 0.79], but decreased from least to most disturbed conditions.

The two measurements remain consistent between conditions. Consistency between conditions of two very distinct unrelated measurements reflects the idiosyncratic nature of postural sway. However, sway velocity and tilt gain are not related, which supports the idea that the short-term regulation of stability and the longer-term regulation of orientation are controlled by different processes.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Role of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for Speech and Language Processing

This review article summarizes various functions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that are related to language processing. To this end, its connectivity with the left-dominant perisylvian language network was considered, as well as its interaction with other functional networks that, directly or indirectly, contribute to language processing. Language-related functions of the DLPFC comprise various aspects of pragmatic processing such as discourse management, integration of prosody, interpretation of nonliteral meanings, inference making, ambiguity resolution, and error repair. Neurophysiologically, the DLPFC seems to be a key region for implementing functional connectivity between the language network and other functional networks, including cortico-cortical as well as subcortical circuits. Considering clinical aspects, damage to the DLPFC causes psychiatric communication deficits rather than typical aphasic language syndromes. Although the number of well-controlled studies on DLPFC language functions is still limited, the DLPFC might be an important target region for the treatment of pragmatic language disorders.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Indirect Vibration of the Upper Limbs Alters Transmission Along Spinal but Not Corticospinal Pathways

The use of upper limb vibration (ULV) during exercise and rehabilitation continues to gain popularity as a modality to improve function and performance. Currently, a lack of knowledge of the pathways being altered during ULV limits its effective implementation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether indirect ULV modulates transmission along spinal and corticospinal pathways that control the human forearm. All measures were assessed under CONTROL (no vibration) and ULV (30 Hz; 0.4 mm displacement) conditions while participants maintained a small contraction of the right flexor carpi radialis (FCR) muscle. To assess spinal pathways, Hoffmann reflexes (H-reflexes) elicited by stimulation of the median nerve were recorded from FCR with motor response (M-wave) amplitudes matched between conditions. An H-reflex conditioning paradigm was also used to assess changes in presynaptic inhibition by stimulating the superficial radial (SR) nerve (5 pulses at 300Hz) 37 ms prior to median nerve stimulation. Cutaneous reflexes in FCR elicited by stimulation of the SR nerve at the wrist were also recorded. To assess corticospinal pathways, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation of the contralateral motor cortex were recorded from the right FCR and biceps brachii (BB). ULV significantly reduced H-reflex amplitude by 15.7% for both conditioned and unconditioned reflexes (24.0 ± 15.7 vs. 18.4 ± 11.2% M_max; p < 0.05). Middle latency cutaneous reflexes were also significantly reduced by 20.0% from CONTROL (−1.50 ± 2.1% Mmax) to ULV (−1.73 ± 2.2% Mmax; p < 0.05). There was no significant effect of ULV on MEP amplitude (p > 0.05). Therefore, ULV inhibits cutaneous and H-reflex transmission without influencing corticospinal excitability of the forearm flexors suggesting increased presynaptic inhibition of afferent transmission as a likely mechanism. A general increase in inhibition of spinal pathways with ULV may have important implications for improving rehabilitation for individuals with spasticity (SCI, stroke, MS, etc.).

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Layer-Skipping Connections Improve the Effectiveness of Equilibrium Propagation on Layered Networks

Equilibrium propagation is a learning framework that marks a step forward in the search for a biologically-plausible implementation of deep learning, and could be implemented efficiently in neuromorphic hardware. Previous applications of this framework to layered networks encountered a vanishing gradient problem that has not yet been solved in a simple, biologically-plausible way. In this paper, we demonstrate that the vanishing gradient problem can be mitigated by replacing some of a layered network's connections with random layer-skipping connections in a manner inspired by small-world networks. This approach would be convenient to implement in neuromorphic hardware, and is biologically-plausible.

in Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Function and Regulation of ALDH1A1-Positive Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Neurons in Motor Control and Parkinson’s Disease

Dopamine is an important chemical messenger in the brain, which modulates movement, reward, motivation, and memory. Different populations of neurons can produce and release dopamine in the brain and regulate different behaviors. Here we focus our discussion on a small but distinct group of dopamine-producing neurons, which display the most profound loss in the ventral substantia nigra pas compacta of patients with Parkinson’s disease. This group of dopaminergic neurons can be readily identified by a selective expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1) and accounts for 70% of total nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons in both human and mouse brains. Recently, we presented the first whole-brain circuit map of these ALDH1A1-positive dopaminergic neurons and reveal an essential physiological function of these neurons in regulating the vigor of movement during the acquisition of motor skills. In this review, we first summarize previous findings of ALDH1A1-positive nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons and their connectivity and functionality, and then provide perspectives on how the activity of ALDH1A1-positive nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons is regulated through integrating diverse presynaptic inputs and its implications for potential Parkinson’s disease treatment.

in Frontiers in Neural Circuits on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: Stem Cells and Aging

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Circulating Neurofilament Light Predicts Cognitive Decline in Patients With Post-stroke Subjective Cognitive Impairment

Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is common after acute ischemic stroke and adversely affects the quality of life. SCI is associated with an increased risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Identifying biomarkers which could predict long-term cognitive outcomes of post-stroke SCI is of importance for early intervention. This study aims to investigate the association between circulating neurofilament light (NfL) and long-term cognitive function in patients with post-stroke SCI.

This longitudinal study recruited 304 patients with post-stroke SCI, and serum NfL levels were determined at baseline. These patients were followed up for 12 months for the observation of cognitive change. Cognitive performances were assessed by a Chinese version of the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status-40 (TICS-40) scale.

The patients were divided into a progression group (as determined by decreased TICS-40 scores) and a stable group (as determined by increased or unchanged TICS-40 scores). The progression group had significantly higher serum NfL levels than the stable group at baseline. Serum NfL levels were predictive for longitudinal cognitive decline during follow-up.

These findings imply that circulating NfL could predict the long-term cognitive change of patients with post-stroke SCI.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Molecular Pathobiology of the Cerebrovasculature in Aging and in Alzheimers Disease Cases With Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Cerebrovascular dysfunction and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) are hallmark features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Molecular damage to cerebrovessels in AD may result in alterations in vascular clearance mechanisms leading to amyloid deposition around blood vessels and diminished neurovascular-coupling. The sequelae of molecular events leading to these early pathogenic changes remains elusive. To address this, we conducted a comprehensive in-depth molecular characterization of the proteomic changes in enriched cerebrovessel fractions isolated from the inferior frontal gyrus of autopsy AD cases with low (85.5 ± 2.9 yrs) vs. high (81 ± 4.4 yrs) CAA score, aged-matched control (87.4 ± 1.5 yrs) and young healthy control (47 ± 3.3 yrs) cases. We employed a 10-plex tandem isobaric mass tag approach in combination with our ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography MS/MS (Q-Exactive) method. Enriched cerebrovascular fractions showed very high expression levels of proteins specific to endothelial cells, mural cells (pericytes and smooth muscle cells), and astrocytes. We observed 150 significantly regulated proteins in young vs. aged control cerebrovessels. The top pathways significantly modulated with aging included chemokine, reelin, HIF1α and synaptogenesis signaling pathways. There were 213 proteins significantly regulated in aged-matched control vs. high CAA cerebrovessels. The top three pathways significantly altered from this comparison were oxidative phosphorylation, Sirtuin signaling pathway and TCA cycle II. Comparison between low vs. high CAA cerebrovessels identified 84 significantly regulated proteins. Top three pathways significantly altered between low vs. high CAA cerebrovessels included TCA Cycle II, Oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Notably, high CAA cases included more advanced AD pathology thus cerebrovascular effects may be driven by the severity of amyloid and Tangle pathology. These descriptive proteomic changes provide novel insights to explain the age-related and AD-related cerebrovascular changes contributing to AD pathogenesis. Particularly, disturbances in energy bioenergetics and mitochondrial biology rank among the top AD pathways altered in cerebrovessels. Targeting these failed mechanisms in endothelia and mural cells may provide novel disease modifying targets for developing therapeutic strategies against cerebrovascular deterioration and promoting cerebral perfusion in AD. Our future work will focus on interrogating and validating these novel targets and pathways and their functional significance.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Danger zone

in eLife on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Signaling levels mold the RAS mutation tropism of urethane

in eLife on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The crystal structure of bromide-bound GtACR1 reveals a pre-activated state in the transmembrane anion tunnel

in eLife on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Clustered functional domains for curves and corners in cortical area V4

in eLife on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Causal relationship of CA3 back-projection to the dentate gyrus and its role in CA1 fast ripple generation

in BMC Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Inhibitory control training reveals a common neurofunctional basis for generic executive functions and language switching in bilinguals

in BMC Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial antagonist polyamides from tunicates and their predatory sea slugs

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Transcriptome analysis provides genome annotation and expression profiles in the central nervous system of Lymnaea stagnalis at different ages

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

In mice and humans, the brain's blood vessels mature postnatally to acquire barrier and contractile properties

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Synaptic targets of functionally specialized R7 and R8 photoreceptors in the central eye and dorsal rim area of Drosophila

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Alcohol Use Disrupts Age-Appropriate Cortical Thinning in Adolescence: A Data Driven Approach

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Gymnasts' ability for general motor imagery evaluated by bioelectric sensorimotor rhythms

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Unsupervised learning for robust working memory

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts is a developmental disorder of the gliovascular unit

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

LACTATE IS A MAJOR ENERGY SUBSTRATE FOR CORTICAL NEURONS AND ENHANCES THEIR FIRING ACTIVITY

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Probabilistically Weighted Multilayer Networks disclose the link between default mode network instability and psychosis-like experiences in healthy adults

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Compensatory changes in contralesional node strength, brain wide modularity and cross-modular functional interactions in a rat model of traumatic brain injury

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Schema representations in distinct brain networks support narrative memory during encoding and retrieval

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Human fetal neural stem cell-derived astrocytes maintain glutamate transport after hypoxic injury in vitro

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Impaired α-tubulin re-tyrosination leads to synaptic dysfunction and is a feature of Alzheimer's disease

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies of Semantic Cognition in Children

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Slow Cortical Waves via Cyclicity

in bioRxiv: Neuroscience on May 17, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Characterization of extracranial giant cell arteritis with intracranial involvement and its rapidly progressive subtype

in Annals of Neurology on May 16, 2021 12:38 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Biological Cybernetics

in Biological Cybernetics on May 16, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Experimental Brain Research

in Experimental Brain Research on May 16, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A model of feedforward, global, and lateral inhibition in the locust visual system predicts responses to looming stimuli

Abstract

Detection of looming obstacles is a vital task for both natural and artificial systems. Locusts possess a visual nervous system with an extensively studied obstacle detection pathway, culminating in the lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) neuron. While numerous models of this system exist, none to date have incorporated recent data on the anatomy and function of feedforward and global inhibitory systems in the input network of the LGMD. Moreover, the possibility that global and lateral inhibition shape the feedforward inhibitory signals to the LGMD has not been investigated. To address these points, a novel model of feedforward inhibitory neurons in the locust optic lobe was developed based on the recent literature. This model also incorporated global and lateral inhibition into the afferent network of these neurons, based on their observed behaviour in existing data and the posited role of these mechanisms in the inputs to the LGMD. Tests with the model showed that it accurately replicates the behaviour of feedforward inhibitory neurons in locusts; the model accurately coded for stimulus angular size in an overall linear fashion, with decreasing response saturation and increasing linearity as stimulus size increased or approach velocity decreased. The model also exhibited only phasic responses to the appearance of a grating, along with sustained movement by it at constant speed. By observing the effects of altering inhibition schemes on these responses, it was determined that global inhibition serves primarily to normalize growing excitation as collision approaches, and keeps coding for subtense angle linear. Lateral inhibition was determined to suppress tonic responses to wide-field stimuli translating at constant speed. Based on these features being shared with characterizations of the LGMD input network, it was hypothesized that the feedforward inhibitory neurons and the LGMD share the same excitatory afferents; this necessitates further investigation.

in Biological Cybernetics on May 16, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Locomotor action sequences impact the scale of representation in hippocampus and posterior parietal cortex

in Hippocampus on May 15, 2021 09:10 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Effects of subclinical depression on prefrontal–striatal model-based and model-free learning

by Suyeon Heo, Yoondo Sung, Sang Wan Lee

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 14, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

What we can and what we cannot see with extracellular multielectrodes

by Chaitanya Chintaluri, Marta Bejtka, Władysław Średniawa, Michał Czerwiński, Jakub M. Dzik, Joanna Jędrzejewska-Szmek, Kacper Kondrakiewicz, Ewa Kublik, Daniel K. Wójcik

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 14, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Classification of visuomotor tasks based on electroencephalographic data depends on age-related differences in brain activity patterns

Publication date: Available online 13 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): C. Goelz, K. Mora, J. Rudisch, R. Gaidai, E. Reuter, B. Godde, C. Reinsberger, C. Voelcker-Rehage, S. Vieluf

in Neural Networks on May 14, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Anti-transfer learning for task invariance in convolutional neural networks for speech processing

Publication date: Available online 14 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Eric Guizzo, Tillman Weyde, Giacomo Tarroni

in Neural Networks on May 14, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Specific neuronal subpopulations in the rat basolateral amygdala express high levels of nonphosphorylated neurofilaments

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 14, 2021 12:08 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

SCAU: Modeling spectral causality for multivariate time series with applications to electroencephalograms. (arXiv:2105.06418v1 [stat.ME])

Electroencephalograms (EEG) are noninvasive measurement signals of electrical neuronal activity in the brain. One of the current major statistical challenges is formally measuring functional dependency between those complex signals. This paper, proposes the spectral causality model (SCAU), a robust linear model, under a causality paradigm, to reflect inter- and intra-frequency modulation effects that cannot be identifiable using other methods. SCAU inference is conducted with three main steps: (a) signal decomposition into frequency bins, (b) intermediate spectral band mapping, and (c) dependency modeling through frequency-specific autoregressive models (VAR). We apply SCAU to study complex dependencies during visual and lexical fluency tasks (word generation and visual fixation) in 26 participants' EEGs. We compared the connectivity networks estimated using SCAU with respect to a VAR model. SCAU networks show a clear contrast for both stimuli while the magnitude links also denoted a low variance in comparison with the VAR networks. Furthermore, SCAU dependency connections not only were consistent with findings in the neuroscience literature, but it also provided further evidence on the directionality of the spatio-spectral dependencies such as the delta-originated and theta-induced links in the fronto-temporal brain network.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Loosely Conditioned Emulation of Global Climate Models With Generative Adversarial Networks. (arXiv:2105.06386v1 [physics.ao-ph])

Climate models encapsulate our best understanding of the Earth system, allowing research to be conducted on its future under alternative assumptions of how human-driven climate forces are going to evolve. An important application of climate models is to provide metrics of mean and extreme climate changes, particularly under these alternative future scenarios, as these quantities drive the impacts of climate on society and natural systems. Because of the need to explore a wide range of alternative scenarios and other sources of uncertainties in a computationally efficient manner, climate models can only take us so far, as they require significant computational resources, especially when attempting to characterize extreme events, which are rare and thus demand long and numerous simulations in order to accurately represent their changing statistics. Here we use deep learning in a proof of concept that lays the foundation for emulating global climate model output for different scenarios. We train two "loosely conditioned" Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) that emulate daily precipitation output from a fully coupled Earth system model: one GAN modeling Fall-Winter behavior and the other Spring-Summer. Our GANs are trained to produce spatiotemporal samples: 32 days of precipitation over a 64x128 regular grid discretizing the globe. We evaluate the generator with a set of related performance metrics based upon KL divergence, and find the generated samples to be nearly as well matched to the test data as the validation data is to test. We also find the generated samples to accurately estimate the mean number of dry days and mean longest dry spell in the 32 day samples. Our trained GANs can rapidly generate numerous realizations at a vastly reduced computational expense, compared to large ensembles of climate models, which greatly aids in estimating the statistics of extreme events.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Class-Incremental Learning for Wireless Device Identification in IoT. (arXiv:2105.06381v1 [cs.LG])

Deep Learning (DL) has been utilized pervasively in the Internet of Things (IoT). One typical application of DL in IoT is device identification from wireless signals, namely Non-cryptographic Device Identification (NDI). However, learning components in NDI systems have to evolve to adapt to operational variations, such a paradigm is termed as Incremental Learning (IL). Various IL algorithms have been proposed and many of them require dedicated space to store the increasing amount of historical data, and therefore, they are not suitable for IoT or mobile applications. However, conventional IL schemes can not provide satisfying performance when historical data are not available. In this paper, we address the IL problem in NDI from a new perspective, firstly, we provide a new metric to measure the degree of topological maturity of DNN models from the degree of conflict of class-specific fingerprints. We discover that an important cause for performance degradation in IL enabled NDI is owing to the conflict of devices' fingerprints. Second, we also show that the conventional IL schemes can lead to low topological maturity of DNN models in NDI systems. Thirdly, we propose a new Channel Separation Enabled Incremental Learning (CSIL) scheme without using historical data, in which our strategy can automatically separate devices' fingerprints in different learning stages and avoid potential conflict. Finally, We evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed framework using real data from ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast), an application of IoT in aviation. The proposed framework has the potential to be applied to accurate identification of IoT devices in a variety of IoT applications and services. Data and code available at IEEE Dataport (DOI: 10.21227/1bxc-ke87) and \url{https://github.com/pcwhy/CSIL}}

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

HeunNet: Extending ResNet using Heun's Methods. (arXiv:2105.06168v2 [cs.LG] UPDATED)

There is an analogy between the ResNet (Residual Network) architecture for deep neural networks and an Euler solver for an ODE. The transformation performed by each layer resembles an Euler step in solving an ODE. We consider the Heun Method, which involves a single predictor-corrector cycle, and complete the analogy, building a predictor-corrector variant of ResNet, which we call a HeunNet. Just as Heun's method is more accurate than Euler's, experiments show that HeunNet achieves high accuracy with low computational (both training and test) time compared to both vanilla recurrent neural networks and other ResNet variants.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Negative Selection Algorithm Research and Applications in the last decade: A Review. (arXiv:2105.06109v1 [cs.NE])

The Negative selection Algorithm (NSA) is one of the important methods in the field of Immunological Computation (or Artificial Immune Systems). Over the years, some progress was made which turns this algorithm (NSA) into an efficient approach to solve problems in different domain. This review takes into account these signs of progress during the last decade and categorizes those based on different characteristics and performances. Our study shows that NSA's evolution can be labeled in four ways highlighting the most notable NSA variations and their limitations in different application domains. We also present alternative approaches to NSA for comparison and analysis. It is evident that NSA performs better for nonlinear representation than most of the other methods, and it can outperform neural-based models in computation time. We summarize NSA's development and highlight challenges in NSA research in comparison with other similar models.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dynamical Origin for Winner-Take-All Competition in A Biological Network of The Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus. (arXiv:2105.06057v1 [q-bio.NC])

We consider a biological network of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). The DG is a pre-processor for pattern separation which facilitates pattern storage and retrieval in the CA3 area of the hippocampus. The main encoding cells in the DG are the granule cells (GCs) which receive the input from the entorhinal cortex (EC) and send their output to the CA3. The activation degree of GCs is so low (~ 5%). This sparsity has been thought to enhance the pattern separation. We investigate the dynamical origin for winner-take-all (WTA) competition which leads to sparse activation of the GCs. The whole GCs are grouped into lamellar clusters. In each GC cluster, there is one inhibitory (I) basket cell (BC) along with excitatory (E) GCs. There are three kinds of external inputs into the GCs; the direct excitatory EC input, the indirect inhibitory EC input, mediated by the HIPP (hilar perforant path-associated) cells, and the excitatory input from the hilar mossy cells (MCs). The firing activities of the GCs are determined via competition between the external E and I inputs. The E-I conductance ratio ${\cal{R}}_{\rm E-I}^{\rm (con)*}$ (given by the time average of the external E to I conductances) may represents well the degree of such external E-I input competition. GCs become active when their $\cal{R}_{\rm E-I}^{\rm (con)*}$ is larger than a threshold ${\cal{R}}_{th}^*$, and then the mean firing rates of the active GCs are strongly correlated with $\cal{R}_{\rm E-I}^{\rm (con)*}$. In each GC cluster, the feedback inhibition of the BC may select the winner GCs. GCs with larger $\cal{R}_{\rm E-I}^{\rm (con)*}$ than the threshold ${\cal{R}}_{th}^*$ survive, and they become winners; all the other GCs with smaller $\cal{R}_{\rm E-I}^{\rm (con)*}$ become silent. The WTA competition occurs via competition between the firing activity of the GCs and the feedback inhibition from the BC in each GC cluster.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dynamical Isometry: The Missing Ingredient for Neural Network Pruning. (arXiv:2105.05916v1 [cs.LG])

Several recent works [40, 24] observed an interesting phenomenon in neural network pruning: A larger finetuning learning rate can improve the final performance significantly. Unfortunately, the reason behind it remains elusive up to date. This paper is meant to explain it through the lens of dynamical isometry [42]. Specifically, we examine neural network pruning from an unusual perspective: pruning as initialization for finetuning, and ask whether the inherited weights serve as a good initialization for the finetuning? The insights from dynamical isometry suggest a negative answer. Despite its critical role, this issue has not been well-recognized by the community so far. In this paper, we will show the understanding of this problem is very important -- on top of explaining the aforementioned mystery about the larger finetuning rate, it also unveils the mystery about the value of pruning [5, 30]. Besides a clearer theoretical understanding of pruning, resolving the problem can also bring us considerable performance benefits in practice.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Power of the Weisfeiler-Leman Algorithm for Machine Learning with Graphs. (arXiv:2105.05911v1 [cs.LG])

In recent years, algorithms and neural architectures based on the Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm, a well-known heuristic for the graph isomorphism problem, emerged as a powerful tool for (supervised) machine learning with graphs and relational data. Here, we give a comprehensive overview of the algorithm's use in a machine learning setting. We discuss the theoretical background, show how to use it for supervised graph- and node classification, discuss recent extensions, and its connection to neural architectures. Moreover, we give an overview of current applications and future directions to stimulate research.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Coverage Guided Testing for Recurrent Neural Networks. (arXiv:1911.01952v3 [cs.LG] UPDATED)

Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) have been applied to a broad range of applications, including natural language processing, drug discovery, and video recognition. Their vulnerability to input perturbation is also known. Aligning with a view from software defect detection, this paper aims to develop a coverage guided testing approach to systematically exploit the internal behaviour of RNNs, with the expectation that such testing can detect defects with high possibility. Technically, the long short term memory network (LSTM), a major class of RNNs, is thoroughly studied. A family of three test metrics are designed to quantify not only the values but also the temporal relations (including both step-wise and bounded-length) exhibited when LSTM processing inputs. A genetic algorithm is applied to efficiently generate test cases. The test metrics and test case generation algorithm are implemented into a tool TestRNN, which is then evaluated on a set of LSTM benchmarks. Experiments confirm that TestRNN has advantages over the state-of-art tool DeepStellar and attack-based defect detection methods, owing to its working with finer temporal semantics and the consideration of the naturalness of input perturbation. Furthermore, TestRNN enables meaningful information to be collected and exhibited for users to understand the testing results, which is an important step towards interpretable neural network testing.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 14, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Remembering Mary Jeanne Kreek and her many contributions to addiction science

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00863-z

in Nature Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Addendum: Topological superconductivity: Quantized, finally

Nature Physics, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01261-9

in Nature Physics on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

More speed out of the quantum gate

Nature Physics, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01195-2

in Nature Physics on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Nanoantenna tunnelling currents record laser waves

Nature Photonics, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00824-9

in Nature Photomics on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Microscale Schottky superlubric generator with high direct-current density and ultralong life

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23563-5

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Publisher Correction: Structural characterization of ice XIX as the second polymorph related to ice VI

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23514-0

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Molecular interaction and inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 binding to the ACE2 receptor

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23498-x

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Direct observation of excitonic instability in Ta₂NiSe₅

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23476-3

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Quality control of protein reagents for the improvement of research data reproducibility

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23167-z

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Andreev reflection of fractional quantum Hall quasiparticles

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23160-6

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Chemoselective catalytic hydrodefluorination of trifluoromethylalkenes towards mono-/gem-di-fluoroalkenes under metal-free conditions

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23101-3

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Printable homocomposite hydrogels with synergistically reinforced molecular-colloidal networks

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23098-9

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Reply to “Re-evaluating the evidence for facilitation of stickleback speciation by admixture in the Lake Constance basin”

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23096-x

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Re-evaluating the evidence for facilitation of stickleback speciation by admixture in the Lake Constance basin

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23092-1

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: miR-3188 regulates nasopharyngeal carcinoma proliferation and chemosensitivity through a FOXO1-modulated positive feedback loop with mTOR–p-PI3K/AKT-c-JUN

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22959-7

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Degradation mechanism of hybrid tin-based perovskite solar cells and the critical role of tin (IV) iodide

Nature Communications, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22864-z

in Nature Communications on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Daily briefing: Delayed second Pfizer dose boosts immune response

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01324-0

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

C. Austen Angell (1933–2021)

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01319-x

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Coronapod: The variant blamed for India's catastrophic second wave

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01308-0

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

China has landed its first rover on Mars — here’s what happens next

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01301-7

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Kids with ‘bubble baby disease’ see gains after gene therapy

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01300-8

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

India’s neighbours race to sequence genomes as COVID surges

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01287-2

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Microbes in Neanderthals’ mouths reveal their carb-laden diet

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01260-z

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Actin mixes up mitochondria for inheritance

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01115-7

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Breastfeeding influences the neonatal virome

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01112-w

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mining the gaps of chromosome 8

Nature, Published online: 14 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01095-8

in Nature on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Translational Block in Stroke: A Constructive and “Out-of-the-Box” Reappraisal

Why can we still not translate preclinical research to clinical treatments for acute strokes? Despite > 1000 successful preclinical studies, drugs, and concepts for acute stroke, only two have reached clinical translation. This is the translational block. Yet, we continue to routinely model strokes using almost the same concepts we have used for over 30 years. Methodological improvements and criteria from the last decade have shed some light but have not solved the problem. In this conceptual analysis, we review the current status and reappraise it by thinking “out-of-the-box” and over the edges. As such, we query why other scientific fields have also faced the same translational failures, to find common denominators. In parallel, we query how migraine, multiple sclerosis, and hypothermia in hypoxic encephalopathy have achieved significant translation successes. Should we view ischemic stroke as a “chronic, relapsing, vascular” disease, then secondary prevention strategies are also a successful translation. Finally, based on the lessons learned, we propose how stroke should be modeled, and how preclinical and clinical scientists, editors, grant reviewers, and industry should reconsider their routine way of conducting research. Translational success for stroke treatments may eventually require a bold change with solutions that are outside of the box.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neurodegeneration on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Detection and Grading of Gliomas Using a Novel Two-Phase Machine Learning Method Based on MRI Images

The early detection and grading of gliomas is important for treatment decision and assessment of prognosis. Over the last decade numerous automated computer analysis tools have been proposed, which can potentially lead to more reliable and reproducible brain tumor diagnostic procedures. In this paper, we used the gradient-based features extracted from structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) images to depict the subtle changes within brains of patients with gliomas. Based on the gradient features, we proposed a novel two-phase classification framework for detection and grading of gliomas. In the first phase, the probability of each local feature being related to different types (e.g., diseased or healthy for detection, benign or malignant for grading) was calculated. Then the high-level feature representing the whole MRI image was generated by concatenating the membership probability of each local feature. In the second phase, the supervised classification algorithm was used to train a classifier based on the high-level features and patient labels of the training subjects. We applied this framework on the brain imaging data collected from Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University for glioma detection, and the public TCIA datasets including glioblastomas (WHO IV) and low-grade gliomas (WHO II and III) data for glioma grading. The experimental results showed that the gradient-based classification framework could be a promising tool for automatic diagnosis of brain tumors.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Neurostimulation for Stroke Rehabilitation

Neurological injuries such as strokes can lead to important loss in motor function. Thanks to neuronal plasticity, some of the lost functionality may be recovered over time. However, the recovery process is often slow and incomplete, despite the most effective conventional rehabilitation therapies. As we improve our understanding of the rules governing activity-dependent plasticity, neuromodulation interventions are being developed to harness neural plasticity to achieve faster and more complete recovery. Here, we review the principles underlying stimulation-driven plasticity as well as the most commonly used stimulation techniques and approaches. We argue that increased spatiotemporal precision is an important factor to improve the efficacy of neurostimulation and drive a more useful neuronal reorganization. Consequently, closed-loop systems and optogenetic stimulation hold theoretical promise as interventions to promote brain repair after stroke.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neural Technology on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Prefrontal Cortex Activation During Motor Sequence Learning Under Interleaved and Repetitive Practice: A Two-Channel Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Training under high interference conditions through interleaved practice (IP) results in performance suppression during training but enhances long-term performance relative to repetitive practice (RP) involving low interference. Previous neuroimaging work addressing this contextual interference effect of motor learning has relied heavily on the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methodology resulting in mixed reports of prefrontal cortex (PFC) recruitment under IP and RP conditions. We sought to clarify these equivocal findings by imaging bilateral PFC recruitment using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) while discrete key pressing sequences were trained under IP and RP schedules and subsequently tested following a 24-h delay. An advantage of fNIRS over the fMRI BOLD response is that the former measures oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin changes independently allowing for assessment of cortical hemodynamics even when there is neurovascular decoupling. Despite slower sequence performance durations under IP, bilateral PFC oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin values did not differ between practice conditions. During test, however, slower performance from those previously trained under RP coincided with hemispheric asymmetry in PFC recruitment. Specifically, following RP, test deoxygenated hemoglobin values were significantly lower in the right PFC. The present findings contrast with previous behavioral demonstrations of increased cognitive demand under IP to illustrate a more complex involvement of the PFC in the contextual interference effect. IP and RP incur similar levels of bilateral PFC recruitment, but the processes underlying the recruitment are dissimilar. PFC recruitment during IP supports action reconstruction and memory elaboration while RP relies on PFC recruitment to maintain task variation information in working memory from trial to trial. While PFC recruitment under RP serves to enhance immediate performance, it does not support long-term performance.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Elevated Inter-Brain Coherence Between Subjects With Concordant Stances During Discussion of Social Issues

Social media platforms offer convenient, instantaneous social sharing on a mass scale with tremendous impact on public perceptions, opinions, and behavior. There is a need to understand why information spreads including the human motivations, cognitive processes, and neural dynamics of large-scale sharing. This study introduces a novel approach for investigating the effect social media messaging and in-person discussion has on the inter-brain dynamics within small groups of participants. The psychophysiological impact of information campaigns and narrative messaging within a closed social media environment was assessed using 24-channel wireless EEG. Data were acquired from three- or four-person groups while subjects debated contemporary social issues framed by four scenarios of varying controversy: (a) investing in ethical vs. unethical corporations, (b) selecting travel destination based on social awareness, (c) determining verdict in a murder trial and the punishment of life in prison or death penalty, and (d) decision to vaccinate. Pre-/post-scenario questionnaires assess the effects of the social media information. Inter-brain coherence between subject pairs on each social issue discussed by subjects was analyzed by concordance, agreement vs. disagreement, and by group unanimity, unanimous vs. not unanimous. Subject pairs that agreed on the social issues raised in the scenarios had significantly greater inter-brain coherence in gamma frequency range than disagreeing pairs over cortical regions known to be involved in social interactions. These effects were magnified when comparing groups where subject pairs were unanimous in their stance on the social issues for some but not all scenarios. While there was considerable overlap between scenarios in what EEG channels were significant, there was enough variability to indicate the possibility of scenario-specific effects on inter-brain coherence.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity: From Synaptic Circuit Assembly to Neurological Disorders

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Corrigendum: VIP Modulation of Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity: A Role for VIP Receptors as Therapeutic Targets in Cognitive Decline and Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Reversible Changes in BDNF Expression in MK-801-Induced Hippocampal Astrocytes Through NMDAR/PI3K/ERK Signaling

Dizocilpine (MK-801), a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDA-R) antagonist, can induce schizophrenia-like symptoms in healthy individuals, implicating NMDA-R hypofunction in disease pathogenesis. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is also implicated in schizophrenia, and expression is regulated by NMDA-R activity, suggesting a functional link. We previously found that BDNF signaling was upregulated by MK-801 in cultured hippocampal astrocytes, but the underlying mechanism is not clear. To address this issue, the levels of BDNF expression and secretion were evaluated in hippocampal astrocytes incubated with MK-801 by ELISA and qPCR, with and without NMDA co-incubation or pretreatment of either the ERK1/2 inhibitor, PD98059 or the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002. The apoptosis, viability, and proliferation of the astrocytes were also examined. In the current study, we demonstrate that MK-801 treatment (20 μM for 5 days) enhances the proliferation of rat cultured hippocampal astrocytes. Expression of BDNF mRNA was enhanced after 24 h in MK-801, but returned to near baseline over the next 24 h in the continued presence of MK-801. However, two successive 24-h treatments enhanced BDNF expression. These application regimens had no effect on apoptosis or proliferation rate. Co-addition of NMDA significantly inhibited MK-801-induced upregulation of BDNF. Similarly, MK-801-induced BDNF upregulation was blocked by pretreatment with inhibitors of PI3K and ERK1/2, but not by inhibitors of p38 and JNK. These findings suggested that astrocytes may contribute to the acute neurological and behavioral response to MK-801 treatment via a transient increase in BDNF expression involving NMDA-R–PI3K–ERK signaling.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Silencing of Long Noncoding RNA Growth Arrest–Specific 5 Alleviates Neuronal Cell Apoptosis and Inflammatory Responses Through Sponging microRNA-93 to Repress PTEN Expression in Spinal Cord Injury

A secondary injury induced by a spinal cord injury (SCI) remains the main cause of devastating neural dysfunction; therefore, it has been the subject of focused research for many years. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has been found to participate in the SCI process, and this finding presents a high potential for diagnosis and treatment; however, the role of lncRNA in a secondary injury induced by SCI remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulatory effect of lncRNA growth arrest–specific transcript 5 (GAS5) in secondary injury during SCI. The SCI mice model and hypoxic cellular model were established to research the roles of lncRNA GAS5 during SCI. Reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was conducted to determine the expression levels of microR-93 (miR-93) and lncRNA GAS5. Western blot analysis of the apoptosis regulator protein and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay was conducted to evaluate neuron cell apoptosis. Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scores were calculated to assess neurological function. Flow cytometry was used to determine neuron cell apoptosis. The associations among GAS5, miR-93, and the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) were disclosed using RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay, RNA pulldown assay, and dual-luciferase reporter assay. QRT-PCR demonstrated that GAS5 was significantly upregulated in both the SCI mice and hypoxic cellular models. GAS5 knockdown suppressed neuron cell apoptosis and inflammatory response in the SCI mice model. Further studies have indicated that GAS5 functions as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by sponging miR-93 in neuronal cells. In addition, PTEN was a target of miR-93, and GAS5 knockdown exhibited its anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects through the miR-93/PTEN axis. These findings suggest that the GAS5/miR-93/PTEN axis may be a promising therapeutic target for SCI.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Acupuncture for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Background: Dementia is a gradual decline in cognitive ability and is becoming more common in our elderly population. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as a slight clinical deterioration of memory capacity, below the level of normal aging, but does not constitute a clinical diagnosis of dementia. To date, no interventions have been proven to cure MCI and dementia fully.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia and evaluate the methodological quality of systematic reviews (SRs).

Methods: We conducted a literature search for SRs with meta-analyses in seven Chinese and international databases through October 1, 2020. The basic characteristics of the included SRs/meta-analyses and the basic information of the original included randomized controlled trials were extracted by three reviewers independently. A meta-analysis of the original randomized controlled trials from the included SRs/meta-analyses was performed using Stata 12.0 software. The Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 was used to assess the methodological quality of the included SRs/meta-analyses, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation was used to rate the quality of evidence.

Results: A total of 35 SRs/meta-analyses were included, and the majority showed that acupuncture was more effective than western medicine or conventional therapy for MCI and dementia [odds ratio =1.39; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24, 1.56]. There was a statistically significant difference in the Mini-Mental State Examination score (weighted mean difference = 1.23; 95% CI: 0.78, 1.68; p < 0.00001), and there was no significant improvement in the activities of daily living score (weighted mean difference = 1.58; 95% CI: −0.02, 3.18; p = 0.053). The assessment results of Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 showed that the methodological quality of most included SRs/meta-analyses was critically low; the lowest scores were items 2, 7, and 10. For Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation, of the 73 outcomes, 50 (68.5%) outcomes were low or very low quality, and 23 (31.5%) outcomes were moderate quality.

Conclusions: Acupuncture can be considered as an alternative for the treatment of MCI and dementia when western medicine or other therapies are contraindicated. More high-quality evidence is needed to determine further the effectiveness of acupuncture.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Endothelial Dysfunction and Impaired Neurovascular Coupling Responses Precede Cognitive Impairment in a Mouse Model of Geriatric Sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition, the incidence of which is significantly increased in elderly patients. One of the long-lasting effects of sepsis is cognitive impairment defined as a new deficit or exacerbation of preexisting deficits in global cognition or executive function. Normal brain function is dependent on moment-to-moment adjustment of cerebral blood flow to match the increased demands of active brain regions. This homeostatic mechanism, termed neurovascular coupling (NVC, also known as functional hyperemia), is critically dependent on the production of vasodilator NO by microvascular endothelial cells in response to mediators released from activated astrocytes. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that sepsis in aging leads to impairment of NVC responses early after treatment and that this neurovascular dysfunction associates with impairments in cognitive performance and vascular endothelial dysfunction. To test this hypothesis, we used a commonly studied bacterial pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, to induce sepsis in experimental animals (males, 24 months of age) and subjected experimental animals to a standard clinical protocol of 3 doses of ampicillin i.p. and 14 days of amoxicillin added to the drinking water. NVC responses, endothelial function and cognitive performance were measured in septic and age-matched control groups within 14 days after the final antibiotic treatment. Our data demonstrate that sepsis in aging significantly impairs NVC responses measured in somatosensory cortex during whisker stimulation, significantly impairs endothelial function in isolated and pressure cannulated aorta rings in response to acetylcholine stimulation. No significant impairment of cognitive function in post-sepsis aged animals has been observed when measured using the PhenoTyper homecage based system. Our findings suggest that sepsis-associated endothelial dysfunction and impairment of NVC responses may contribute to long-term cognitive deficits in older sepsis survivors.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Low-dimensional learned feature spaces quantify individual and group differences in vocal repertoires

in eLife on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Functional dynamic genetic effects on gene regulation are specific to particular cell types and environmental conditions

in eLife on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Distinct protocerebral neuropils associated with attractive and aversive female-produced odorants in the male moth brain

in eLife on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Inbreeding in a dioecious plant has sex- and population origin-specific effects on its interactions with pollinators

in eLife on May 14, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Exploring Uncharted Territory: Genetically Determined Sex Differences in Parkinson's Disease

in Annals of Neurology on May 13, 2021 02:23 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Secondary indoor air pollution and passive smoking associated with cannabis smoking using electric cigarette device–demonstrative <i>in silico</i> study

by Kazuki Kuga, Kazuhide Ito, Wenhao Chen, Ping Wang, Jeff Fowles, Kazukiyo Kumagai

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Can molecular dynamics simulations improve the structural accuracy and virtual screening performance of GPCR models?

by Jon Kapla, Ismael Rodriguez Espigares, Flavio Ballante, Jana Selent, Jens Carlsson

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Red blood cell phenotyping from 3D confocal images using artificial neural networks

by Greta Simionato, Konrad Hinkelmann, Revaz Chachanidze, Paola Bianchi, Elisa Fermo, Richard van Wijk, Marc Leonetti, Christian Wagner, Lars Kaestner, Stephan Quint

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Global importance analysis: An interpretability method to quantify importance of genomic features in deep neural networks

by Peter K. Koo, Antonio Majdandzic, Matthew Ploenzke, Praveen Anand, Steffan B. Paul

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Incorporating the speciation process into species delimitation

by Jeet Sukumaran, Mark T. Holder, L. Lacey Knowles

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Fostering accessible online education using Galaxy as an e-learning platform

by Beatriz Serrano-Solano, Melanie C. Föll, Cristóbal Gallardo-Alba, Anika Erxleben, Helena Rasche, Saskia Hiltemann, Matthias Fahrner, Mark J. Dunning, Marcel H. Schulz, Beáta Scholtz, Dave Clements, Anton Nekrutenko, Bérénice Batut, Björn A. Grüning

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A constructivist-based proposal for bioinformatics teaching practices during lockdown

by Cristóbal Gallardo-Alba, Björn Grüning, Beatriz Serrano-Solano

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ten steps to investigate a cellular system with mathematical modeling

by Jasia King, Kerbaï Saïd Eroumé, Roman Truckenmüller, Stefan Giselbrecht, Ann E. Cowan, Leslie Loew, Aurélie Carlier

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ten simple rules to cultivate transdisciplinary collaboration in data science

by Faryad Sahneh, Meghan A. Balk, Marina Kisley, Chi-kwan Chan, Mercury Fox, Brian Nord, Eric Lyons, Tyson Swetnam, Daniela Huppenkothen, Will Sutherland, Ramona L. Walls, Daven P. Quinn, Tonantzin Tarin, David LeBauer, David Ribes, Dunbar P. Birnie III, Carol Lushbough, Eric Carr, Grey Nearing, Jeremy Fischer, Kevin Tyle, Luis Carrasco, Meagan Lang, Peter W. Rose, Richard R. Rushforth, Samapriya Roy, Thomas Matheson, Tina Lee, C. Titus Brown, Tracy K. Teal, Monica Papeș, Stephen Kobourov, Nirav Merchant

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Hierarchical semantic composition of biosimulation models using bond graphs

by Niloofar Shahidi, Michael Pan, Soroush Safaei, Kenneth Tran, Edmund J. Crampin, David P. Nickerson

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Generation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species is controlled by ATPase inhibitory factor 1 and regulates cognition

by Pau B. Esparza-Moltó, Inés Romero-Carramiñana, Cristina Núñez de Arenas, Marta P. Pereira, Noelia Blanco, Beatriz Pardo, Georgina R. Bates, Carla Sánchez-Castillo, Rafael Artuch, Michael P. Murphy, José A. Esteban, José M. Cuezva

in PLoS Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cryptic surface-associated multicellularity emerges through cell adhesion and its regulation

by Jordi van Gestel, Andreas Wagner

in PLoS Biology on May 13, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

ANA Investigates: Tenecteplase

in Annals of Neurology on May 13, 2021 12:51 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mechanisms underlying vaccination protocols that may optimally elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against highly mutable pathogens

Author(s): Raman S. Ganti and Arup K. Chakraborty

Researchers use nonequilibrium statistical physics methods to guide the design of vaccines that are effective against many strains of a virus, a holy grail of immunology.

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052408] Published Thu May 13, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 13, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Exploring the Similarity of Representations in Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning. (arXiv:2105.05757v1 [cs.LG])

In past years model-agnostic meta-learning (MAML) has been one of the most promising approaches in meta-learning. It can be applied to different kinds of problems, e.g., reinforcement learning, but also shows good results on few-shot learning tasks. Besides their tremendous success in these tasks, it has still not been fully revealed yet, why it works so well. Recent work proposes that MAML rather reuses features than rapidly learns. In this paper, we want to inspire a deeper understanding of this question by analyzing MAML's representation. We apply representation similarity analysis (RSA), a well-established method in neuroscience, to the few-shot learning instantiation of MAML. Although some part of our analysis supports their general results that feature reuse is predominant, we also reveal arguments against their conclusion. The similarity-increase of layers closer to the input layers arises from the learning task itself and not from the model. In addition, the representations after inner gradient steps make a broader change to the representation than the changes during meta-training.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 13, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Directional GAN: A Novel Conditioning Strategy for Generative Networks. (arXiv:2105.05712v2 [cs.CV] UPDATED)

Image content is a predominant factor in marketing campaigns, websites and banners. Today, marketers and designers spend considerable time and money in generating such professional quality content. We take a step towards simplifying this process using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). We propose a simple and novel conditioning strategy which allows generation of images conditioned on given semantic attributes using a generator trained for an unconditional image generation task. Our approach is based on modifying latent vectors, using directional vectors of relevant semantic attributes in latent space. Our method is designed to work with both discrete (binary and multi-class) and continuous image attributes. We show the applicability of our proposed approach, named Directional GAN, on multiple public datasets, with an average accuracy of 86.4% across different attributes.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 13, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Image interpretation by iterative bottom-up top-down processing. (arXiv:2105.05592v1 [cs.CV])

Scene understanding requires the extraction and representation of scene components together with their properties and inter-relations. We describe a model in which meaningful scene structures are extracted from the image by an iterative process, combining bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) networks, interacting through a symmetric bi-directional communication between them (counter-streams structure). The model constructs a scene representation by the iterative use of three components. The first model component is a BU stream that extracts selected scene elements, properties and relations. The second component (cognitive augmentation) augments the extracted visual representation based on relevant non-visual stored representations. It also provides input to the third component, the TD stream, in the form of a TD instruction, instructing the model what task to perform next. The TD stream then guides the BU visual stream to perform the selected task in the next cycle. During this process, the visual representations extracted from the image can be combined with relevant non-visual representations, so that the final scene representation is based on both visual information extracted from the scene and relevant stored knowledge of the world. We describe how a sequence of TD-instructions is used to extract from the scene structures of interest, including an algorithm to automatically select the next TD-instruction in the sequence. The extraction process is shown to have favorable properties in terms of combinatorial generalization, generalizing well to novel scene structures and new combinations of objects, properties and relations not seen during training. Finally, we compare the model with relevant aspects of the human vision, and suggest directions for using the BU-TD scheme for integrating visual and cognitive components in the process of scene understanding.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 13, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Winograd Algorithm for AdderNet. (arXiv:2105.05530v1 [cs.LG])

Adder neural network (AdderNet) is a new kind of deep model that replaces the original massive multiplications in convolutions by additions while preserving the high performance. Since the hardware complexity of additions is much lower than that of multiplications, the overall energy consumption is thus reduced significantly. To further optimize the hardware overhead of using AdderNet, this paper studies the winograd algorithm, which is a widely used fast algorithm for accelerating convolution and saving the computational costs. Unfortunately, the conventional Winograd algorithm cannot be directly applied to AdderNets since the distributive law in multiplication is not valid for the l1-norm. Therefore, we replace the element-wise multiplication in the Winograd equation by additions and then develop a new set of transform matrixes that can enhance the representation ability of output features to maintain the performance. Moreover, we propose the l2-to-l1 training strategy to mitigate the negative impacts caused by formal inconsistency. Experimental results on both FPGA and benchmarks show that the new method can further reduce the energy consumption without affecting the accuracy of the original AdderNet.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 13, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

CCN GAC Workshop: Issues with learning in biological recurrent neural networks. (arXiv:2105.05382v1 [q-bio.NC])

This perspective piece came about through the Generative Adversarial Collaboration (GAC) series of workshops organized by the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) conference in 2020. We brought together a number of experts from the field of theoretical neuroscience to debate emerging issues in our understanding of how learning is implemented in biological recurrent neural networks. Here, we will give a brief review of the common assumptions about biological learning and the corresponding findings from experimental neuroscience and contrast them with the efficiency of gradient-based learning in recurrent neural networks commonly used in artificial intelligence. We will then outline the key issues discussed in the workshop: synaptic plasticity, neural circuits, theory-experiment divide, and objective functions. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for both theoretical and experimental neuroscientists when designing new studies that could help to bring clarity to these issues.

in arXiv: Quantitative Biology: Neurons and Cognition on May 13, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Burst-dependent synaptic plasticity can coordinate learning in hierarchical circuits

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00857-x

in Nature Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Correlations enhance the behavioral readout of neural population activity in association cortex

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00845-1

in Nature Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Bursting potentiates the neuro–AI connection

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00844-2

in Nature Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

TRUST4: immune repertoire reconstruction from bulk and single-cell RNA-seq data

Nature Methods, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01142-2

in Nature Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Challenges in benchmarking metagenomic profilers

Nature Methods, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01141-3

in Nature Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Oscillations of the thermal conductivity in the spin-liquid state of α-RuCl₃

Nature Physics, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01243-x

in Nature Physics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Quantum amplification of boson-mediated interactions

Nature Physics, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01237-9

in Nature Physics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Topological Shiba bands in artificial spin chains on superconductors

Nature Physics, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01234-y

in Nature Physics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cascaded particle accelerators reach new energy

Nature Photonics, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00822-x

in Nature Photomics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Subcycle contact-free nanoscopy of ultrafast interlayer transport in atomically thin heterostructures

Nature Photonics, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00813-y

in Nature Photomics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Reovirus directly engages integrin to recruit clathrin for entry into host cells

Nature Communications, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23537-7

in Nature Communications on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Daily briefing: Voyager 1 detects ‘eerie’ hum of interstellar space

Nature, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01304-4

in Nature on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Delaying a COVID vaccine’s second dose boosts immune response

Nature, Published online: 13 May 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01299-y

in Nature on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Corrigendum: Using Zebrafish to Model Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparison of ASD Risk Genes Between Zebrafish and Their Mammalian Counterparts

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Parkin Levels Decrease in Fibroblasts With Progranulin (PGRN) Pathogenic Variants and in a Cellular Model of PGRN Deficiency

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are neurodegenerative diseases with TDP-43 mislocalization and aggregation. Genetic forms of FTLD and ALS are caused by pathogenic variants in various genes, such as PGRN (progranulin). To date, depletion of parkin E3 ubiquitin protein ligase, a key mitophagy regulator, has been reported in sporadic ALS patients and ALS mice models with TDP-43 proteinopathy. In this work, we show parkin downregulation also in fibroblasts derived from FTLD patients with four different PGRN pathogenic variants. We corroborate this finding in control fibroblasts upon PGRN silencing, demonstrating additionally the decrease of parkin downstream targets, mitofusin 2 (MFN2) and voltage dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). Importantly, we show that TDP-43 overexpression rescues PRKN levels upon transient PGRN silencing, but not in FTLD fibroblasts with PGRN pathogenic variants, despite upregulating PGRN levels in both cases. Further observation of PRKN downregulation upon TDP-43 silencing, suggests that TDP-43 loss-of-function contributes to PRKN decrease. Our results provide further evidence that parkin downregulation might be a common and systemic phenomenon in neurodegenerative diseases with TDP- 43 loss-of-function.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Autism Spectrum Disorder Risk Factor Met Regulates the Organization of Inhibitory Synapses

A common hypothesis explains autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a neurodevelopmental disorder linked to excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance in neuronal network connectivity. Mutation of genes including Met and downstream signaling components, e.g., PTEN, Tsc2 and, Rheb are involved in the control of synapse formation and stabilization and were all considered as risk genes for ASD. While the impact of Met on glutamatergic synapses was widely appreciated, its contribution to the stability of inhibitory, GABAergic synapses is poorly understood. The stabilization of GABAergic synapses depends on clustering of the postsynaptic scaffolding protein gephyrin. Here, we show in vivo and in vitro that Met is necessary and sufficient for the stabilization of GABAergic synapses via induction of gephyrin clustering. Likewise, we provide evidence for Met-dependent gephyrin clustering via activation of mTOR. Our results support the notion that deficient GABAergic signaling represents a pathomechanism for ASD.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dephosphorylation Passivates the Seeding Activity of Oligomeric Tau Derived From Alzheimer’s Brain

Accumulation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are constituted of abnormally phosphorylated tau, is one of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The oligomeric aggregates of tau in AD brain (AD O-tau) are believed to trigger NFT spreading by seeding normal tau aggregation as toxic seeds, in a prion-like fashion. Here, we revealed the features of AD O-tau by Western blots using antibodies against various epitopes and determined the effect of dephosphorylation on the seeding activity of AD O-tau by capture and seeded aggregation assays. We found that N-terminal truncated and C-terminalhyperphosphorylated tau species were enriched in AD O-tau. Dephosphorylation of AD O-tau by alkaline phosphatasediminished its activity in capturing tau in vitro and ininducing insoluble aggregates in cultured cells. Our resultssuggested that dephosphorylation passivated the seeding activity ofAD O-tau. Inhibition of phosphorylation may be a potentstrategy to prevent the spreading of tau patho3logy.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

An Improvement of Survival Stratification in Glioblastoma Patients via Combining Subregional Radiomics Signatures

To investigate whether combining multiple radiomics signatures derived from the subregions of glioblastoma (GBM) can improve survival prediction of patients with GBM.

In total, 129 patients were included in this study and split into training (n = 99) and test (n = 30) cohorts. Radiomics features were extracted from each tumor region then radiomics scores were obtained separately using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) COX regression. A clinical nomogram was also constructed using various clinical risk factors. Radiomics nomograms were constructed by combing a single radiomics signature from the whole tumor region with clinical risk factors or combining three radiomics signatures from three tumor subregions with clinical risk factors. The performance of these models was assessed by the discrimination, calibration and clinical usefulness metrics, and was compared with that of the clinical nomogram.

Incorporating the three radiomics signatures, i.e., Radscores for ET, NET, and ED, into the radiomics-based nomogram improved the performance in estimating survival (C-index: training/test cohort: 0.717/0.655) compared with that of the clinical nomogram (C-index: training/test cohort: 0.633/0.560) and that of the radiomics nomogram based on single region radiomics signatures (C-index: training/test cohort: 0.656/0.535).

The multiregional radiomics nomogram exhibited a favorable survival stratification accuracy.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multi-Source Co-adaptation for EEG-Based Emotion Recognition by Mining Correlation Information

Since each individual subject may present completely different encephalogram (EEG) patterns with respect to other subjects, existing subject-independent emotion classifiers trained on data sampled from cross-subjects or cross-dataset generally fail to achieve sound accuracy. In this scenario, the domain adaptation technique could be employed to address this problem, which has recently got extensive attention due to its effectiveness on cross-distribution learning. Focusing on cross-subject or cross-dataset automated emotion recognition with EEG features, we propose in this article a robust multi-source co-adaptation framework by mining diverse correlation information (MACI) among domains and features with l_2,1−norm as well as correlation metric regularization. Specifically, by minimizing the statistical and semantic distribution differences between source and target domains, multiple subject-invariant classifiers can be learned together in a joint framework, which can make MACI use relevant knowledge from multiple sources by exploiting the developed correlation metric function. Comprehensive experimental evidence on DEAP and SEED datasets verifies the better performance of MACI in EEG-based emotion recognition.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Machine Learning for Predicting Individual Severity of Blepharospasm Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Accumulating diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) evidence suggests that white matter abnormalities evaluated by local diffusion homogeneity (LDH) or fractional anisotropy (FA) occur in patients with blepharospasm (BSP), both of which are significantly correlated with disease severity. However, whether the individual severity of BSP can be identified using these DTI metrics remains unknown. We aimed to investigate whether a combination of machine learning techniques and LDH or FA can accurately identify the individual severity of BSP. Forty-one patients with BSP were assessed using the Jankovic Rating Scale and DTI. The patients were assigned to non-functionally and functionally limited groups according to their Jankovic Rating Scale scores. A machine learning scheme consisting of beam search and support vector machines was designed to identify non-functionally versus functionally limited outcomes, with the input features being LDH or FA in 68 white matter regions. The proposed machine learning scheme with LDH or FA yielded an overall accuracy of 88.67 versus 85.19% in identifying non-functionally limited versus functionally limited outcomes. The scheme also identified a sensitivity of 91.40 versus 85.87% in correctly identifying functionally limited outcomes, a specificity of 83.33 versus 83.67% in accurately identifying non-functionally limited outcomes, and an area under the curve of 93.7 versus 91.3%. These findings suggest that a combination of LDH or FA measurements and a sophisticated machine learning scheme can accurately and reliably identify the individual disease severity in patients with BSP.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Imaging Voltage in Complete Neuronal Networks Within Patterned Microislands Reveals Preferential Wiring of Excitatory Hippocampal Neurons

Voltage imaging with fluorescent dyes affords the opportunity to map neuronal activity in both time and space. One limitation to imaging is the inability to image complete neuronal networks: some fraction of cells remains outside of the observation window. Here, we combine voltage imaging, post hoc immunocytochemistry, and patterned microisland hippocampal culture to provide imaging of complete neuronal ensembles. The patterned microislands completely fill the field of view of our high-speed (500 Hz) camera, enabling reconstruction of the spiking patterns of every single neuron in the network. Cultures raised on microislands are similar to neurons grown on coverslips, with parallel developmental trajectories and composition of inhibitory and excitatory cell types (CA1, CA3, and dentate granule cells, or DGC). We calculate the likelihood that action potential firing in one neuron triggers action potential firing in a downstream neuron in a spontaneously active network to construct a functional connection map of these neuronal ensembles. Importantly, this functional map indicates preferential connectivity between DGC and CA3 neurons and between CA3 and CA1 neurons, mimicking the neuronal circuitry of the intact hippocampus. We envision that patterned microislands, in combination with voltage imaging and methods to classify cell types, will be a powerful method for exploring neuronal function in both healthy and disease states. Additionally, because the entire neuronal network is sampled simultaneously, this strategy has the power to go further, revealing all functional connections between all cell types.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Optical Spike Detection and Connectivity Analysis With a Far-Red Voltage-Sensitive Fluorophore Reveals Changes to Network Connectivity in Development and Disease

The ability to optically record dynamics of neuronal membrane potential promises to revolutionize our understanding of neurobiology. In this study, we show that the far-red voltage sensitive fluorophore, Berkeley Red Sensor of Transmembrane potential-1, or BeRST 1, can be used to monitor neuronal membrane potential changes across dozens of neurons at a sampling rate of 500 Hz. Notably, voltage imaging with BeRST 1 can be implemented with affordable, commercially available illumination sources, optics, and detectors. BeRST 1 is well-tolerated in cultures of rat hippocampal neurons and provides exceptional optical recording fidelity, as judged by dual fluorescence imaging and patch-clamp electrophysiology. We developed a semi-automated spike-picking program to reduce user bias when calling action potentials and used this in conjunction with BeRST 1 to develop an optical spike and connectivity analysis (OSCA) for high-throughput dissection of neuronal activity dynamics. The high temporal resolution of BeRST 1 enables dissection of firing rate changes in response to acute, pharmacological interventions with commonly used inhibitors like gabazine and picrotoxin. Over longer periods of time, BeRST 1 also tracks chronic perturbations to neurons exposed to amyloid beta 1–42 (Aβ ^1–42), revealing modest changes to spiking frequency but profound changes to overall network connectivity. Finally, we use OSCA to track changes in neuronal connectivity during maturation in culture, providing a functional readout of network assembly. We envision that use of BeRST 1 and OSCA described here will be of use to the broad neuroscience community.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

In-vitro Recordings of Neural Magnetic Activity From the Auditory Brainstem Using Color Centers in Diamond: A Simulation Study

Magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond is a novel technique capable of measuring magnetic fields with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. With the further advancements of these sensors, they may open up novel approaches for the 2D imaging of neural signals in vitro. In the present study, we investigate the feasibility of NV-based imaging by numerically simulating the magnetic signal from the auditory pathway of a rodent brainstem slice (ventral cochlear nucleus, VCN, to the medial trapezoid body, MNTB) as stimulated by both electric and optic stimulation. The resulting signal from these two stimulation methods are evaluated and compared. A realistic pathway model was created based on published data of the neural morphologies and channel dynamics of the globular bushy cells in the VCN and their axonal projections to the principal cells in the MNTB. The pathway dynamics in response to optic and electric stimulation and the emitted magnetic fields were estimated using the cable equation. For simulating the optic stimulation, the light distribution in brain tissue was numerically estimated and used to model the optogenetic neural excitation based on a four state channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) model. The corresponding heating was also estimated, using the bio-heat equation and was found to be low (<2°C) even at excessively strong optic signals. A peak magnetic field strength of ∼0.5 and ∼0.1 nT was calculated from the auditory brainstem pathway after electrical and optical stimulation, respectively. By increasing the stimulating light intensity four-fold (far exceeding commonly used intensities) the peak magnetic signal strength only increased to 0.2 nT. Thus, while optogenetic stimulation would be favorable to avoid artefacts in the recordings, electric stimulation achieves higher peak fields. The present simulation study predicts that high-resolution magnetic imaging of the action potentials traveling along the auditory brainstem pathway will only be possible for next generation NV sensors. However, the existing sensors already have sufficient sensitivity to support the magnetic sensing of cumulated neural signals sampled from larger parts of the pathway, which might be a promising intermediate step toward further maturing this novel technology.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neural Technology on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Iterative Restoration of the Fringe Phase (REFRASE) for QSM

In quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), reconstructed results can be critically biased by misinterpreted or missing phase data near the edges of the brain support originating from the non-local relationship between field and susceptibility. These data either have to be excluded or corrected before further processing can take place. To address this, our iterative restoration of the fringe phase (REFRASE) approach simultaneously enhances the accuracy of multi-echo phase data QSM maps and the extent of the area available for evaluation. Data loss caused by strong local phase gradients near the surface of the brain support is recovered within the original phase data using harmonic and dipole-based fields extrapolated from a robust support region toward an extended brain mask. Over several iterations, phase data are rectified prior to the application of further QSM processing steps. The concept is successfully validated on numerical phantoms and brain scans from a cohort of volunteers. The increased extent of the mask and improved numerical stability within the segmented globus pallidus confirm the efficacy of the presented method in comparison to traditional evaluation.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: APPNING: Animal Population Imaging

in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Antiepileptic Efficacy and Network Connectivity Modulation of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation by Vertex Suppression

A core feature of drug-resistant epilepsy is hyperexcitability in the motor cortex, and low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a suitable treatment for seizures. However, the antiepileptic effect causing network reorganization has rarely been studied. Here, we assessed the impact of rTMS on functional network connectivity (FNC) in resting functional networks (RSNs) and their relation to treatment response. Fourteen patients with medically intractable epilepsy received inhibitive rTMS with a figure-of-eight coil over the vertex for 10 days spread across two weeks. We designed a 6-week follow-up phase divided into four time points to investigate FNC and rTMS-induced timing-dependent plasticity, such as seizure frequency and abnormal interictal discharges on electroencephalography (EEG). For psychiatric comorbidities, the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) were applied to measure depression and anxiety before and after rTMS. FNC was also compared to that of a cohort of 17 healthy control subjects. The after-effects of rTMS included all subjects that achieved the significant decrease rate of more than 50% in interictal epileptiform discharges and seizure frequency, 12 (14) patients with the reduction rate above 50% compared to the baseline, as well as emotional improvements in depression and anxiety (p < 0.05). In the analysis of RSNs, we found a higher synchronization between the sensorimotor network (SMN) and posterior default-mode network (pDMN) in epileptic patients than in healthy controls. In contrast to pre-rTMS, the results demonstrated a weaker FNC between the anterior DMN (aDMN) and SMN after rTMS, while the FNC between the aDMN and dorsal attention network (DAN) was greater (p < 0.05, FDR corrected). Importantly, the depressive score was anticorrelated with the FNC of the aDMN-SMN (r = −0.67, p = 0.0022), which was markedly different in the good and bad response groups treated with rTMS (p = 0.0115). Based on the vertex suppression by rTMS, it is possible to achieve temporary clinical efficacy by modulating network reorganization in the DMN and SMN for patients with refractory epilepsy.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Occupational Injuries and Use of Benzodiazepines: A Systematic Review and Metanalysis

Background: Benzodiazepines have been widely used in clinical practice for over four decades and continue to be one of the most consumed and highly prescribed class of drugs available in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. The literature indicates that Benzodiazepine users at a significantly increased risk of Motor Vehicle accidents compared to non-users but the impact on injuries at workplace is not well-defined. We aimed to investigate whether use of benzodiazepine is associated with increased risk of occupational injuries (OI).

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) among case controls, cross-sectional studies, either questionnaire or laboratory exams based.

Results: A total of 13 studies met inclusion criteria, involving 324,168 OI from seven different countries, with an estimated occurrence of benzodiazepine positivity of 2.71% (95% CI 1.45–4.98). A total of 14 estimates were retrieved. Of them, 10 were based on laboratory analyses, three on institutional databases, while one study was based on questionnaires. Regarding the occupational groups, three estimates focused on commercial drivers (0.73%, 95% CI 0.12–4.30), that exhibited a reduced risk ratio for benzodiazepine positivity compared to other occupational groups (RR 0.109, 95% CI 0.063–0.187). Eventually, no increased risk for benzodiazepine positivity was identified, either from case control studies (OR 1.520, 95% CI 0.801–2.885, I² 76%), or cross sectional studies, when only laboratory based estimates were taken in account (OR 0.590, 95% CI 0.253–1.377, I² 63%).

Conclusions: Even though benzodiazepines have the potential to increase injury rates among casual and chronic users, available evidence are insufficient to sustain this hypothesis, particularly when focusing on laboratory-based studies (i.e., studies the characterized the benzodiazepine immediately before the event).

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Changing the Cortical Conductor’s Tempo: Neuromodulation of the Claustrum

The claustrum is a thin sheet of neurons that is densely connected to many cortical regions and has been implicated in numerous high-order brain functions. Such brain functions arise from brain states that are influenced by neuromodulatory pathways from the cholinergic basal forebrain, dopaminergic substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area, and serotonergic raphe. Recent revelations that the claustrum receives dense input from these structures have inspired investigation of state-dependent control of the claustrum. Here, we review neuromodulation in the claustrum—from anatomical connectivity to behavioral manipulations—to inform future analyses of claustral function.

in Frontiers in Neural Circuits on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Optical Imaging-Based Guidance of Viral Microinjections and Insertion of a Laminar Electrophysiology Probe Into a Predetermined Barrel in Mouse Area S1BF

Wide-field Optical Imaging of Intrinsic Signals (OI-IS; Grinvald et al., 1986) is a method for imaging functional brain hemodynamic responses, mainly used to image activity from the surface of the cerebral cortex. It localizes small functional modules – such as cortical columns – with great spatial resolution and spatial specificity relative to the site of increases in neuronal activity. OI-IS is capable of imaging responses either through an intact or thinned skull or following a craniotomy. Therefore, it is minimally invasive, which makes it ideal for survival experiments. Here we describe OI-IS-based methods for guiding microinjections of optogenetics viral vectors in proximity to small functional modules (S1 barrels) of the cerebral cortex and for guiding the insertion of electrodes for electrophysiological recording into such modules. We validate our proposed methods by tissue processing of the cerebral barrel field area, revealing the track of the electrode in a predetermined barrel. In addition, we demonstrate the use of optical imaging to visualize the spatial extent of the optogenetics photostimulation, making it possible to estimate one of the two variables that conjointly determine which region of the brain is stimulated. Lastly, we demonstrate the use of OI-IS at high-magnification for imaging the upper recording contacts of a laminar probe, making it possible to estimate the insertion depth of all contacts relative to the surface of the cortex. These methods support the precise positioning of microinjections and recording electrodes, thus overcoming the variability in the spatial position of fine-scale functional modules.

in Frontiers in Neural Circuits on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Developmental Characterization of Schizophrenia-Associated Gene Zswim6 in Mouse Forebrain

Schizophrenia is a devastating neuropsychiatric disease with a globally 1% life-long prevalence. Clinical studies have linked Zswim6 mutations to developmental and neurological diseases, including schizophrenia. Zswim6’s function remains largely unknown. Given the involvement of Zswim6 in schizophrenia and schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disease, it is important to understand the spatiotemporal expression pattern of Zswim6 in the developing brain. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal expression pattern of Zswim6 in the mouse forebrain by in situ hybridization with radioactive and non-radioactive-labeled riboprobes. Zswim6 mRNA was detected as early as E11.5 in the ventral forebrain. At E11.5–E13.5, Zswim6 was highly expressed in the lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE). The LGE consisted of two progenitor populations. Dlx⁺;Er81⁺ cells in dorsal LGE comprised progenitors of olfactory bulb interneurons, whereas Dlx⁺;Isl1⁺ progenitors in ventral LGE gave rise to striatal projection neurons. Zswim6 was not colocalized with Er81 in the dorsal LGE. In the ventral LGE, Zswim6 was colocalized with striatal progenitor marker Nolz-1. Zswim6 was highly expressed in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of LGE in which progenitors undergo the transition from proliferation to differentiation. Double labeling showed that Zswim6 was not colocalized with proliferation marker Ki67 but was colocalized with differentiation marker Tuj1 in the SVZ, suggesting Zswim6 expression in early differentiating neurons. Zswim6 was also expressed in the adjacent structures of medial and caudal ganglionic eminences (MGE, CGE) that contained progenitors of cortical interneurons. At E15.5 and E17.5, Zswim6 was expressed in several key brain regions that were involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, including the striatum, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and medial habenular nucleus. Zswim6 was persistently expressed in the postnatal brain. Cell type analysis indicated that Zswim6 mRNA was colocalized with D1R-expressing striatonigral and D2R-expressing striatopallidal neurons of the adult striatum with a higher colocalization in striatopallidal neurons. These findings are of particular interest as striatal dopamine D2 receptors are known to be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In summary, the comprehensive analysis provides an anatomical framework for the study of Zswim6 function and Zswim6-associated neurological disorders.

in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Posterior Cortical Cognitive Deficits Are Associated With Structural Brain Alterations in Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease

Context: Cognitive impairments are common in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and are heterogeneous in their presentation. The “dual syndrome hypothesis” suggests the existence of two distinct subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in PD: a frontostriatal subtype with predominant attentional and/or executive deficits and a posterior cortical subtype with predominant visuospatial, memory, and/or language deficits. The latter subtype has been associated with a higher risk of developing dementia.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify structural modifications in cortical and subcortical regions associated with each PD-MCI subtype.

Methods: One-hundred and fourteen non-demented PD patients underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment as well as a 3T magnetic resonance imaging scan. Patients were categorized as having no cognitive impairment (n = 41) or as having a frontostriatal (n = 16), posterior cortical (n = 25), or a mixed (n = 32) MCI subtype. Cortical regions were analyzed using a surface-based Cortical thickness (CTh) method. In addition, the volumes, shapes, and textures of the caudate nuclei, hippocampi, and thalami were studied. Tractometric analyses were performed on associative and commissural white matter (WM) tracts.

Results: There were no between-group differences in volumetric measurements and cortical thickness. Shape analyses revealed more abundant and more extensive deformations fields in the caudate nuclei, hippocampi, and thalami in patients with posterior cortical deficits compared to patients with no cognitive impairment. Decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD) were also observed in the superior longitudinal fascicle, the inferior fronto-occipital fascicle, the striato-parietal tract, and the anterior and posterior commissural tracts. Texture analyses showed a significant difference in the right hippocampus of patients with a mixed MCI subtype.

Conclusion: PD-MCI patients with posterior cortical deficits have more abundant and more extensive structural alterations independently of age, disease duration, and severity, which may explain why they have an increased risk of dementia.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dual-Phase β-Amyloid PET Captures Neuronal Injury and Amyloidosis in Corticobasal Syndrome

Objectives: In recent years several ¹⁸F-labeled amyloid PET (Aβ-PET) tracers have been developed and have obtained clinical approval. There is evidence that Aβ-PET perfusion can provide surrogate information about neuronal injury in neurodegenerative diseases when compared to conventional blood flow and glucose metabolism assessment. However, this paradigm has not yet been tested in neurodegenerative disorders with cortical and subcortical affection. Therefore, we investigated the performance of early acquisition ¹⁸F-flutemetamol Aβ-PET in comparison to ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET in corticobasal syndrome (CBS).

Methods: Subjects with clinically possible or probable CBS were recruited within the prospective Activity of Cerebral Networks, Amyloid and Microglia in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease (ActiGliA) observational study and all CBS cases with an available FDG-PET prior to Aβ-PET were selected. Aβ-PET was acquired 0–10 min p.i. (early-phase) and 90–110 min p.i. (late-phase) whereas FDG-PET was recorded statically from 30 to 50 min p.i. Semiquantitative regional values and asymmetry indices (AI) were compared between early-phase Aβ-PET and FDG-PET. Visual assessments of hypoperfusion and hypometabolism were compared between both methods. Late-phase Aβ-PET was evaluated visually for assessment of Aβ-positivity.

Results: Among 20 evaluated patients with CBS, 5 were Aβ-positive. Early-phase Aβ-PET and FDG-PET SUVr correlated highly in cortical (mean R = 0.86, range 0.77–0.92) and subcortical brain regions (mean R = 0.84, range 0.79–0.90). Strong asymmetry was observed in FDG-PET for the motor cortex (mean |AI| = 2.9%), the parietal cortex (mean |AI| = 2.9%), and the thalamus (mean |AI| = 5.5%), correlating well with AI of early-phase Aβ-PET (mean R = 0.87, range 0.62–0.98). Visual assessments of hypoperfusion and hypometabolism were highly congruent.

Conclusion: Early-phase Aβ-PET facilitates assessment of neuronal injury in CBS for cortical and subcortical areas. Known asymmetries in CBS are captured by this method, enabling assessment of Aβ-status and neuronal injury with a single radiation exposure at a single visit.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Effects of Aging on Levo-Dihydroxyphenylalanine- Induced Dyskinesia in a Rat Model of Parkinson’s Disease

It remains unclear why patients with young-onset Parkinson’s disease more often develop levo-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa)-induced dyskinesia (LID) and have a more severe form than patients with old-onset Parkinson’s disease. Previous studies using animal models have failed to show young-onset Parkinson’s disease enhances LID.

To evaluate the association of age at dopaminergic denervation (onset age) and initiation of L-dopa treatment (treatment age) with LID development in model rats.

We established rat models of young- and old-lesioned Parkinson’s disease (6-hydroxydopamine lesions at 10 and 88 weeks of age, respectively). Dopaminergic denervation was confirmed by the rotational behavior test using apomorphine. Rats in the young-lesioned group were allocated to either L-dopa treatment at a young or old age, or saline treatment. Rats in the old-lesioned group were allocated to either L-dopa treatment or saline group. We evaluated L-dopa-induced abnormal involuntary movements during the 14-day treatment period. We also examined preprodynorphin mRNA expression in the striatum (a neurochemical hallmark of LID) and the volume of the medial globus pallidus (a pathological hallmark of LID).

LID-like behavior was enhanced in L-dopa-treated young-lesioned rats compared with L-dopa-treated old-lesioned rats. Preprodynorphin mRNA expression was higher in L-dopa-treated young-lesioned rats than in in L-dopa-treated old-lesioned rats. The volume of the medial globus pallidus was greater in L-dopa-treated young-lesioned rats than in L-dopa-treated old-lesioned rats. Treatment age did not affect LID-like behavior or the degree of medial globus pallidus hypertrophy in the young-lesioned model.

Both dopaminergic denervation and L-dopa initiation at a young age contributed to the development of LID; however, the former may be a more important factor.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Association Between Childhood Neighborhood Quality and the Risk of Cognitive Dysfunction in Chinese Middle-Aged and Elderly Population: The Moderation Effect of Body Mass Index

Background: Identification of early modifiable factors is crucial to delay or prevent the development of cognitive impairment and reduce the social and economic burden.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal associations of childhood neighborhood quality (CNQ) with the risk of later-life cognitive dysfunction and the role of body mass index (BMI) in this association.

Methods: A total of 8,289 community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly population from wave 2011, wave 2013, and wave 2015 of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were included. Cognitive function and CNQ were measured by standardized questionnaires. Multilevel linear regression models were used to estimate the associations of CNQ and cognitive function. The interactions of BMI with CNQ in the progress of cognitive function were also estimated.

Results: The participants with higher CNQ had a significantly low risk of cognitive impairment than those with lower CNQ score (β = 0.067, 95% CI: 0.031, 0.103), and the results remained similar (β = 0.039, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.075) after controlling other confounding variables. Furthermore, there was an interaction between BMI with CNQ score (P < 0.001) for the risk of cognitive impairment. In BMI-stratified analysis, we found that the association of CNQ and cognitive function was not statistically significant in overweight or obese population (β = 0.019, 95% CI: −0.032, 0.070), but was statistically significant in people with lower BMI (β = 0.059, 95% CI: 0.010, 0.107).

Conclusions: Higher CNQ score is significantly associated with the lower risk of cognitive dysfunction in adulthood. BMI may moderate the associations of CNQ with the risk of cognitive function.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Increased Plasma Level of 24S-Hydroxycholesterol and Polymorphism of CYP46A1 SNP (rs754203) Are Associated With Mild Cognitive Impairment in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Abnormal cholesterol metabolism is common in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and causes dementia. Cholesterol 24S-hydroxylase (CYP46A1) converts cholesterol into 24S-hydroxycholesterol (24-OHC) and maintains cholesterol homeostasis in the brain.

This study aimed to investigate the roles of 24-OHC and the CYP46A1 (rs754203) polymorphism in patients with T2DM and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

A total of 193 Chinese patients with T2DM were recruited into two groups according to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Demographic and clinical data were collected, and neuropsychological tests were conducted. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Seqnome method were used to detect the concentration of plasma 24-OHC and the CYP46A1 rs754203 genotype, respectively.

Compared with 118 healthy cognition participants, patients with MCI (n = 75) displayed a higher plasma level of 24-OHC and total cholesterol concentration (all p = 0.031), while no correlation was found between them. In the overall diabetes population, the plasma level of 24-OHC was negatively correlated with MoCA (r = −0.150, p = 0.039), and it was further proved to be an independent risk factor of diabetic MCI (OR = 1.848, p = 0.001). Additionally, patients with MCI and the CC genotype of CYP46A1 rs754203 showed the highest plasma level of 24-OHC even though the difference was not statistically significant, and they obtained low scores in both the verbal fluency test and Stroop color and word test A (p = 0.008 and p = 0.029, respectively).

In patients with T2DM, high plasma level of 24-OHC and the CC genotype carrier of CYP46A1 rs754203 may portend a high risk of developing early cognitive impairment, including attention and executive deficits.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 13, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Molecular dynamics shows complex interplay and long-range effects of post-translational modifications in yeast protein interactions

by Nikolina ŠoŠtarić, Vera van Noort

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Swarm: A federated cloud framework for large-scale variant analysis

by Amir Bahmani, Kyle Ferriter, Vandhana Krishnan, Arash Alavi, Amir Alavi, Philip S. Tsao, Michael P. Snyder, Cuiping Pan

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Balanced networks under spike-time dependent plasticity

by Alan Eric Akil, Robert Rosenbaum, Krešimir Josić

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Patterns of selection against centrosome amplification in human cell lines

by Marco António Dias Louro, Mónica Bettencourt-Dias, Claudia Bank

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder have altered visual encoding capacity

by Jean-Paul Noel, Ling-Qi Zhang, Alan A. Stocker, Dora E. Angelaki

in PLoS Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Glyphosate inhibits melanization and increases susceptibility to infection in insects

by Daniel F. Q. Smith, Emma Camacho, Raviraj Thakur, Alexander J. Barron, Yuemei Dong, George Dimopoulos, Nichole A. Broderick, Arturo Casadevall

in PLoS Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The molecular and metabolic program by which white adipocytes adapt to cool physiologic temperatures

by Hiroyuki Mori, Colleen E. Dugan, Akira Nishii, Ameena Benchamana, Ziru Li, Thomas S. Cadenhead IV, Arun K. Das, Charles R. Evans, Katherine A. Overmyer, Steven M. Romanelli, Sydney K. Peterson, Devika P. Bagchi, Callie A. Corsa, Julie Hardij, Brian S. Learman, Mahmoud El Azzouny, Joshua J. Coon, Ken Inoki, Ormond A. MacDougald

in PLoS Biology on May 12, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A theory of capacity and sparse neural encoding

Publication date: Available online 12 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Pierre Baldi, Roman Vershynin

in Neural Networks on May 12, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Experimental stability analysis of neural networks in classification problems with confidence sets for persistence diagrams

Publication date: Available online 12 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Naoki Akai, Takatsugu Hirayama, Hiroshi Murase

in Neural Networks on May 12, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

<math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline" id="d1e259" altimg="si3.svg" class="math"><msub><mrow><mi>H</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>∞</mi></mrow></msub></math> synchronization of delayed neural networks via event-triggered dynamic output control

Publication date: Available online 11 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Yachun Yang, Zhengwen Tu, Liangwei Wang, Jinde Cao, Lei Shi, Wenhua Qian

in Neural Networks on May 12, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Efficient learning with augmented spikes: A case study with image classification

Publication date: Available online 12 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Shiming Song, Chenxiang Ma, Wei Sun, Junhai Xu, Jianwu Dang, Qiang Yu

in Neural Networks on May 12, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Polymer-induced microcolony compaction in early biofilms: A computer simulation study

Author(s): Francisco Javier Lobo-Cabrera, Alessandro Patti, Fernando Govantes, and Alejandro Cuetos

Microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, have the ability of colonizing surfaces and developing biofilms that can determine diseases and infections. Most bacteria secrete a significant amount of extracellular polymer substances that are relevant for biofilm stabilization and growth. In this work, we...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052407] Published Wed May 12, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 12, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mapping Reward Mechanisms by Intracerebral Self Stimulation in the Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta)

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 12, 2021 09:54 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Robot navigation as hierarchical active inference

Publication date: Available online 10 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Ozan Çatal, Tim Verbelen, Toon Van de Maele, Bart Dhoedt, Adam Safron

in Neural Networks on May 12, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

α4β2* Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptor Target Engagement in Parkinson Disease Gait‐Balance Disorders

in Annals of Neurology on May 12, 2021 06:05 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Two novel feature selection algorithms based on crowding distance. (arXiv:2105.05212v3 [cs.LG] UPDATED)

In this paper, two novel algorithms for features selection are proposed. The first one is a filter method while the second is wrapper method. Both the proposed algorithms use the crowding distance used in the multiobjective optimization as a metric in order to sort the features. The less crowded features have great effects on the target attribute (class). The experimental results have shown the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed algorithms.

in arXiv: Computer Science: Neural and Evolutionary Computing on May 12, 2021 01:30 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ion implanation success

Nature Photonics, Published online: 12 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00825-8

in Nature Photomics on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Corrigendum: Changes in Resting-State Functional Connectivity of Cerebellum in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: A Case-Control Study

in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Targeted Blood Brain Barrier Opening With Focused Ultrasound Induces Focal Macrophage/Microglial Activation in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a model of multiple sclerosis (MS). EAE reflects important histopathological hallmarks, dissemination, and diversity of the disease, but has only moderate reproducibility of clinical and histopathological features. Focal lesions are less frequently observed in EAE than in MS, and can neither be constrained to specific locations nor timed to occur at a pre-specified moment. This renders difficult any experimental assessment of the pathogenesis of lesion evolution, including its inflammatory, degenerative (demyelination and axonal degeneration), and reparatory (remyelination, axonal sprouting, gliosis) component processes. We sought to develop a controlled model of inflammatory, focal brain lesions in EAE using focused ultrasound (FUS). We hypothesized that FUS induced focal blood brain barrier disruption (BBBD) will increase the likelihood of transmigration of effector cells and subsequent lesion occurrence at the sonicated location. Lesion development was monitored with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and further analyzed by histopathological means. EAE was induced in 12 6–8 weeks old female C57BL/6 mice using myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide. FUS-induced BBBD was performed 6, 7, and 9 days after immunization in subgroups of four animals and in an additional control group. MRI and MRE were performed on a 7T horizontal bore small animal MRI scanner. Imaging was conducted longitudinally 2 and 3 weeks after disease induction and 1 week after sonication in control animals, respectively. The scan protocol comprised contrast-enhanced T1-weighted and T2-weighted sequences as well as MRE with a vibration frequency of 1 kHz. Animals were sacrificed for histopathology after the last imaging time point. The overall clinical course of EAE was mild. A total of seven EAE animals presented with focal T2w hyperintense signal alterations in the sonicated hemisphere. These were most frequent in the group of animals sonicated 9 days after immunization. Histopathology revealed foci of activated microglia/macrophages in the sonicated right hemisphere of seven EAE animals. Larger cellular infiltrates or apparent demyelination were not seen. Control animals showed no abnormalities on MRI and did not have clusters of activated microglia/macrophages at the sites targeted with FUS. None of the animals had hemorrhages or gross tissue damage as potential side effects of FUS. EAE-animals tended to have lower values of viscoelasticity and elasticity in the sonicated compared to the contralateral parenchyma. This trend was significant when comparing the right sonicated to the left normal hemisphere and specifically the right sonicated compared to the left normal cortex in animals that underwent FUS-BBBD 9 days after immunization (right vs. left hemisphere: mean viscoelasticity 6.1 vs. 7.2 kPa; p = 0.003 and mean elasticity 4.9 vs. 5.7 kPa, p = 0.024; right vs. left cortex: mean viscoelasticity 5.8 vs. 7.5 kPa; p = 0.004 and mean elasticity 5 vs. 6.5 kPa; p = 0.008). A direct comparison of the biomechanical properties of focal T2w hyperintensities with normal appearing brain tissue did not yield significant results. Control animals showed no differences in viscoelasticity between sonicated and contralateral brain parenchyma. We here provide first evidence for a controlled lesion induction model in EAE using FUS-induced BBBD. The observed lesions in EAE are consistent with foci of activated microglia that may be interpreted as targeted initial inflammatory activity and which have been described as pre-active lesions in MS. Such foci can be identified and monitored with MRI. Moreover, the increased inflammatory activity in the sonicated brain parenchyma seems to have an effect on overall tissue matrix structure as reflected by changes of biomechanical parameters.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Tapping the Potential of Multimodal Non-invasive Brain Stimulation to Elucidate the Pathophysiology of Movement Disorders

This mini-review provides a detailed outline of studies that have used multimodal approaches in non-invasive brain stimulation to investigate the pathophysiology of the three common movement disorders, namely, essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, and dystonia. Using specific search terms and filters in the PubMed^® database, we finally shortlisted 27 studies in total that were relevant to this review. While two-thirds (Brittain et al., 2013) of these studies were performed on Parkinson’s disease patients, we could find only three studies that were conducted in patients with essential tremor. We clearly show that although multimodal non-invasive brain stimulation holds immense potential in unraveling the physiological mechanisms that are disrupted in movement disorders, the technical challenges and pitfalls of combining these methods may hinder their widespread application by movement disorder specialists. A multidisciplinary team with clinical and technical expertise may be crucial in reaping the fullest benefits from such novel multimodal approaches.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

An Adolescent Sensitive Period for Social Dominance Hierarchy Plasticity Is Regulated by Cortical Plasticity Modulators in Mice

Social dominance hierarchies are a common adaptation to group living and exist across a broad range of the animal kingdom. Social dominance is known to rely on the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region that shows a protracted developmental trajectory in mice. However, it is unknown to what extent the social dominance hierarchy is plastic across postnatal development and how it is regulated. Here we identified a sensitive period for experience-dependent social dominance plasticity in adolescent male mice, which is regulated by mechanisms that affect cortical plasticity. We show that social dominance hierarchies in male mice are already formed at weaning and are highly stable into adulthood. However, one experience of forced losing significantly reduces social dominance during the adolescent period but not in adulthood, suggesting adolescence as a sensitive period for experience-dependent social dominance plasticity. Notably, robust adolescent plasticity can be prolonged into adulthood by genetic deletion of Lynx1, a molecular brake that normally limits cortical plasticity through modulation of cortical nicotinic signaling. This plasticity is associated with increased activation of established nodes of the social dominance network including dorsal medial PFC and medial dorsal thalamus evidenced by increased c-Fos. Pharmacologically mediated elevation of cortical plasticity by valproic acid rapidly destabilizes the hierarchy of adult wildtype animals. These findings provide insight into mechanisms through which increased behavioral plasticity may be achieved to improve therapeutic recovery from psychiatric disorders that are associated with social deficits.

in Frontiers in Neural Circuits on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Pharmacological Modulators of Small GTPases of Rho Family in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Classical Rho GTPases, including RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42, are members of the Ras small GTPase superfamily and play essential roles in a variety of cellular functions. Rho GTPase signaling can be turned on and off by specific GEFs and GAPs, respectively. These features empower Rho GTPases and their upstream and downstream modulators as targets for scientific research and therapeutic intervention. Specifically, significant therapeutic potential exists for targeting Rho GTPases in neurodegenerative diseases due to their widespread cellular activity and alterations in neural tissues. This study will explore the roles of Rho GTPases in neurodegenerative diseases with focus on the applications of pharmacological modulators in recent discoveries. There have been exciting developments of small molecules, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and natural products and toxins for each classical Rho GTPase category. A brief overview of each category followed by examples in their applications will be provided. The literature on their roles in various diseases [e.g., Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and Multiple sclerosis (MS)] highlights the unique and broad implications targeting Rho GTPases for potential therapeutic intervention. Clearly, there is increasing knowledge of therapeutic promise from the discovery of pharmacological modulators of Rho GTPases for managing and treating these conditions. The progress is also accompanied by the recognition of complex Rho GTPase modulation where targeting its signaling can improve some aspects of pathogenesis while exacerbating others in the same disease model. Future directions should emphasize the importance of elucidating how different Rho GTPases work in concert and how they produce such widespread yet different cellular responses during neurodegenerative disease progression.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Therapeutic Development for CGG Repeat Expansion-Associated Neurodegeneration

Non-coding repeat expansions, such as CGG, GGC, CUG, CCUG, and GGGGCC, have been shown to be involved in many human diseases, particularly neurological disorders. Of the diverse pathogenic mechanisms proposed in these neurodegenerative diseases, dysregulated RNA metabolism has emerged as an important contributor. Expanded repeat RNAs that form particular structures aggregate to form RNA foci, sequestering various RNA binding proteins and consequently altering RNA splicing, transport, and other downstream biological processes. One of these repeat expansion-associated diseases, fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), is caused by a CGG repeat expansion in the 5’UTR region of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Moreover, recent studies have revealed abnormal GGC repeat expansion within the 5’UTR region of the NOTCH2NLC gene in both essential tremor (ET) and neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID). These CGG repeat expansion-associated diseases share genetic, pathological, and clinical features. Identification of the similarities at the molecular level could lead to a better understanding of the disease mechanisms as well as developing novel therapeutic strategies. Here, we highlight our current understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of CGG repeat expansion-associated diseases and discuss potential therapeutic interventions for these neurological disorders.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Gait Impairment and Upper Extremity Disturbance Are Associated With Total Magnetic Resonance Imaging Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Burden

Background and Purpose: Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD)—including white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), lacunes, and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS)—is related to gait impairment. However, the association between the total magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cSVD burden and gait and upper extremity function remains insufficiently investigated. This study aimed to assess the correlation between the total MRI cSVD burden score and gait impairment as well as upper extremity impairment.

Method: A total of 224 participants underwent MRI scans, and the presence of lacunes, WMHs, CMBs, and EPVS was evaluated and recorded as a total MRI cSVD burden score (range 0–4). Gait was assessed by 4-m walkway, Tinetti, Timed Up and Go (TUG), and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) tests. Upper extremity function was assessed by 10-repeat hand pronation-supination time, 10-repeat finger-tapping time, and 10-repeat hand opening and closing time.

Result: The mean age of the 224 participants was 60.6 ± 10.5 years, and 64.3% were men. Independent of age, sex, height, and vascular risk factors, multivariable linear regression analyses showed that a higher total MRI cSVD burden score was related to a shorter stride length, wider step width, higher cadence, and poorer performance on the Tinetti, TUG, and SPPB tests and upper extremity tests (all P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Total MRI cSVD burden was associated with gait impairment and upper extremity disturbances, suggesting that total MRI cSVD burden might contribute to motor function decline. Longitudinal studies are required to determine whether there is a causal relationship between total MRI cSVD burden and motor function decline.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Altered Neurovascular Coupling in Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Disease

Patients with subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) exhibit a high risk of cognitive impairment that might be caused by neurologic deficits and vascular injuries. However, the mechanism remains unknown. In current study, 24 normal controls (NC) and 54 SIVD patients, including 26 SIVD patients with no cognitive impairment (SIVD-NCI) and 28 SIVD patients with mild cognitive impairment (SIVD-MCI) underwent the resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological assessments. We combined regional homogeneity (ReHo) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) by using the global ReHo-CBF correlations coefficient and the ReHo/CBF ratio to detect the inner link between neuronal activity and vascular responses. Correlations between the ReHo/CBF ratio and neuropsychological assessments were explored in patients with SIVD. As a result, we identified significantly decreased global ReHo-CBF coupling in the SIVD-NCI group and SIVD- MCI group with respect to the NC. The SIVD-MCI group showed more serious decoupling of the global ReHo-CBF correlation. We also found a significantly abnormal ReHo/CBF ratio predominantly located in cognitive-related brain regions, including the left insula, right middle temporal gyrus, right precuneus, left precentral gyrus, and left inferior parietal lobule but not the supramarginal and angular gyri. The SIVD-MCI group showed more severe disorders of neurovascular coupling than the other two groups. Moreover, the ReHo/CBF ratio in the left precentral gyrus of the SIVD-NCI group exhibited a positive correlation with the MMSE scores. These findings suggested that patients with SIVD show abnormal neurovascular coupling at the early stage of the disease and during disease development. It might be associated with disease severity and cognitive impairment. Neurovascular decoupling in brain may be a possible neuropathological mechanism of SIVD.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Impairments in brain perfusion, executive control network, topological characteristics, and neurocognition in adult patients with asymptomatic Moyamoya disease

in BMC Neuroscience on May 12, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Neuronal replacement: Concepts, achievements, and call for caution

Publication date: August 2021

Source: Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Volume 69

Author(s): Magdalena Götz, Riccardo Bocchi

in Current Opinion in Neurobiology on May 11, 2021 06:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Concerns Regarding Therapeutic Implications of Very Low‐Level Dystrophin

in Annals of Neurology on May 11, 2021 04:01 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Point‐of‐Care Noninvasive Assessments of Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Traumatic Brain Injury: Integrating the Physiome with Clinical Phenotype

in Annals of Neurology on May 11, 2021 03:59 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

NMDA receptor inhibition increases, synchronizes, and stabilizes the collective pancreatic beta cell activity: Insights through multilayer network analysis

by Marko Šterk, Lidija Križančić Bombek, Maša Skelin Klemen, Marjan Slak Rupnik, Marko Marhl, Andraž Stožer, Marko Gosak

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 11, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The growth factor <i>BMP11</i> is required for the development and evolution of a male exaggerated weapon and its associated fighting behavior in a water strider

by William Toubiana, David Armisén, Séverine Viala, Amélie Decaras, Abderrahman Khila

in PLoS Biology on May 11, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Neuropeptides as potential modulators of behavioral transitions in the ant Cataglyphis nodus

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 11, 2021 09:49 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A moment for muons

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01251-x

in Nature Physics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Detect, don’t destroy

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01250-y

in Nature Physics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Don’t bet on it

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01248-6

in Nature Physics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A constant by any other name

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01242-y

in Nature Physics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A love letter to Black feminist physicists

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-021-01241-z

in Nature Physics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Author Correction: Hard X-ray transient grating spectroscopy on bismuth germanate

Nature Photonics, Published online: 11 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00826-7

in Nature Photomics on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Aberrant Synaptic PTEN in Symptomatic Alzheimer’s Patients May Link Synaptic Depression to Network Failure

In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Amyloid β (Aβ) impairs synaptic function by inhibiting long-term potentiation (LTP), and by facilitating long-term depression (LTD). There is now evidence from AD models that Aβ provokes this shift toward synaptic depression by triggering the access to and accumulation of PTEN in the postsynaptic terminal of hippocampal neurons. Here we quantified the PTEN in 196,138 individual excitatory dentate gyrus synapses from AD patients at different stages of the disease and from controls with no neuropathological findings. We detected a gradual increase of synaptic PTEN in AD brains as the disease progresses, in conjunction with a significant decrease in synaptic density. The synapses that remain in symptomatic AD patients are more likely to be smaller and exhibit fewer AMPA receptors (AMPARs). Hence, a high Aβ load appears to strongly compromise human hippocampal synapses, as reflected by an increase in PTEN, inducing a loss of AMPARs that may eventually provoke synaptic failure and loss.

in Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Semaphorins in Adult Nervous System Plasticity and Disease

Semaphorins, originally discovered as guidance cues for developing axons, are involved in many processes that shape the nervous system during development, from neuronal proliferation and migration to neuritogenesis and synapse formation. Interestingly, the expression of many Semaphorins persists after development. For instance, Semaphorin 3A is a component of perineuronal nets, the extracellular matrix structures enwrapping certain types of neurons in the adult CNS, which contribute to the closure of the critical period for plasticity. Semaphorin 3G and 4C play a crucial role in the control of adult hippocampal connectivity and memory processes, and Semaphorin 5A and 7A regulate adult neurogenesis. This evidence points to a role of Semaphorins in the regulation of adult neuronal plasticity. In this review, we address the distribution of Semaphorins in the adult nervous system and we discuss their function in physiological and pathological processes.

in Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Reciprocal Relationship Between Calcium Signaling and Circadian Clocks: Implications for Calcium Homeostasis, Clock Function, and Therapeutics

In animals, circadian clocks impose a daily rhythmicity to many behaviors and physiological processes. At the molecular level, circadian rhythms are driven by intracellular transcriptional/translational feedback loops (TTFL). Interestingly, emerging evidence indicates that they can also be modulated by multiple signaling pathways. Among these, Ca²⁺ signaling plays a key role in regulating the molecular rhythms of clock genes and of the resulting circadian behavior. In addition, the application of in vivo imaging approaches has revealed that Ca²⁺ is fundamental to the synchronization of the neuronal networks that make up circadian pacemakers. Conversely, the activity of circadian clocks may influence Ca²⁺ signaling. For instance, several genes that encode Ca²⁺ channels and Ca²⁺-binding proteins display a rhythmic expression, and a disruption of this cycling affects circadian function, underscoring their reciprocal relationship. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of how Ca²⁺ signaling both modulates and is modulated by circadian clocks, focusing on the regulatory mechanisms described in Drosophila and mice. In particular, we examine findings related to the oscillations in intracellular Ca²⁺ levels in circadian pacemakers and how they are regulated by canonical clock genes, neuropeptides, and light stimuli. In addition, we discuss how Ca²⁺ rhythms and their associated signaling pathways modulate clock gene expression at the transcriptional and post-translational levels. We also review evidence based on transcriptomic analyzes that suggests that mammalian Ca²⁺ channels and transporters (e.g., ryanodine receptor, ip3r, serca, L- and T-type Ca²⁺ channels) as well as Ca²⁺-binding proteins (e.g., camk, cask, and calcineurin) show rhythmic expression in the central brain clock and in peripheral tissues such as the heart and skeletal muscles. Finally, we discuss how the discovery that Ca²⁺ signaling is regulated by the circadian clock could influence the efficacy of pharmacotherapy and the outcomes of clinical interventions.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Microglial Exosomes in Neurodegenerative Disease

Microglia play an important role in neurodegenerative disease [i.e., Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)]. These diseases share some similar pathological changes and several microglia-associated processes, including immune response, neuroinflammation, phagocytosis, elimination of synapses et al. Microglia in the central nervous system (CNS) has been described as having both destructive and protective effects in neurological disorders. Besides, considerable evidence also indicates that microglia play a significant role in neurogenesis, neuronal cell death, and synaptic interactions. The communication between microglia and neurons is of vital role in regulating complex functions which are key to appropriate the activity of the brain. Accumulating studies have also demonstrated that exosomes with sizes ranging from 40–100 nm, released by microglia, could serve as key mediators in intercellular signaling. These exosomes, identified in terms of cellular origin in many kinds of biological fluids, exert their effects by delivering specific cargos such as proteins, microRNAs (miRNAs), and mRNAs. It was shown that microglial exosomes could transport to and be uptake by neurons, which may either be beneficial or instead, detrimental to CNS diseases. The focus of this review is to summarize the involvement of microglial exosomes in critical pathologies associated with neurodegenerative disease and how they contribute to these disorders, including PD, AD, and ALS. We also review the application of microglia exosomes as potential biomarkers in monitoring disease progression, as well as focusing on their roles as drug delivery vehicles in treating neurodegenerative disorders.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A Novel Statistical Model for Predicting the Efficacy of Vagal Nerve Stimulation in Patients With Epilepsy (Pre-X-Stim) Is Applicable to Different EEG Systems

Background: Identifying patients with intractable epilepsy who would benefit from therapeutic chronic vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) preoperatively remains a major clinical challenge. We have developed a statistical model for predicting VNS efficacy using only routine preimplantation electroencephalogram (EEG) recorded with the TruScan EEG device (Brazdil et al., 2019). It remains to be seen, however, if this model can be applied in different clinical settings.

Objective: To validate our model using EEG data acquired with a different recording system.

Methods: We identified a validation cohort of eight patients implanted with VNS, whose preimplantation EEG was recorded on the BrainScope device and who underwent the EEG recording according to the protocol. The classifier developed in our earlier work, named Pre-X-Stim, was then employed to classify these patients as predicted responders or non-responders based on the dynamics in EEG power spectra. Predicted and real-world outcomes were compared to establish the applicability of this classifier. In total, two validation experiments were performed using two different validation approaches (single classifier or classifier voting).

Results: The classifier achieved 75% accuracy, 67% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. Only two patients, both real-life responders, were classified incorrectly in both validation experiments.

Conclusion: We have validated the Pre-X-Stim model on EEGs from a different recording system, which indicates its application under different technical conditions. Our approach, based on preoperative EEG, is easily applied and financially undemanding and presents great potential for real-world clinical use.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neural Technology on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Tiered Neuroscience and Mental Health Professional Development in Liberia Improves Teacher Self-Efficacy, Self-Responsibility, and Motivation

After acquiring knowledge of the neuroscience of learning, memory, stress and emotions, teachers incorporate more cognitive engagement and student-centered practices into their lessons. However, the role understanding neuroscience plays in teachers own affective and motivational competencies has not yet been investigated. The goal of this study was to investigate how learning neuroscience effected teachers’ self-efficacy, beliefs in their ability to teach effectively, self-responsibility and other components of teacher motivation. A pilot training-of-trainers program was designed and delivered in Liberia combining basic neuroscience with information on social, emotional, behavioral and mental health issues faced by students. Tier I of the professional development was a 2 weeks workshop led by a visiting neuroscientist. A subset of the 24 Tier I secondary science teachers formed a Leadership Team who adapted the content to the Liberian context and subsequently led additional workshops and follow-up sessions for the Tier II secondary science teachers. Science teachers in both tiers completed the affective-motivational scales from the internationally vetted, multiscale Innovative Teaching for Effective Learning Teacher Knowledge Survey from the OECD. Tier II teachers completed the survey in a pre-post-delayed post design. Tier I teachers completed the survey after the workshop with their attitudes at that time and separately with retrospective projections of their pre-workshop attitudes. Ten of the 92 Tier II teachers participated in structured interviews at follow-up. Statistical analysis of survey data demonstrated improved teacher self-efficacy, self-responsibility for student outcomes, and motivation to teach. Qualitatively, teachers expressed more confidence in their ability to motivate students, engage them through active learning, and manage the class through positive rather than negative reinforcement. Teachers’ own self-regulation improved as they made efforts to build supporting relationships with students. Together, these results demonstrated that (i) teacher affective-motivational attitudes can be altered with professional development, (ii) basic neuroscience, as knowledge of how students learn, can improve teacher competency, and (iii) a training-of-trainers model can be effective in a low and middle income country for disseminating neuroscience knowledge, increasing teachers’ knowledge of students’ social and emotional needs, and promoting educational improvement.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Values Evolution in Human Machine Relations: Grounding Computationalism and Neural Dynamics in a Physical a Priorism of Nature

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Colors and Handles: How Action Primes Perception

How deeply does action influence perception? Does action performance affect the perception of object features directly related to action only? Or does it concern also object features such as colors, which are not held to directly afford action? The present study aimed at answering these questions. We asked participants to repeatedly grasp a handled mug hidden from their view before judging whether a visually presented mug was blue rather than cyan. The motor training impacted on their perceptual judgments, by speeding participants’ responses, when the handle of the presented mug was spatially aligned with the trained hand. The priming effect did not occur when participants were trained to merely touch the mug with their hand closed in a fist. This indicates that action performance may shape the perceptual judgment on object features, even when these features are colors and do not afford any action. How we act on surrounding objects is therefore not without consequence for how we experience them.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane Impairs Amyloid Beta Clearance by Decreasing Liver X Receptor α Expression

Abnormal amyloid beta (Aβ) clearance is a distinctive pathological mechanism for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), which mediates the lipidation of apolipoprotein E, plays a critical role in Aβ clearance. As an environmental factor for AD, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) can decrease ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) expression and disrupt Aβ clearance. Liver X receptor α (LXRα) is an autoregulatory transcription factor for ABCA1 and a target of some environmental pollutants, such as organophosphate pesticides. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether DDT could affect Aβ clearance by targeting LXRα. The DDT-pretreated H4 human neuroglioma cells and immortalized astrocytes were incubated with exogenous Aβ to evaluate Aβ consumption. Meanwhile, cytotoxicity and LXRα expression were determined in the DDT-treated cells. Subsequently, the antagonism of DDT on LXRα agonist T0901317 was determined in vitro. The interaction between DDT and LXRα was predicted by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation technology. We observed that DDT could inhibit Aβ clearance and decrease the levels of LXRα mRNA and LXRα protein. Moreover, DDT is supposed to strongly bind to LXRα and exert antagonistic effects on LXRα. In conclusion, this study firstly presented that DDT could inhibit LXRα expression, which would contribute to Aβ clearance decline in vitro. It provides an experimental basis to search for potential therapeutic targets of AD.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Application of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease: A Histogram Analysis

This study aimed to investigate the value of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF)-based histogram analysis in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and to investigate the regions of the most important discriminative features and their contribution to classification discrimination. Patients with PD (n = 59) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 41) were identified and divided into a primary set (80 cases, including 48 patients with PD and 32 HCs) and a validation set (20 cases, including 11 patients with PD and nine HCs). The Automated Anatomical Labeling (AAL) 116 atlas was used to extract the histogram features of the regions of interest in the brain. Machine learning methods were used in the primary set for data dimensionality reduction, feature selection, model construction, and model performance evaluation. The model performance was further validated in the validation set. After feature data dimension reduction and feature selection, 23 of a total of 1,276 features were entered in the model. The brain regions of the selected features included the frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, and limbic lobes, as well as the cerebellum and the thalamus. In the primary set, the area under the curve (AUC) of the model was 0.974, the sensitivity was 93.8%, the specificity was 90.6%, and the accuracy was 93.8%. In the validation set, the AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 0.980, 90.9%, 88.9%, and 90.0%, respectively. ALFF-based histogram analysis can be used to classify patients with PD and HCs and to effectively identify abnormal brain function regions in PD patients.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Time spent on the smartphone does not relate to manual dexterity in young adults

in BMC Neuroscience on May 11, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cover Image, Volume 529, Issue 10

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Journal of Comparative Neurology, Table of Content, Vol. 529, No. 10, July 2021

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Organization of radial glia reveals growth pattern in the telencephalon of a percomorph fish Astatotilapia burtoni

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cortical connections of the functional domain for climbing or running in posterior parietal cortex of galagos

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Convergence of peptidergic and non‐peptidergic protein markers in the human dorsal root ganglion and spinal dorsal horn

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Fractional anisotropy from diffusion tensor imaging correlates with acute astrocyte and myelin swelling in neonatal swine models of excitotoxic and hypoxic‐ischemic brain injury

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Identification of retinal ganglion cell types expressing the transcription factor Satb2 in three primate species

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Anatomical projections to the dorsal tegmental nucleus and abducens nucleus arise from separate cell populations in the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, but overlapping cell populations in the medial vestibular nucleus

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Astrocytes in rare neurological conditions: Morphological and functional considerations

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Morpho‐physiological properties and connectivity of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide‐expressing interneurons in the mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Chronic stress differentially alters mRNA expression of opioid peptides and receptors in the dorsal hippocampus of female and male rats

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Functional alterations of retinal neurons and vascular involvement progress simultaneously in the Psammomys obesus model of diabetic retinopathy

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Expression patterns and evolution of urocortin and corticotropin‐releasing hormone genes in a cichlid fish

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A histological study of the song system of the carrion crow (Corvus corone)

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural organization of the taste thalamus of the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri)

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Conservation and dimorphism in androgen receptor distribution in Alston's singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina)

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Axon guidance at the spinal cord midline—A live imaging perspective

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Opsin 3/Teleost multiple tissue opsin system: mRNA localization in the retina and brain of medaka (Oryzias latipes)

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Astrocyte regional heterogeneity revealed through machine learning‐based glial neuroanatomical assays

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Neuronal localization of m1 muscarinic receptor immunoreactivity in the monkey basolateral amygdala

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A novel telencephalon‐opto‐hypothalamic morphogenetic domain coexpressing Foxg1 and Otp produces most of the glutamatergic neurons of the medial extended amygdala

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Gamma‐protocadherin localization at the synapse is associated with parameters of synaptic maturation

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 10, 2021 07:03 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Finding functions of phase separation in the presynapse

Publication date: August 2021

Source: Current Opinion in Neurobiology, Volume 69

Author(s): Nathan A. McDonald, Kang Shen

in Current Opinion in Neurobiology on May 10, 2021 06:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Predicting mean ribosome load for 5’UTR of any length using deep learning

by Alexander Karollus, Žiga Avsec, Julien Gagneur

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Active head rolls enhance sonar-based auditory localization performance

by Lakshitha P. Wijesinghe, Melville J. Wohlgemuth, Richard H. Y. So, Jochen Triesch, Cynthia F. Moss, Bertram E. Shi

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A model of dopamine and serotonin-kynurenine metabolism in cortisolemia: Implications for depression

by Felipe Dalvi-Garcia, Luis L. Fonseca, Ana Tereza R. Vasoncelos, Cecilia Hedin-Pereira, Eberhard O. Voit

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Computational phenotyping of brain-behavior dynamics underlying approach-avoidance conflict in major depressive disorder

by Mads L. Pedersen, Maria Ironside, Ken-ichi Amemori, Callie L. McGrath, Min S. Kang, Ann M. Graybiel, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Michael J. Frank

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Agent-based model provides insight into the mechanisms behind failed regeneration following volumetric muscle loss injury

by Amanda M. Westman, Shayn M. Peirce, George J. Christ, Silvia S. Blemker

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

CRIMSON: An open-source software framework for cardiovascular integrated modelling and simulation

by Christopher J. Arthurs, Rostislav Khlebnikov, Alex Melville, Marija Marčan, Alberto Gomez, Desmond Dillon-Murphy, Federica Cuomo, Miguel Silva Vieira, Jonas Schollenberger, Sabrina R. Lynch, Christopher Tossas-Betancourt, Kritika Iyer, Sara Hopper, Elizabeth Livingston, Pouya Youssefi, Alia Noorani, Sabrina Ben Ahmed, Foeke J. H. Nauta, Theodorus M. J. van Bakel, Yunus Ahmed, Petrus A. J. van Bakel, Jonathan Mynard, Paolo Di Achille, Hamid Gharahi, Kevin D. Lau, Vasilina Filonova, Miquel Aguirre, Nitesh Nama, Nan Xiao, Seungik Baek, Krishna Garikipati, Onkar Sahni, David Nordsletten, C. Alberto Figueroa

in PLoS Computational Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

How hype and hyperbole distort the neuroscience of sex differences

by Gina Rippon, Lise Eliot, Sarah Genon, Daphna Joel

in PLoS Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Expression of Concern: The Communication Factor EDF and the Toxin–Antitoxin Module <i>mazEF</i> Determine the Mode of Action of Antibiotics

by The PLOS Biology Editors

in PLoS Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Sensitivity to expression levels underlies differential dominance of a putative null allele of the <i>Drosophila t</i>ß<i>h</i> gene in behavioral phenotypes

by Christine Damrau, Julien Colomb, Björn Brembs

in PLoS Biology on May 10, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Analytic determination of lung microgeometry with gas diffusion magnetic resonance

Author(s): Niels Buhl

Through inhalation of, e.g., hyperpolarized ${}^3\mathrm{He}$, it is possible to acquire gas diffusion magnetic resonance measurements that depend on the local geometry in the vast network of microscopic airways that form the respiratory zone of the human lung. Here, we demonstrate that this can be used to determ...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052406] Published Mon May 10, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 10, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Reaction coupling in ADH1A alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme by exciplex formation with adenosine diphosphate moderated by low-energy electronic excited states

Author(s): Igor Khmelinskii and Vladimir I. Makarov

Two commonly accepted theories about enzymes were revisited. The first states that adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–stored energy is only released when the substrate is in place, because the substrate changes the enzyme structure when it is bound to the enzyme. In fact, as demonstrated and discussed pre...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052405] Published Mon May 10, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 10, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

In vivo CRISPR screening for novel noncoding RNA functional targets in glioblastoma models

in Journal of Neuroscience Research on May 10, 2021 07:32 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Hunger or thirst state uncertainty is resolved by outcome evaluation in medial prefrontal cortex to guide decision-making

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00850-4

in Nature Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Wireless multilateral devices for optogenetic studies of individual and social behaviors

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00849-x

in Nature Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Integrating barcoded neuroanatomy with spatial transcriptional profiling enables identification of gene correlates of projections

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00842-4

in Nature Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry variants for metabolomics research

Nature Methods, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01116-4

in Nature Methods on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Tunable quantum interference using a topological source of indistinguishable photon pairs

Nature Photonics, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00810-1

in Nature Photomics on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Temporal solitons in a coherently driven active resonator

Nature Photonics, Published online: 10 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00807-w

in Nature Photomics on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Impact of Perineuronal Nets on Electrophysiology of Parvalbumin Interneurons, Principal Neurons, and Brain Oscillations: A Review

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized extracellular matrix structures that surround specific neurons in the brain and spinal cord, appear during critical periods of development, and restrict plasticity during adulthood. Removal of PNNs can reinstate juvenile-like plasticity or, in cases of PNN removal during early developmental stages, PNN removal extends the critical plasticity period. PNNs surround mainly parvalbumin (PV)-containing, fast-spiking GABAergic interneurons in several brain regions. These inhibitory interneurons profoundly inhibit the network of surrounding neurons via their elaborate contacts with local pyramidal neurons, and they are key contributors to gamma oscillations generated across several brain regions. Among other functions, these gamma oscillations regulate plasticity associated with learning, decision making, attention, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The detailed mechanisms by which PNN removal increases plasticity are only beginning to be understood. Here, we review the impact of PNN removal on several electrophysiological features of their underlying PV interneurons and nearby pyramidal neurons, including changes in intrinsic and synaptic membrane properties, brain oscillations, and how these changes may alter the integration of memory-related information. Additionally, we review how PNN removal affects plasticity-associated phenomena such as long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), and paired-pulse ratio (PPR). The results are discussed in the context of the role of PV interneurons in circuit function and how PNN removal alters this function.

in Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Specialty Grand Challenge for Brain Disease Mechanisms

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Comparative Effectiveness of Intracerebroventricular, Intrathecal, and Intranasal Routes of AAV9 Vector Administration for Genetic Therapy of Neurologic Disease in Murine Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-L-iduronidase (IDUA). The two current treatments [hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and enzyme replacement therapy (ERT)], are insufficiently effective in addressing neurologic disease, in part due to the inability of lysosomal enzyme to cross the blood brain barrier. With a goal to more effectively treat neurologic disease, we have investigated the effectiveness of AAV-mediated IDUA gene delivery to the brain using several different routes of administration. Animals were treated by either direct intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection, by intrathecal (IT) infusion into the cerebrospinal fluid, or by intranasal (IN) instillation of AAV9-IDUA vector. AAV9-IDUA was administered to IDUA-deficient mice that were either immunosuppressed with cyclophosphamide (CP), or immunotolerized at birth by weekly injections of human iduronidase. In animals treated by ICV or IT administration, levels of IDUA enzyme ranged from 3- to 1000-fold that of wild type levels in all parts of the microdissected brain. In animals administered vector intranasally, enzyme levels were 100-fold that of wild type in the olfactory bulb, but enzyme expression was close to wild type levels in other parts of the brain. Glycosaminoglycan levels were reduced to normal in ICV and IT treated mice, and in IN treated mice they were normalized in the olfactory bulb, or reduced in other parts of the brain. Immunohistochemical analysis showed extensive IDUA expression in all parts of the brain of ICV treated mice, while IT treated animals showed transduction that was primarily restricted to the hind brain with some sporadic labeling seen in the mid- and fore brain. At 6 months of age, animals were tested for spatial navigation, memory, and neurocognitive function in the Barnes maze; all treated animals were indistinguishable from normal heterozygous control animals, while untreated IDUA deficient animals exhibited significant learning and spatial navigation deficits. We conclude that IT and IN routes are acceptable and alternate routes of administration, respectively, of AAV vector delivery to the brain with effective IDUA expression, while all three routes of administration prevent the emergence of neurocognitive deficiency in a mouse MPS I model.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Validation of Affect-tag Affective and Cognitive Indicators

The Affect-tag solution measures physiological signals to deliver indicators derived from cognitive science. To provide the most accurate and effective results, a database of electrodermal activity (EDA) signals acquired using the Affect-tag A1 band was created. An experimental paradigm was designed to measure action-taking, autonomic regulation, cognitive load (CL), emotions, and stress, affects, and social stress. The Affect-tag emotional power (EP), emotional density (ED), and CL affective and cognitive indicators were refined based on the physiological responses of 48 participants during these tasks. Statistical significance was obtained for all indicators in tasks they were designed to measure, resulting in a total accuracy score of 89% for the combined indicators. Data obtained during this study will be further analyzed to define emotional and affective states.

in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Stochasticity, Nonlinear Value Functions, and Update Rules in Learning Aesthetic Biases

A theoretical framework for the reinforcement learning of aesthetic biases was recently proposed based on brain circuitries revealed by neuroimaging. A model grounded on that framework accounted for interesting features of human aesthetic biases. These features included individuality, cultural predispositions, stochastic dynamics of learning and aesthetic biases, and the peak-shift effect. However, despite the success in explaining these features, a potential weakness was the linearity of the value function used to predict reward. This linearity meant that the learning process employed a value function that assumed a linear relationship between reward and sensory stimuli. Linearity is common in reinforcement learning in neuroscience. However, linearity can be problematic because neural mechanisms and the dependence of reward on sensory stimuli were typically nonlinear. Here, we analyze the learning performance with models including optimal nonlinear value functions. We also compare updating the free parameters of the value functions with the delta rule, which neuroscience models use frequently, vs. updating with a new Phi rule that considers the structure of the nonlinearities. Our computer simulations showed that optimal nonlinear value functions resulted in improvements of learning errors when the reward models were nonlinear. Similarly, the new Phi rule led to improvements in these errors. These improvements were accompanied by the straightening of the trajectories of the vector of free parameters in its phase space. This straightening meant that the process became more efficient in learning the prediction of reward. Surprisingly, however, this improved efficiency had a complex relationship with the rate of learning. Finally, the stochasticity arising from the probabilistic sampling of sensory stimuli, rewards, and motivations helped the learning process narrow the range of free parameters to nearly optimal outcomes. Therefore, we suggest that value functions and update rules optimized for social and ecological constraints are ideal for learning aesthetic biases.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Muscle Synergies in Children Walking and Running on a Treadmill

Muscle synergies reflect the presence of a common neural input to multiple muscles. Steering small sets of synergies is commonly believed to simplify the control of complex motor tasks like walking and running. When these locomotor patterns emerge, it is likely that synergies emerge as well. We hence hypothesized that in children learning to run the number of accompanying synergies increases and that some of the synergies’ activities display a temporal shift related to a reduced stance phase as observed in adults. We investigated the development of locomotion in 23 children aged 2–9 years of age and compared them with seven young adults. Muscle activity of 15 bilateral leg, trunk, and arm muscles, ground reaction forces, and kinematics were recorded during comfortable treadmill walking and running, followed by a muscle synergy analysis. We found that toddlers (2–3.5 years) and preschoolers (3.5–6.5 years) utilize a “walk-run strategy” when learning to run: they managed the fastest speeds on the treadmill by combining double support (DS) and flight phases (FPs). In particular the activity duration of the medial gastrocnemius muscle was weakly correlated with age. The number of synergies across groups and conditions needed to cover sufficient data variation ranged between four and eight. The number of synergies tended to be smaller in toddlers than it did in preschoolers and school-age children but the adults had the lowest number for both conditions. Against our expectations, the age groups did not differ significantly in the timing or duration of synergies. We believe that the increase in the number of muscle synergies in older children relates to motor learning and exploration. The ability to run with a FP is clearly associated with an increase in the number of muscle synergies.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Investigating the Mechanism of Sodium Binding to SERT Using Direct Simulations

The serotonin transporter (SERT) terminates neurotransmission by transporting serotonin from the synapse into the pre-synaptic nerve terminal. Altered SERT function leads to several neurological diseases including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD). Accordingly SERT is the target for their pharmacological treatments, but also targeted by multiple drugs of abuse. Transport of serotonin by SERT is energized by the transmembrane electrochemical gradient of sodium. We used extensive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the process of sodium binding to SERT, which is the first step in the transport cycle that leads to serotonin uptake. Comparing data from 51 independent simulations, we find a remarkably well-defined path for sodium entry and could identify two transient binding sites, while observing binding kinetics that are comparable to experimental data. Importantly, the structure and dynamics of the sodium binding sites indicate that sodium binding is accompanied by an induced-fit mechanism that leads to new conformations and reduces local dynamics.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The Role of NF-κB Triggered Inflammation in Cerebral Ischemia

Cerebral ischemia is a devastating disease that affects many people worldwide every year. The neurodegenerative damage as a consequence of oxygen and energy deprivation, to date, has no known effective treatment. The ischemic insult is followed by an inflammatory response that involves a complex interaction between inflammatory cells and molecules which play a role in the progression towards cell death. However, there is presently a matter of controversy over whether inflammation could either be involved in brain damage or be a necessary part of brain repair. The inflammatory response is triggered by inflammasomes, key multiprotein complexes that promote secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. An early event in post-ischemic brain tissue is the release of certain molecules and reactive oxygen species (ROS) from injured neurons which induce the expression of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), a transcription factor involved in the activation of the inflammasome. There are conflicting observations related to the role of NF-κB. While some observe that NF-κB plays a damaging role, others suggest it to be neuroprotective in the context of cerebral ischemia, indicating the need for additional investigation. Here we discuss the dual role of the major inflammatory signaling pathways and provide a review of the latest research aiming to clarify the relationship between NF-κB mediated inflammation and neuronal death in cerebral ischemia.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Women Neuroscientist Disciples of Pío del Río-Hortega: the Cajal School Spreads in Europe and South America

Pio del Rio-Hortega was not only the discoverer of the microglia and oligodendroglia but also possibly the most prolific mentor of all Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s disciples (Nobel awardee in Physiology or Medicine 1906 and considered as the father of modern Neuroscience). Among Río-Hortega’s mentees, three exceptional women are frequently forgotten, chronologically: Pio’s niece Asunción Amo del Río who worked with Río-Hortega at Madrid, Paris, and Oxford; the distinguished British neuropathologist Dorothy Russell who also worked with Don Pío at Oxford; and Amanda Pellegrino de Iraldi, the last mentee in his career. Our present work analyzes the figures of these three women who were in contact and collaborated with Don Pío del Río-Hortega, describing the influences received and the impact on their careers and the History of Neuroscience. The present work completes the contribution of women neuroscientists who worked with Cajal and his main disciples of the Spanish Neurological School both in Spain (previous work) and in other countries (present work).

in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Saliva Neurofilament Light Chain Is Not a Diagnostic Biomarker for Neurodegeneration in a Mixed Memory Clinic Population

Neurodegeneration and axonal injury result in an increasing release of neurofilament light chain (NfL) into bodily fluids, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Numerous studies have shown that NfL levels in CSF and blood are increased in neurodegenerative disorders and monitor neurodegeneration. Saliva is an easily accessible biofluid that could be utilized as a biofluid measurement of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers. In this study, for the first time, salivary NfL was measured and compared to plasma NfL in a consecutive cohort of patients referred to cognitive assessments. In two mixed memory clinic cohorts, saliva samples were taken from 152 patients, AD (n = 49), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n = 47), non-AD (n = 56), and also 17 healthy controls. In addition, 135 also had a matching plasma sample. All saliva and plasma samples were analyzed for NfL, and the association between saliva and plasma NfL and CSF levels of total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), and beta amyloid 1–42 (Aβ42) were investigated. In total, 162/169 had quantifiable levels of salivary NfL by single molecule array (Simoa). No statistically significant differences were found in salivary NfL concentration across the diagnostic groups, but as expected, significant increases were found for plasma NfL in dementia cases (P < 0.0001). There was no association between saliva and plasma NfL levels. Furthermore, saliva NfL did not correlate with CSF Aβ42, p-tau, or tau concentrations. In conclusion, NfL is detectable in saliva but does not reflect neurodegeneration in the brain.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

The cerebellum-driven social basis of mathematics: implications for one-on-one tutoring of children with mathematics learning disabilities

in Cerebellum and Ataxias on May 10, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Graph embedding clustering: Graph attention auto-encoder with cluster-specificity distribution

Publication date: Available online 8 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Huiling Xu, Wei Xia, Quanxue Gao, Jungong Han, Xinbo Gao

in Neural Networks on May 09, 2021 06:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Novel criteria for global robust stability of dynamical neural networks with multiple time delays

Publication date: October 2021

Source: Neural Networks, Volume 142

Author(s): Emel Arslan

in Neural Networks on May 08, 2021 06:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Arguments for the unsuitability of convolutional neural networks for non-local tasks

Publication date: October 2021

Source: Neural Networks, Volume 142

Author(s): Sebastian Stabinger, David Peer, Antonio Rodríguez-Sánchez

in Neural Networks on May 08, 2021 06:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Hippocampal subfield‐specific Homer1a expression is triggered by learning‐facilitated long‐term potentiation and long‐term depression at medial perforant path synapses

in Hippocampus on May 08, 2021 12:55 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in Woodhouse‐Sakati Syndrome

in Annals of Neurology on May 08, 2021 08:14 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Speech Biomarkers in Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder and Parkinson Disease

in Annals of Neurology on May 07, 2021 05:24 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Multiplex qPCR discriminates variants of concern to enhance global surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

by Chantal B. F. Vogels, Mallery I. Breban, Isabel M. Ott, Tara Alpert, Mary E. Petrone, Anne E. Watkins, Chaney C. Kalinich, Rebecca Earnest, Jessica E. Rothman, Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, Ingra Morales Claro, Giulia Magalhães Ferreira, Myuki A. E. Crispim, Brazil-UK CADDE Genomic Network , Lavanya Singh, Houriiyah Tegally, Ugochukwu J. Anyaneji, Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa , Emma B. Hodcroft, Christopher E. Mason, Gaurav Khullar, Jessica Metti, Joel T. Dudley, Matthew J. MacKay, Megan Nash, Jianhui Wang, Chen Liu, Pei Hui, Steven Murphy, Caleb Neal, Eva Laszlo, Marie L. Landry, Anthony Muyombwe, Randy Downing, Jafar Razeq, Tulio de Oliveira, Nuno R. Faria, Ester C. Sabino, Richard A. Neher, Joseph R. Fauver, Nathan D. Grubaugh

in PLoS Biology on May 07, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Structural basis for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies with novel binding epitopes

by Dan Fu, Guangshun Zhang, Yuhui Wang, Zheng Zhang, Hengrui Hu, Shu Shen, Jun Wu, Bo Li, Xin Li, Yaohui Fang, Jia Liu, Qiao Wang, Yunjiao Zhou, Wei Wang, Yufeng Li, Zhonghua Lu, Xiaoxiao Wang, Cui Nie, Yujie Tian, Da Chen, Yuan Wang, Xingdong Zhou, Qisheng Wang, Feng Yu, Chen Zhang, Changjing Deng, Liang Zhou, Guangkuo Guan, Na Shao, Zhiyong Lou, Fei Deng, Hongkai Zhang, Xinwen Chen, Manli Wang, Louis Liu, Zihe Rao, Yu Guo

in PLoS Biology on May 07, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Two-timescale neurodynamic approaches to supervised feature selection based on alternative problem formulations

Publication date: Available online 7 May 2021

Source: Neural Networks

Author(s): Yadi Wang, Jun Wang, Hangjun Che

in Neural Networks on May 07, 2021 01:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Comparison of the effects of two therapeutic strategies based on olfactory ensheathing cell transplantation and repetitive magnetic stimulation after spinal cord injury in female mice

in Journal of Neuroscience Research on May 07, 2021 10:37 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Evolutionary advantage of a dissociative search mechanism in DNA mismatch repair

Author(s): Kyle Crocker, James London, Andrés Medina, Richard Fishel, and Ralf Bundschuh

Protein complexes involved in DNA mismatch repair diffuse along dsDNA as sliding clamps in order to locate a hemimethylated incision site. They have been observed to use a dissociative mechanism, in which two proteins, while continuously remaining attached to the DNA, sometimes associate into a sing...

[Phys. Rev. E 103, 052404] Published Fri May 07, 2021

in Physical Review E: Biological physics on May 07, 2021 10:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

NRSF deficiency leads to abnormal postnatal development of dentate gyrus and impairment of progenitors in subgranular zone of hippocampus

in Hippocampus on May 07, 2021 08:34 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

As above, so below: Whole transcriptome profiling demonstrates strong molecular similarities between avian dorsal and ventral pallial subdivisions

in Journal of Comparative Neurology on May 07, 2021 07:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Social mice seeking circuits

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00861-1

in Nature Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A celebration of structural biology

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01163-x

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Genome-wide analysis of structural variation

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01161-z

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

iSCAT gets a signal boost

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01160-0

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Walking through chromatin modifications

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01159-7

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Mario Nicodemi

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01152-0

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

From structure to mechanism: skiing the energy landscape

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01140-4

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

50 years of PDB: a catalyst in structural biology

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01138-y

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Cryo-electron tomography: observing the cell at the atomic level

Nature Methods, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01133-3

in Nature Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A synaptic mismatch

Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41583-021-00472-6

in Nature Reviews on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A window of opportunity

Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Published online: 07 May 2021; doi:10.1038/s41583-021-00470-8

in Nature Reviews on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

MicroRNA-181a Is Involved in Methamphetamine Addiction Through the ERAD Pathway

The regulation of microRNA (miRNA) is closely related to methamphetamine (METH) addiction. Past studies have reported that miR-181a is associated with METH addiction, but the mechanism pathways remain elusive. On the basis of our past studies, which reported the endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation (ERAD) mediated ubiquitin protein degradation of GABAAα1, which was involved in METH addiction. The present study, using qRT-PCR and bioinformatics analysis, further revealed that miR-181a may be indirectly responsible for the METH addiction and downregulation of GABAAα1 through the regulation of ERAD.

in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Advanced Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging Along With Machine Learning Provides New Sensitive Measures of Tissue Pathology and Intra-Lesion Activity in Multiple Sclerosis

Tissue pathology in multiple sclerosis (MS) is highly complex, requiring multi-dimensional analysis. In this study, our goal was to test the feasibility of obtaining high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) metrics through single-shell modeling of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data, and investigate how advanced measures from single-shell HARDI and DTI tractography perform relative to classical DTI metrics in assessing MS pathology. We examined 52 relapsing-remitting MS patients who had 3T anatomical brain MRI and DTI. Single-shell HARDI modeling yielded 5 sub-voxel-based metrics, totalling 11 diffusion measures including 4 DTI and 2 tractography metrics. Based on machine learning of 3-dimensional regions of interest, we evaluated the importance of the measures through several tissue classification tasks. These included two within-subject comparisons: lesion versus normal appearing white matter (NAWM); and lesion core versus shell. Further, by stratifying patients as having high (above 75%^ile) and low (below 25%^ile) number of MS lesions, we also performed 2 classifications between subjects for lesions and NAWM respectively. Results showed that in lesion-NAWM analysis, HARDI orientation distribution function (ODF) energy, DTI fractional anisotropy (FA), and HARDI orientation dispersion index were the top three metrics, which together achieved 65.2% accuracy and 0.71 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). In core-shell analysis, DTI mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity, and FA were the top three metrics, and MD dominated the classification, which achieved 59.3% accuracy and 0.59 AUROC alone. Between patients, FA was the leading feature in lesion comparisons, while ODF energy was the best in NAWM separation. Collectively, single-shell modeling of common diffusion data can provide robust orientation measures of lesion and NAWM pathology, and DTI metrics are most sensitive to intra-lesion abnormality. Combined analysis of both advanced and classical diffusion measures may be critical for improved understanding of MS pathology.

in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Framework for the Classification of Emotions in People With Visual Disabilities Through Brain Signals

Nowadays, the recognition of emotions in people with sensory disabilities still represents a challenge due to the difficulty of generalizing and modeling the set of brain signals. In recent years, the technology that has been used to study a person’s behavior and emotions based on brain signals is the brain–computer interface (BCI). Although previous works have already proposed the classification of emotions in people with sensory disabilities using machine learning techniques, a model of recognition of emotions in people with visual disabilities has not yet been evaluated. Consequently, in this work, the authors present a twofold framework focused on people with visual disabilities. Firstly, auditory stimuli have been used, and a component of acquisition and extraction of brain signals has been defined. Secondly, analysis techniques for the modeling of emotions have been developed, and machine learning models for the classification of emotions have been defined. Based on the results, the algorithm with the best performance in the validation is random forest (RF), with an accuracy of 85 and 88% in the classification for negative and positive emotions, respectively. According to the results, the framework is able to classify positive and negative emotions, but the experimentation performed also shows that the framework performance depends on the number of features in the dataset and the quality of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals is a determining factor.

in Frontiers in Neuroinformatics on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: Understanding the Link Between the Developing Brain and Behavior in Adolescents

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

A New Statistical Approach for fNIRS Hyperscanning to Predict Brain Activity of Preschoolers’ Using Teacher’s

Hyperscanning studies using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) have been performed to understand the neural mechanisms underlying human-human interactions. In this study, we propose a novel methodological approach that is developed for fNIRS multi-brain analysis. Our method uses support vector regression (SVR) to predict one brain activity time series using another as the predictor. We applied the proposed methodology to explore the teacher-student interaction, which plays a critical role in the formal learning process. In an illustrative application, we collected fNIRS data of the teacher and preschoolers’ dyads performing an interaction task. The teacher explained to the child how to add two numbers in the context of a game. The Prefrontal cortex and temporal-parietal junction of both teacher and student were recorded. A multivariate regression model was built for each channel in each dyad, with the student’s signal as the response variable and the teacher’s ones as the predictors. We compared the predictions of SVR with the conventional ordinary least square (OLS) predictor. The results predicted by the SVR model were statistically significantly correlated with the actual test data at least one channel-pair for all dyads. Overall, 29/90 channel-pairs across the five dyads (18 channels 5 dyads = 90 channel-pairs) presented significant signal predictions withthe SVR approach. The conventional OLS resulted in only 4 out of 90 valid predictions. These results demonstrated that the SVR could be used to perform channel-wise predictions across individuals, and the teachers’ cortical activity can be used to predict the student brain hemodynamic response.

in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: Neuronal Pathways Affecting Glial Function

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Homeostatic Depression Shows Heightened Sensitivity to Synaptic Calcium

Synapses and circuits rely on homeostatic forms of regulation in order to transmit meaningful information. The Drosophila melanogaster neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a well-studied synapse that shows robust homeostatic control of function. Most prior studies of homeostatic plasticity at the NMJ have centered on presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP). PHP happens when postsynaptic muscle neurotransmitter receptors are impaired, triggering retrograde signaling that causes an increase in presynaptic neurotransmitter release. As a result, normal levels of evoked excitation are maintained. The counterpart to PHP at the NMJ is presynaptic homeostatic depression (PHD). Overexpression of the Drosophila vesicular glutamate transporter (VGlut) causes an increase in the amplitude of spontaneous events. PHD happens when the synapse responds to the challenge by decreasing quantal content (QC) during evoked neurotransmission—again, resulting in normal levels of postsynaptic excitation. We hypothesized that there may exist a class of molecules that affects both PHP and PHD. Impairment of any such molecule could hurt a synapse’s ability to respond to any significant homeostatic challenge. We conducted an electrophysiology-based screen for blocks of PHD. We did not observe a block of PHD in the genetic conditions screened, but we found loss-of-function conditions that led to a substantial deficit in evoked amplitude when combined with VGlut overexpression. The conditions causing this phenotype included a double heterozygous loss-of-function condition for genes encoding the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP₃R —itpr) and ryanodine receptor (RyR). IP₃Rs and RyRs gate calcium release from intracellular stores. Pharmacological agents targeting IP₃R and RyR recapitulated the genetic losses of these factors, as did lowering calcium levels from other sources. Our data are consistent with the idea that the homeostatic signaling process underlying PHD is especially sensitive to levels of calcium at the presynapse.

in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Editorial: Brain Evolution: Clues From Aquatic Organisms

in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Probiotic Supplementation Facilitates Recovery of 6-OHDA-Induced Motor Deficit via Improving Mitochondrial Function and Energy Metabolism

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with progressive impairment of motor and non-motor functions in aging people. Overwhelming evidence indicate that mitochondrial dysfunction is a central factor in PD pathophysiology, which impairs energy metabolism. While, several other studies have shown probiotic supplementations to improve host energy metabolism, alleviate the disease progression, prevent gut microbiota dysbiosis and alter commensal bacterial metabolites. But, whether probiotic and/or prebiotic supplementation can affect energy metabolism and cause the impediment of PD progression remains poorly characterized. Therefore, we investigated 8-weeks supplementation effects of probiotic [Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salicinius AP-32 (AP-32)], residual medium (RM) obtained from the AP-32 culture medium, and combination of AP-32 and RM (A-RM) on unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced PD rats. We found that AP-32, RM and A-RM supplementation induced neuroprotective effects on dopaminergic neurons along with improved motor functions in PD rats. These effects were accompanied by significant increases in mitochondrial activities in the brain and muscle, antioxidative enzymes level in serum, and altered SCFAs profile in fecal samples. Importantly, the AP-32 supplement restored muscle mass along with improved motor function in PD rats, and produced the best results among the supplements. Our results demonstrate that probiotic AP-32 and A-RM supplementations can recover energy metabolism via increasing SCFAs producing and mitochondria function. This restoring of mitochondrial function in the brain and muscles with improved energy metabolism might additionally be potentiated by ROS suppression by the elevated generation of antioxidants, and which finally leads to facilitated recovery of 6-OHDA-induced motor deficit. Taken together, this work demonstrates that probiotic AP-32 supplementation could be a potential candidate for alternate treatment strategy to avert PD progression.

in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on May 07, 2021 12:00 AM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Endogenous µ‐opioid receptor activity in the lateral and capsular subdivisions of the right central nucleus of the amygdala prevents chronic postoperative pain

in Journal of Neuroscience Research on May 06, 2021 05:15 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

An update to Hippocampome.org by integrating single-cell phenotypes with circuit function in vivo

by Alberto Sanchez-Aguilera, Diek W. Wheeler, Teresa Jurado-Parras, Manuel Valero, Miriam S. Nokia, Elena Cid, Ivan Fernandez-Lamo, Nate Sutton, Daniel García-Rincón, Liset M. de la Prida, Giorgio A. Ascoli

in PLoS Biology on May 06, 2021 02:00 PM.

- Wallabag.it! - Save to Instapaper - Save to Pocket -

Generalized two-dimensional linear discriminant analysis with regularization

Publication date: October 2021

Source: Neural Networks, Volume 142

Author(s): Chun-Na Li, Yuan-Hai Shao, Wei-Jie Chen, Zhen Wang, Nai-Yang Deng

in Neural Networks on May 06, 2021 01:00 PM.

-