Early life stress, literacy and dyslexia: an evolutionary perspective
AbstractStress and learning co-evolved in parallel, with their interdependence critical to the survival of the species. Even today, the regulation of moderate levels of stress by the central autonomic network (CAN), especially during pre- and post-natal periods, facilitates biological adaptability and is an essential precursor for the cognitive requisites of learning to read. Reading is a remarkable evolutionary achievement of the human brain, mysteriously unusual, because it is not pre-wired with a genetic address to facilitate its acquisition. There is no gene for reading. The review suggests that reading co-opts a brain...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 4, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Manual segmentation of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the dorsal and ventral bed nucleus of stria terminalis using multimodal 7 Tesla structural MRI: probabilistic atlases for a stress-control triad
AbstractThe paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) is uniquely capable of proximal control over autonomic and neuroendocrine stress responses, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) directly modulates PVN function, as well as playing an important role in stress control itself. The dorsal BNST (dBNST) is predominantly preautonomic, while the ventral BNST (vBNST) is predominantly viscerosensory, receiving dense noradrenergic signaling. Distinguishing the dBNST and vBNST, along with the PVN, may facilitate our understanding of dynamic interactions among these regions. T1-weighted MPRAGE and high resolut...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 1, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Embracing digital innovation in neuroscience: 2023 in review at NEUROCCINO
(Source: Anatomy and Embryology)
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 1, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Changes in microstructural similarity of hippocampal subfield circuits in pathological cognitive aging
AbstractThe hippocampal networks support multiple cognitive functions and may have biological roles and functions in pathological cognitive aging (PCA) and its associated diseases, which have not been explored. In the current study, a total of 116 older adults with 39 normal controls (NC) (mean age: 52.3 ± 13.64 years; 16 females), 39 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (mean age: 68.15 ± 9.28 years, 14 females), and 38 dementia (mean age: 73.82 ± 8.06 years, 8 females) were included. The within-hippocampal subfields and the cortico-hippocampal circuits were assessed via a micro-struc tural similarity networ...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 1, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
rTMS over the human medial parietal cortex impairs online reaching corrections
This study provides evidence of the functional relevance of hV6A in action reprogramming while a sudden event requires a change in performance and shows that hV6A also plays a role in state estimation during reaching. These findings are in line with neurological data showing impairments in actions performed along the distance dimension when lesions occur in the dorsal posterior parietal cortex. (Source: Anatomy and Embryology)
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 1, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Mutual information of multiple rhythms in schizophrenia
In this study, we investigated multiple oscillatory interactions in schizophrenia using a novel approach based on information theory. This method allowed us to investigate interactions from a new perspective, where two or more rhythm interactions could be analyzed at the same time. We calculated the mutual information of multiple rhythms (MIMR) for EEG segments registered in resting state. Following previous studies, we focused on rhythm interactions between theta, alpha, and gamma. The results showed that, in general, MIMR was higher in patients than in controls for alpha –gamma and theta–gamma couplings. This finding...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - March 1, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
The role of posterior parietal cortex in detecting changes in feedback contingency
AbstractWell-practiced or learned behaviors are extremely resilient. For example, it is extremely difficult for a trained typist to forget how to use a keyboard configuration that they are familiar with. While they can be trained on a new keyboard configuration, the original skill quickly comes back when the old keyboard configuration is used again. This resiliency of learned skills is both a blessing and a curse. It makes useful skills durable, but it also makes maladaptive behaviors difficult to extinguish. Crossley et al. (2013) proposed a computational model and behavioral paradigm aimed atunlearning skills using vario...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 28, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Expression patterns of Piezo1 in the developing mouse forebrain
AbstractMalformation during cortical development can disrupt the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neural circuits, contributing to various psychiatric and developmental disorders. One of the critical factors of cortical neural networks is the fine regulation of neurogenesis through mechanical cues, such as shear stress and substrate stiffness. Piezo1, a mechanically-activated channel, serves as a transducer for these mechanical cues, regulating embryogenesis. However, specific cell-type expression patterns of this channel during cortical development have not yet been characterized. In the present study, we conducted ...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 27, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Frontal and cerebellar contributions to pitch and rhythm processing: a TMS study
AbstractMusic represents a salient stimulus for the brain with two key features:pitch andrhythm. Few data are available on cognitive analysis of music listening in musically na ïve healthy participants. Beyond auditory cortices, neuroimaging data showed the involvement of prefrontal cortex in pitch and of cerebellum in rhythm. The present study is aimed at investigating the role of prefrontal and cerebellar cortices in both pitch and rhythm processing. The performance of fifteen participants without musical expertise was investigated in a listening discrimination task. The task required to decide whether two eight-element...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 25, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Generalising XTRACT tractography protocols across common macaque brain templates
AbstractNon-human primates are extensively used in neuroscience research as models of the human brain, with the rhesus macaque being a prominent example. We have previously introduced a set of tractography protocols (XTRACT) for reconstructing 42 corresponding white matter (WM) bundles in the human and the macaque brain and have shown cross-species comparisons using such bundles as WM landmarks. Our original XTRACT protocols were developed using the F99 macaque brain template. However, additional macaque template brains are becoming increasingly common. Here, we generalise the XTRACT tractography protocol definitions acros...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 23, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Embracing digital innovation in neuroscience: 2023 in review at NEUROCCINO
(Source: Anatomy and Embryology)
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 22, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Altered DTI scalars in the hippocampus are associated with morphological and structural changes after traumatic brain injury
AbstractBlunt and diffuse injury is a highly prevalent form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) which can result in microstructural alterations in the brain. The blunt impact on the brain can affect the immediate contact region but can also affect the vulnerable regions like hippocampus, leading to functional impairment and long-lasting cognitive deficits. The hippocampus of the moderate weight drop injured male rats was longitudinally assessed for microstructural changes using in vivo MR imaging from 4 h to Day 30 post-injury (PI). The DTI analysis found a prominent decline in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), radia...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 21, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
Researchers' sex/gender identity influences how sex/gender question is investigated in neuroscience: an example from an OHBM meeting
AbstractGender inequality and diversity in STEM is a challenging field of research. Although the relation between the sex/gender of the researcher and the scientific research practices has been previously examined, less interest has been demonstrated towards the relation between sex/gender of the researcher and the way sex/gender as a variable is explored. Here, we examine, from a neurofeminist perspective, both questions: whether sex/gender identity is related to the examination of sex/gender as a variable and whether different approaches towards examining sex/gender are being used in different topics of study within neur...
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - February 16, 2024 Category: Anatomy Source Type: research
