POMC-specific knockdown of MeCP2 leads to adverse phenotypes in mice chronically exposed to high fat diet
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114863. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114863. Epub 2024 Jan 13.ABSTRACTMethyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is an epigenetic factor associated with the neurodevelopmental disorders Rett Syndrome and MECP2 duplication syndrome. Previous studies have demonstrated that knocking out MeCP2 globally in the central nervous system leads to an obese phenotype and hyperphagia, however it is not clear if the hyperphagia is the result of an increased preference for food reward or due to an increase in motivation to obtain food reward. We show that mice deficient in MeCP2 specifically in pro-opiomelanocortin ...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 15, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Priscila Frayre Karen Ponce-Rubio Jessica Frayre Jacquelin Medrano Elisa Sun Na Source Type: research
Risk-promoting effects of reward-paired cues in human sign- and goal-trackers
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114865. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114865. Epub 2024 Jan 14.ABSTRACTAnimal research suggests trait-like individual variation in the degree of incentive salience attribution to reward-predictive cues, defined phenotypically as sign-tracking (high) and goal-tracking (low incentive salience attribution). While these phenotypes have been linked to addiction features in rodents, their translational validity is less clear. Here, we examined whether sign- and goal-tracking in healthy human volunteers modulates the effects of reward-paired cues on decision making. Sign-tracking was measured in a Pavlo...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 14, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Mariya V Cherkasova Luke Clark Jason J S Barton A Jon Stoessl Catharine A Winstanley Source Type: research
Differential effects of intra-RMTg infusions of pilocarpine or 4-DAMP on regulating depression- and anxiety-like behaviors
This study aimed to examine the effects of RMTg M3 muscarinic receptors on regulating depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in adult male Wistar rats, as assessed through the forced swim, tail suspension, and elevated plus maze tests. The results showed that intra-RMTg injections of the M1/M3 muscarinic receptors agonist, pilocarpine (3, 10, and 30 μg/side), or the M3 muscarinic receptors antagonist, 4-DAMP (0.5, 1, and 2 μg/side), did not alter the immobility time in the forced swim and tail suspension tests. Additionally, pilocarpine (30 μg/side) decreased time spent in open arms and increased time in closed arms in ...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 14, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Jing Wu Xuhong Li Qi Zhang Jiaxiang Li Ruisi Cui Xinwang Li Source Type: research
Levothyroxine attenuates behavioral impairment and improves oxidative stress and histological alteration 3-nitropropionic acid induced experimental Huntington's disease in rats
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114864. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114864. Epub 2024 Jan 12.ABSTRACTHuntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by degeneration of the striatum; it results in oxidative stress and motor deficits. Thyroid hormones regulate oxidative metabolism. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of administration of levothyroxine (LT-4) on neurobehavioral, oxidative stress, and histological changes in a rat model of HD. Forty-eight Wistar male rats were divided into the following six groups (n = 8): Group 1 (control) received physiological saline intraperitoneally (ip). Gr...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 14, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Fereshteh Badini Abolfazl Bayrami Mohammad Ali Mirshekar Samira Shahraki Hamed Fanaei Source Type: research
Brain changes following mindfulness: Reduced caudate volume is associated with decreased positive urgency
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114859. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114859. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTMindfulness training has been shown to improve psychological health and general well-being. However, it is unclear which brain and personality systems may be affected by this practice for improving adaptive behavior and quality of life. The present study explores the effects of a 5-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) at the neuroanatomical level and its relationship with dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity. Sixty-six risky drivers were quasi-randomly assigned to a mindfulness training group (MT) or a control group ...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 12, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Laura Mas-Cuesta Sabina Baltruschat Antonio C ándido Carmen Verdejo-Lucas Elvira Catena-Verdejo Andr és Catena Source Type: research
Track-by-Day: A standardized approach to estrous cycle monitoring in biobehavioral research
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114860. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114860. Epub 2024 Jan 10.ABSTRACTDespite known sex differences in brain function, female subjects are underrepresented in preclinical neuroscience research. This is driven in part by concerns about variability arising from estrous cycle-related hormone fluctuations, especially in fear- and anxiety-related research where there are conflicting reports as to whether and how the cycle influences behavior. The inconsistency may arise from a lack of common standards for tracking and reporting the cycle as opposed to inherent unpredictability in the cycle itself. Th...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 12, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Gianna M Raimondi Ashley K Eng Murphy P Kenny Madison A Britting Linnaea E Ostroff Source Type: research
Do housing-induced changes in brain activity cause stereotypic behaviours in laboratory mice?
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Jan 11;462:114862. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114862. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAbnormal repetitive stereotypic behaviours (SBs) (e.g. pacing, body-rocking) are common in animals with poor welfare (e.g. socially isolated/in barren housing). But how (or even whether) poor housing alters animals' brains to induce SBs remains uncertain. To date, there is little evidence for environmental effects on the brain that also correlate with individual SB performance. Using female mice from two strains (SB-prone DBA/2s; SB-resistant C57/BL/6s), displaying two forms of SB (route-tracing; bar-mouthing), we investi...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 12, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Lindsey Kitchenham Aileen MacLellan Pietro Paletta Ashutosh Patel Elena Choleris Georgia Mason Source Type: research
Sleep deprivation effects on EGFR signaling in a zebrafish exposed to rotenone
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of exposure to rotenone, sleep deprivation, and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor on the locomotor activity of zebrafish larvae. Observations were conducted on control groups, sleep-deprived groups without interventions, groups treated with rotenone or the EGFR inhibitor alone, and also groups with combined exposures. The results showed that sleep deprivation alone led to a decrease of speed of the locomotor activity compared to the control groups. The treatment with rotenone alone resulted in varied effects on the locomotor activity. However, a...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 12, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Marina Kniazkina Vyacheslav Dyachuk Source Type: research
Preemptive administration of mesenchymal stem cells-derived conditioned medium can attenuate the development of neuropathic pain in rats via downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114858. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114858. Epub 2024 Jan 9.ABSTRACTNeuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic condition characterized by persistent pain following nerve injury. It is a challenging clinical problem to manage due to limited treatment options. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-derived conditioned medium (CM) is a cell-free product that contains the secretome of MSCs and has been shown to have therapeutic potential in various inflammatory and degenerative disorders. Several animal studies have examined the antinociceptive effects of MSCs-CM on established neuropathic pain, but none have inves...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 11, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Samad Nazemi Mahtab Helmi Marzieh Kafami Bahareh Amin Mohammad-Shafi Mojadadi Source Type: research
Neurotrophin-3 into the insular cortex strengthens conditioned taste aversion memory
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114857. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114857. Epub 2024 Jan 9.ABSTRACTMemory consolidation is an essential process of long-term memory formation. Neurotrophins have been suggested as key regulators of activity dependent changes in the synaptic efficacy and morphology, which are considered the downstream mechanisms of memory consolidation. The neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), a member of the neurotrophin family, and its high affinity receptor TrkC, are widely expressed in the insular cortex (IC), a region with a critical role in the consolidation of the conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm, in which an...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 11, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Mar ía G Briones-Vidal Salma E Reyes-Garc ía Martha L Escobar Source Type: research
Minocycline mitigated enduring neurological consequences in the mice model of sepsis
This study explores the potential preventive effects of minocycline on the long-lasting outcome of sepsis in a mice model of sepsis.METHODS: Adult male C57 mice were subjected to experimental sepsis through a single intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Minocycline administration via oral gavage (12.5, 25, and 50 mg/kg) commenced three days before sepsis induction and continued on the day of induction. Mice underwent behavioral assessments one month post-sepsis, with subsequent brain tissue analysis to investigate oxidative stress markers and cholinergic function.KEY FINDINGS: One month following s...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 10, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Mahmoud Hosseini Zahra Bardaghi Hedyeh Askarpour Mohammad Mahdi Jafari Ahmad Golkar Shima Shirzad Arezoo Rajabian Hossein Salmani Source Type: research
Evaluating the effects of single, multiple, and delayed systemic rapamycin injections to contextual fear reconsolidation: Implications for the neurobiology of memory and the treatment of PTSD-like re-experiencing
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114855. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114855. Epub 2024 Jan 5.ABSTRACTThe mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase is known to mediate the formation and persistence of aversive memories. Rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, administered around the time of reactivation blocks retrieval-induced mTOR activity and de novo protein synthesis in the brains of rodents, while correspondingly diminishing subsequent fear memory. The goal of the current experiments was to further explore rapamycin's effects on fear memory persistence. First, we examined whether mTOR blockade at different time-points after reac...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 7, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Phillip E MacCallum Jane B Cooze Joshua Ward Kelsey Am Moore Jacqueline Blundell Source Type: research
Age-dependent effects of acute stress on the behavior, blood parameters, immunity, and enteric nerves of mice
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114848. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114848. Epub 2024 Jan 5.ABSTRACTThe impact of stress on mental and digestive health has been extensively studied, with chronic stress being associated with various disorders. However, age-related differences in the response to acute stress, both behaviorally and physiologically, remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model to detect transient stress in mice of different ages. The stressor employed in our experiments was a restraint stress procedure, where mice were subjected to brief periods of immobilization to induce an acute str...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 7, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Yi-Chen Huang Pin-Hao Ko Li-Ling Wu Source Type: research
Muscarinic receptor activation promotes destabilization and updating of object location memories in mice
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Mar 12;461:114847. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114847. Epub 2024 Jan 5.ABSTRACTThe storage of long-term memories is a dynamic process. Reminder cues can destabilize previously consolidated memories, rendering them labile and modifiable. However, memories that are strongly encoded or relatively remote at the time of reactivation can resist destabilization only being rendered labile under conditions that favour memory updating. Using the object location recognition task, here we show in male C57BL/6 mice that novelty-induced destabilization of strongly-encoded memories requires muscarinic acetylcholine rece...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 7, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Andrew Ethan Huff Olivia S O'Neill William S Messer Boyer D Winters Source Type: research
Evaluating the effects of single, multiple, and delayed systemic rapamycin injections to contextual fear reconsolidation: Implications for the neurobiology of memory and the treatment of PTSD-like re-experiencing
Behav Brain Res. 2024 Jan 5:114855. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114855. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase is known to mediate the formation and persistence of aversive memories. Rapamycin, an mTOR inhibitor, administered around the time of reactivation blocks retrieval-induced mTOR activity and de novo protein synthesis in the brains of rodents, while correspondingly diminishing subsequent fear memory. The goal of the current experiments was to further explore rapamycin's effects on fear memory persistence. First, we examined whether mTOR blockade at different time-points after rea...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - January 7, 2024 Category: Neurology Authors: Phillip E MacCallum Jane B Cooze Joshua Ward Kelsey Am Moore Jacqueline Blundell Source Type: research
