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Migraine is an episodic neurovascular disorder typically characterized by attacks of unilateral throbbing headache, autonomic dysfunctions and focal neurological symptoms. The initiation of migraine attacks is still enigmatic. While an essential role for the intracranial afferent innervation is widely accepted, the importance of cortical spreading depression inducing neurovascular inflammatory responses...
The IASP (Int. Ass. Study of Pain) defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.” Since its publication in 1979 this definition has been widely accepted notwithstanding that it was predefined in 1964 in Harold Merkey’s Ph.D. thesis “An Investigation of Pain in Psychological Illness” (H.M. was...
Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) and growth factors (IGFs) not only regulate development, growth, reproduction, metabolism, stress resistance, and lifespan, but also certain behaviors and cognitive functions. ILPs, IGFs, their tyrosine kinase receptors and downstream signaling components have been largely conserved over animal evolution. Eight ILPs have been identified in Drosophila (DILP1-8) and they...
Cephalopods, a class of mollusks that includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus, are among the most fascinating organisms in the animal kingdom. They are legendary for their intelligence, learning capacity, incredible behaviors and motor plasticity. Their large brain, and neural circuitry provides the neural foundation for the remarkable behavioral plasticity exhibited by these creatures. This...
Depending on the level of arousal identical sensory stimuli result in different neuronal and behavioral responses. This effect may depend on thalamo-cortical network mechanism directing sensory information to the cortex either through a first-order or higher-order thalamic relay nuclei. Using multichannel chronic recordings from the thalamo-cortical part of the somatosensory system of behaving rats,...
The mirror neuron system consists of a set of brain areas capable of matching action observation with action execution. One core feature of the mirror neuron system is the activation of motor areas by action observation alone. This unique capacity of the mirror neuron system to match action perception and action execution stimulated the idea that mirror neuron system plays a crucial role in the understanding...
Surface electromyography (sEMG) recorded bilaterally starts to be applied the same frequently as invasive needle EMG in confirmation of certain muscle- or spine-related motor units disorders. In 30 patients with clinically recognized myofascial pain (bilateral trigger pointsTRPs), mean sEMG amplitude recorded from trapezius and cervical or lumbar axial muscles at rest was increased (>25 µV instead...
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative joint disease, which leads to pain during joint loading and to chronic physical disability. The management of OA is often frustrating for both patients and physicians as adequate pain relief is difficult to achieve and no treatment modality seems to reverse the disease progression. Clearly, OA is a large, unmet medical need, there is a strong need...
Neuropeptides synthesized by secretory neurons or interneurons in the CNS are important regulators of physiology, behaviour, and development. They are synthesized from larger precursor molecules by a specific set of enzymes. Combining the power of Drosophila neurogenetics with semiquantitative peptidomics, we are characterising the functional role of these processing enzymes. The results obtained...
Learning and synaptic plasticity is known to involve activity of metalloproteinases (MMPs). Recently, we investigated impact of MMPs on mossy fiber-CA3 (mf-CA3) projection, where LTP is NMDAR-independent and presynaptic, and showed that MMP blockade disrupted LTP maintenance. Using in situ zymography we showed that LTP induction enhances gelatinases activity. Moreover, by means of gelatin zymography,...
Based on a wide-ranging profile of autism-relevant behaviors, the BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) mouse is the most widely accepted mouse model of idiopathic autism. Recent work from this lab indicated a widespread disturbance in the molecular composition of the extracellular matrix in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles (LV-SVZ) in BTBR, compared to C57BL/6J (control) mice. Deep reductions in heparan...
The last twenty five years of intense research have provided convincing evidence for a role of regulation of gene expression in control of long-term neuronal plasticity, including learning and memory. Following our discovery (in late eighties) of c-fos activation in those phenomena, it has been well documented that c-Fos and its functional form, AP-1 transcription factor, play the major role learning...
Contemporary diagnostics of neuro-muscular (n-m) transmission disorders (including myasthenia and myasthenic syndromes) comprises: (1) Pharmacological testing with edrophonium or neostigmine, (2) Immunological investigations of antibodies against AChR, MuSK and Ca channels, (3) Electrophysiological examinations: repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) and electromyography of single muscle fibre (SFEMG)...
Astrocytes are generally accepted as important players in synaptic function and development. On the other hand astrocytes in vivo have a very complex 3D structure, which is shaped by their numerous and highly ramified thin peripheral processes. Morphology of perisynaptic astrocytic processes (PAP) is subject to constant remodeling, for instance, long-lasting PAP retraction in hypothalamus is known...
The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) relays visual information from the retina to the primary visual cortex (V1). In addition to glutamatergic fibers from the retina, the neurons in the LGN are innervated by glutamatergic fibers descending from V1. Although corticothalamic feedback fibers outnumber fibers ascending from the retina 10:1, the excitatory drive they provide is quite limited due to the...
The basic computational unit of the thalamus, the glomerulus, was described exactly 50 years ago, by the late János Szentágothai. The essence of the glomerulus is a giant excitatory terminal which establishes multiple synapses on thalamocortical neurons. This synaptic arrangement evolved to secure faithful information transfer between a well-defined sensory input and the cortex. Recent ultrastructural...
The discharge behavior of mammalian motoneurons is governed by a complex interplay between the excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs they receive and the cells’ intrinsic electrical properties. Motoneurons express a host of voltage-gated channels that can dramatically alter the transmission of synaptic current to the soma and the integration of different synaptic input systems. Of particular importance...
An exciting discovery in neurosciences over the last years has been that of a mechanism that unifies action perception and action execution. The essence of this mechanism – the mirror mechanism – is the following. Each time individuals observe an action done by others, a set of neurons that code that action are activated in the motor system. Since the observers are aware of the outcome of their motor...
The non-Mendelian sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent form of dementia diagnosed worldwide. The most important risk factor to develop sporadic AD is aging itself. Next to hyperphosphorylated Tau, intracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomers are known to initiate a cascade of pathological events ranging from mitochondrial dysfunction, synaptic dysfunction, oxidative stress, and loss...
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