Gendered bodies: A graphic medicine commentary.

This final commentary, in comic format, frames this special issue using Graphic Medicine methodologies to explore broader themes and meanings related to the scientific study of gender and health. Comics can be seen as a way to introduce complex human narratives and as an exploratory tool to ask broader social-contextual and ethical questions about health and medicine. This piece is also constructed through the lens of queer scholarship, which, together with the comics format, provides opportunities to build more embodied, complicated narratives about gender, sexuality and health.

Fanon's Police Inspector.

Frantz Fanon practiced psychiatry in a colonized Algeria during its struggle for independence. In his 1961 work , Fanon described cases from his treatment of Algerian nationalists and French colonists. I present one of Fanon's cases as an ethical inquiry into posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Rapid homeostatic downregulation of LTP by extrasynaptic GluN2B receptors.

Although the activation of extrasynaptic GluN2B-containing N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease, their physiological function remains unknown. In this study, we found that extrasynaptic GluN2B receptors play a homeostatic role by antagonizing long-term potentiation (LTP) induction under conditions of prolonged synaptic stimulation. In particular, we have previously found that brief theta-pulse stimulation (5 Hz for 30 s) triggers robust LTP, whereas longer stimulation times (5 Hz for 3 min) have no effect on basal synaptic transmission in the hippocampal CA1 region.

β-Adrenergic enhancement of neuronal excitability in the lateral amygdala is developmentally gated.

Noradrenergic signaling in the amygdala is important for processing threats and other emotionally salient stimuli, and β-adrenergic receptor activation is known to enhance neuronal spiking in the lateral amygdala (LA) of juvenile animals. Nevertheless, intracellular recordings have not yet been conducted to determine the effect of β-adrenergic receptor activation on spike properties in the adult LA, despite the potential significance of developmental changes between adolescence and adulthood. Here we demonstrate that the β-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (15 μM) enhances spike frequency in dorsal LA principal neurons of juvenile male C57BL/6 mice and fails to do so in strain- and sex-matched adults.

Orexin/hypocretin system modulates amygdala-dependent threat learning through the locus coeruleus.

Survival in a dangerous environment requires learning about stimuli that predict harm. Although recent work has focused on the amygdala as the locus of aversive memory formation, the hypothalamus has long been implicated in emotional regulation, and the hypothalamic neuropeptide orexin (hypocretin) is involved in anxiety states and arousal. Nevertheless, little is known about the role of orexin in aversive memory formation.

Two-photon compatibility and single-voxel, single-trial detection of subthreshold neuronal activity by a two-component optical voltage sensor.

Minimally invasive measurements of neuronal activity are essential for understanding how signal processing is performed by neuronal networks. While optical strategies for making such measurements hold great promise, optical sensors generally lack the speed and sensitivity necessary to record neuronal activity on a single-trial, single-neuron basis. Here we present additional biophysical characterization and practical improvements of a two-component optical voltage sensor (2cVoS), comprised of the neuronal tracer dye, DiO, and dipicrylamine (DiO/DPA).

Short trains of theta frequency stimulation enhance CA1 pyramidal neuron excitability in the absence of synaptic potentiation.

Although plasticity at excitatory synapses is widely studied as a mechanism for memory formation, less is known about the properties and mechanisms underlying activity-dependent changes in excitability. Using extracellular and intracellular recordings in hippocampal slices, we find that short trains (2-3 s) of Schaffer collateral fiber stimulation delivered at 5 Hz induce a robust and persistent increase in the excitability of CA1 pyramidal cells in the absence of synaptic potentiation. This change in excitability is input specific, NMDA receptor dependent, and is not accompanied by lasting changes in either inhibitory synaptic transmission or somatic excitability.

Role of protein kinase C in the induction and maintenance of serotonin-dependent enhancement of the glutamate response in isolated siphon motor neurons of Aplysia californica.

Serotonin (5-HT) mediates learning-related facilitation of sensorimotor synapses in Aplysia californica. Under some circumstances 5-HT-dependent facilitation requires the activity of protein kinase C (PKC). One critical site of PKC's contribution to 5-HT-dependent synaptic facilitation is the presynaptic sensory neuron.

Opposing effects of PSD-93 and PSD-95 on long-term potentiation and spike timing-dependent plasticity.

The membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) PSD-95, PSD-93 and SAP102 are thought to have crucial roles in both AMPA receptor trafficking and formation of NMDA receptor-associated signalling complexes involved in synaptic plasticity. While PSD-95, PSD-93, and SAP102 appear to have similar roles in AMPA receptor trafficking, it is not known whether these MAGUKs also have functionally similar roles in synaptic plasticity. To explore this issue we examined several properties of basal synaptic transmission in the hippocampal CA1 region of PSD-93 and PSD-95 mutant mice and compared the ability of a number of different synaptic stimulation protocols to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in these mutants.

Long-term potentiation in the hippocampal CA1 region does not require insertion and activation of GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors.

Activity-dependent insertion of AMPA-type glutamate receptors is thought to underlie long-term potentiation (LTP) at Schaffer collateral fiber synapses on pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region. Although it is widely accepted that the AMPA receptors at these synapses contain glutamate receptor type 2 (GluR2) subunits, recent findings suggest that LTP in hippocampal slices obtained from 2- to 3-wk-old rodents is dependent on the transient postsynaptic insertion and activation of Ca(2+)-permeable, GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors. Here we examined whether LTP in slices prepared from adult animals exhibits similar properties.

Activity-dependent depression of local excitatory connections in the CA1 region of mouse hippocampus.

The existence of recurrent excitatory synapses between pyramidal cells in the hippocampal CA1 region has been known for some time yet little is known about activity-dependent forms of plasticity at these synapses. Here we demonstrate that under certain experimental conditions, Schaffer collateral/commissural fiber stimulation can elicit robust polysynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials due to recurrent synaptic inputs onto CA1 pyramidal cells. In contrast to CA3 pyramidal cell inputs, recurrent synapses onto CA1 pyramidal cells exhibited robust paired-pulse depression and a sustained, but rapidly reversible, depression in response to low-frequency trains of Schaffer collateral fiber stimulation.

Synapse-associated protein 102/dlgh3 couples the NMDA receptor to specific plasticity pathways and learning strategies.

Understanding the mechanisms whereby information encoded within patterns of action potentials is deciphered by neurons is central to cognitive psychology. The multiprotein complexes formed by NMDA receptors linked to synaptic membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) proteins including synapse-associated protein 102 (SAP102) and other associated proteins are instrumental in these processes. Although humans with mutations in SAP102 show mental retardation, the physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved are unknown.