Examining the lateralization of electrophysiological correlates of auditory awareness.

The neurological basis for perceptual awareness remains unclear, and theories disagree as to whether sensory cortices per se generate awareness. Critically, neural activity in the sensory cortices is only a neural correlate of consciousness (NCC) if it closely matches the contents of perceptual awareness. Research in vision and touch suggest that contralateral activity in sensory cortices is an NCC.

Appearance of hexahydrocannabinols as recreational drugs and implications for cannabis drug testing - focus on HHC, HHC-P, HHC-O and HHC-H.

This study investigated the effects of hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) and other unclassified cannabinoids, which were recently introduced to the recreational drug market, on cannabis drug testing in urine and oral fluid samples. After the appearance of HHC in Sweden in 2022, the number of posts about HHC on an online drug discussion forum increased significantly in the spring of 2023, indicating increased interest and use. In parallel, the frequency of false positive screening tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in oral fluid, and for its carboxy metabolite (THC-COOH) in urine, rose from <2% to >10%.

Alternative routine for reporting chiral amphetamine test results in assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication: experiences from 2013 to 2023.

This study evaluated an alternative routine for reporting urinary chiral amphetamine results in assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment with amphetamine medications and for detecting side-use of illicit racemic amphetamine. Currently in Sweden, only enantiopure d-amphetamine-based ADHD medications (lisdexamphetamine dimesylate and dexamphetamine sulfate) are approved. It is therefore unsuitable to express the chiral result as the l/d-ratio, as before, because l-amphetamine should not be present provided treatment compliance.

Semantic processing of verbal narratives compared to semantic processing of visual narratives: an ERP study of school-aged children.

There is a misconception that pictures are easy to comprehend, which is problematic in pedagogical practices that include pictures. For example, if a child has difficulties with verbal narration to picture sequences, it may be interpreted as specific to spoken language even though the child may have additional difficulties with comprehension of visual narratives in the form of picture sequences. The purpose of the present study was therefore to increase our understanding of semantic processing in the pictorial domain in relation to semantic processing in the verbal domain, focusing on 9-13 years-old children with typical language development.

Neural electrophysiological correlates of detection and identification awareness.

Humans have conscious experiences of the events in their environment. Previous research from electroencephalography (EEG) has shown visual awareness negativity (VAN) at about 200 ms to be a neural correlate of consciousness (NCC). However, when considering VAN as an NCC, it is important to explore which particular experiences are associated with VAN.

AraC interacts with p75 transmembrane domain to induce cell death of mature neurons.

Cytosine arabinoside (AraC) is one of the main therapeutic treatments for several types of cancer, including acute myeloid leukaemia. However, after a high-dose AraC chemotherapy regime, patients develop severe neurotoxicity and cell death in the central nervous system leading to cerebellar ataxia, dysarthria, nystagmus, somnolence and drowsiness. AraC induces apoptosis in dividing cells.

Auditory pseudoword rhyming effects in bilingual children reflect second language proficiency: An ERP study.

This study investigated second language (L2-English) phonological processing in 31 Spanish-English bilingual, 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren in an event-related potential (ERP) auditory pseudoword rhyming paradigm. In addition, associations between ERP effects and L2 proficiency as measured by standardized tests of receptive language and receptive vocabulary were explored. We found a classic posterior ERP rhyming effect that was more widely distributed in children with higher L2 proficiency in group analyses and was larger for children with better L2 proficiency in correlation analyses.

Brain responses to negated and affirmative meanings in the auditory modality.

Negation is frequently used in natural language, yet relatively little is known about its processing. More importantly, what is known regarding the neurophysiological processing of negation is mostly based on results of studies using written stimuli (the word-by-word paradigm). While the results of these studies have suggested processing costs in connection to negation (increased negativities in brain responses), it is difficult to know how this translates into processing of spoken language.

First Language Matters: Event-Related Potentials Show Crosslinguistic Influence on the Processing of Placement Verb Semantics.

Second language (L2) learners experience challenges when word meanings differ across L1 and L2, and often display crosslinguistic influence (CLI) in speech production. In contrast, studies of online comprehension show more mixed results. Therefore, this study explored how L2 learners process fine-grained L2 verb semantics in the domain of caused motion (placement) and specifically the impact of having similar vs.

Convergent dopamine and ALK4 signaling to PCBP1 controls FosB alternative splicing and cocaine behavioral sensitization.

ΔfosB is an alternatively spliced product of the FosB gene that is essential for dopamine-induced reward pathways and that acts as a master switch for addiction. However, the molecular mechanisms of its generation and regulation by dopamine signaling are unknown. Here, we report that dopamine D1 receptor signaling synergizes with the activin/ALK4/Smad3 pathway to potentiate the generation of ΔFosB mRNA in medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) via activation of the RNA-binding protein PCBP1, a regulator of mRNA splicing.

Native Word Order Processing Is Not Uniform: An ERP Study of Verb-Second Word Order.

Studies of native syntactic processing often target phrase structure violations that do not occur in natural production. In contrast, this study examines how variation in basic word order is processed, looking specifically at structures traditionally labelled as violations but that do occur naturally. We examined Swedish verb-second (V2) and verb-third (V3) word order processing in adult native Swedish speakers, manipulating sentence-initial adverbials (temporal 'today', spatial 'at home' and sentential 'maybe') in acceptability judgements, in simultaneously recorded event-related potentials (ERP) to visually presented sentences and in a written sentence completion task.

Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.

The medial habenula (mHb) is an understudied small brain nucleus linking forebrain and midbrain structures controlling anxiety and fear behaviors. The mechanisms that maintain the structural and functional integrity of mHb neurons and their synapses remain unknown. Using spatiotemporally controlled Cre-mediated recombination in adult mice, we found that the glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1) is required in adult mHb neurons for synaptic stability and function.

Analytical and medico-legal problems linked to the presence of delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC): Results from urine drug testing in Sweden.

During routine urine drug testing for cannabis use targeting delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (delta-9-THC-COOH) at the Karolinska University Laboratory in Sweden, an unknown interfering peak was observed in the liquid-chromatographic-tandem mass-spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) confirmative analysis. The peak showed the same exact mass and most abundant fragments as delta-9-THC-COOH but a slightly shorter retention time, thereby not fulfilling all requirements for a positive identification. The analytical results suggested that it was a similar compound, and with access to reference material, it could be identified as the double bond isomer delta-8-THC-COOH.

Membrane integration and topology of RIFIN and STEVOR proteins of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite.

The malarial parasite Plasmodium exports its own proteins to the cell surfaces of red blood cells (RBCs) during infection. Examples of exported proteins include members of the repetitive interspersed family (RIFIN) and subtelomeric variable open reading frame (STEVOR) family of proteins from Plasmodium falciparum. The presence of these parasite-derived proteins on surfaces of infected RBCs triggers the adhesion of infected cells to uninfected cells (rosetting) and to the vascular endothelium potentially obstructing blood flow.

ALK4 coordinates extracellular and intrinsic signals to regulate development of cortical somatostatin interneurons.

Although the role of transcription factors in fate specification of cortical interneurons is well established, how these interact with extracellular signals to regulate interneuron development is poorly understood. Here we show that the activin receptor ALK4 is a key regulator of the specification of somatostatin interneurons. Mice lacking ALK4 in GABAergic neurons of the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) showed marked deficits in distinct subpopulations of somatostatin interneurons from early postnatal stages of cortical development.

Correction: MAG induces apoptosis in cerebellar granule neurons through p75 demarcating granule layer/white matter boundary.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

MAG induces apoptosis in cerebellar granule neurons through p75 demarcating granule layer/white matter boundary.

MAG (Myelin-associated glycoprotein) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein expressed by Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes, that has been implicated in the control of axonal growth in many neuronal populations including cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). However, it is unclear whether MAG has other functions in central nervous system, in particular, in cerebellar development and patterning. We find that MAG expression in the cerebellum is compartmentalised resulting in increased MAG protein levels in the cerebellar white matter.

Development of parallel reaction monitoring assays for cerebrospinal fluid proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Detailed knowledge of protein changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) across healthy and diseased individuals would provide a better understanding of the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we selected 20 brain-enriched proteins previously identified in CSF by antibody suspension bead arrays (SBA) to be potentially biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and verified these using an orthogonal approach. We examined the same set of 94 CSF samples from patients affected by AD (including preclinical and prodromal), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), non-AD dementia and healthy individuals, which had previously been analyzed by SBA.

Anterior and posterior erp rhyming effects in 3- to 5-year-old children.

During early literacy skills development, rhyming is an important indicator of the phonological precursors required for reading. To determine if neural signatures of rhyming are apparent in early childhood, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from 3- to 5-year-old, preliterate children (N = 62) in an auditory prime-target nonword rhyming paradigm (e.g.

Associations between leisure activities and binge drinking in adults: findings from a Swedish newly sick-listed sample.

Background: Leisure activities and drinking patterns are factors that can affect health and ability to return to work after a sick-leave. Associations between participation in leisure activities and binge drinking among sick-listed individuals have been paid little attention in the research literature.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine associations between leisure activities and binge drinking in a sample of newly sick-listed women and men.

Postprandial glycemia, insulinemia, and satiety responses in healthy subjects after whole grain rye bread made from different rye varieties. 1.

Rye products typically induce low insulin responses and appear to facilitate glucose regulation. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in postprandial glucose, insulin, and satiety responses between breads made from five rye varieties. Breads made from whole grain rye (Amilo, Rekrut, Dankowski Zlote, Nikita, and Haute Loire Pop) or a white wheat bread (WWB) were tested in a randomized cross-over design in 14 healthy subjects (50 g available starch).

Possible role of an ischemic preconditioning-like response mechanism in K(ATP) channel opener-mediated protection against streptozotocin-induced suppression of rat pancreatic islet function.

Potassium channel openers (KCOs) decrease insulin secretion from beta-cells. Some KCOs also protect against damage to beta-cell function and type 1 diabetes in animal models. Previously we have found that the KCO NNC 55-0118 counteracted islet cell dysfunction, and this was associated with a lowering of the mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsi).

Segmenting dynamic human action via statistical structure.

Human social, cognitive, and linguistic functioning depends on skills for rapidly processing action. Identifying distinct acts within the dynamic motion flow is one basic component of action processing; for example, skill at segmenting action is foundational to action categorization, verb learning, and comprehension of novel action sequences. Yet little is currently known about mechanisms that may subserve action segmentation.

Survival of an islet allograft deficient in iNOS after implantation into diabetic NOD mice.

Proinflammatory cytokines play a major role in rejection of pancreatic islet allografts and in type 1 diabetes (T1D). In rodent islets, exposure to IL-1beta alone or combined with IFN-gamma induces expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Inhibition of iNOS or a deletion of the iNOS gene has been shown to be protective in animal models of T1D.