Differential phase-amplitude coupling in nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex reflects decision-making during a delay discounting task.

Background: The impulsive choice is characterized by the preference for a small immediate reward over a bigger delayed one. The mechanisms underlying impulsive choices are linked to the activity in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the dorsolateral striatum (DLS). While the study of functional connectivity between brain areas has been key to understanding a variety of cognitive processes, it remains unclear whether functional connectivity differentiates impulsive-control decisions.

High impulsive choice is accompanied by an increase in dopamine release in rat dorsolateral striatum.

Dopamine neurotransmission has been consistently associated with individual differences in impulsive choice. Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that low striatal dopamine D signaling predisposes to engage in impulsive behaviors. Although dopamine D signaling controls dopamine (DA) extracellular levels, the relationship between striatal dopamine extracellular levels and impulsive choice remains poorly understood.

Open-care telemedicine in ophthalmology during the COVID-19 pandemic: a pilot study.

Background: To report a pilot experience of telemedicine in ophthalmology in open-care modality (i.e. direct video call), in a confinement period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Individual Differences in Amphetamine Locomotor Sensitization are Accompanied with Changes in Dopamine Release and Firing Pattern in the Dorsolateral Striatum of Rats.

Not all the people that consume drugs of abuse develop addiction. In this sense, just a percentage of rats express locomotor sensitization after repeated psychostimulant exposure. Neurochemical evidence has shown that locomotor sensitization is associated with changes in dorsolateral striatum (DLS) activity.

The blocking of kappa-opioid receptor reverses the changes in dorsolateral striatum dopamine dynamics during the amphetamine sensitization.

Kappa-opioid receptors (KOR) control dopamine (DA) levels in the striatum and contribute significantly to the progression of drug addiction. Repeated exposure to psychostimulants has been associated with up-regulated KOR activity and increased DA levels in dorsal striatum. However, it has not been tested if both processes are linked.

Variation in optineurin (OPTN) allele frequencies between and within populations.

Purpose: To evaluate the extent to which mutations in the optineurin (OPTN) glaucoma gene play a role in glaucoma in different populations.

Methods: Case-controlled study of OPTN sequence variants in individuals with or without glaucoma in populations of different ancestral origins and evaluate previous OPTN reports. We analyzed 314 subjects with African, Asian, Caucasian and Hispanic ancestries included 229 cases of primary open-angle glaucoma, 51 cases of juvenile-onset open-angle glaucoma, 33 cases of normal tension glaucoma, and 371 controls.