Contribution of Glutamatergic and GABAergic Mechanisms to the Plasticity-Modulating Effects of Dopamine in the Human Motor Cortex.

Dopamine, a key neuromodulator in the central nervous system, regulates cortical excitability and plasticity by interacting with glutamate and GABA receptors, which are affected by dopamine receptor subtypes (D1- and D2-like). Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques can induce plasticity and monitor cortical facilitation and inhibition in humans. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study, we investigated how dopamine and D1- and D2-like receptors impact transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)-induced plasticity concerning glutamatergic and GABAergic mechanisms.

Neurochemical mechanisms underlying serotonergic modulation of neuroplasticity in humans.

Background: Studies in animals and humans have shown that cortical neuroplasticity can be modulated by increasing serotonin levels by administering selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). However, little is known about the mechanistic background, especially the contribution of intracortical inhibition and facilitation, which depend on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate.

Objective: We aimed to explore the relevance of drivers of plasticity (glutamate- and GABA-dependent processes) for the effects of serotonin enhancement on tDCS-induced plasticity in healthy humans.

Vital Signs Prediction and Early Warning Score Calculation Based on Continuous Monitoring of Hospitalised Patients Using Wearable Technology.

In this prospective, interventional, international study, we investigate continuous monitoring of hospitalised patients' vital signs using wearable technology as a basis for real-time early warning scores (EWS) estimation and vital signs time-series prediction. The collected continuous monitored vital signs are heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation of a heterogeneous patient population hospitalised in cardiology, postsurgical, and dialysis wards. Two aspects are elaborated in this study.

Left posterior inferior parietal cortex causally supports the retrieval of action knowledge.

Conceptual knowledge is central to human cognition. The left posterior inferior parietal lobe (pIPL) is implicated by neuroimaging studies as a multimodal hub representing conceptual knowledge related to various perceptual-motor modalities. However, the causal role of left pIPL in conceptual processing remains unclear.

Semantic interference in the picture-word interference task: Is there a pre-lexical, conceptual contribution to the effect?

Picture naming takes longer in the presence of a semantic-categorically related distractor word compared to an unrelated distractor word. This semantic interference effect in the picture-word interference (PWI) task is an empirical cornerstone in speech production research and of central importance in theory development and evaluation. Prominent models locate the effect at an abstract lexical level, yet only few studies have tested for a possible pre-lexical, conceptual contribution.

[E-cigarette and smoking cessation : current situation in Belgium].

Because of the devastating health effect of chronic burned tobacco inhalation, smoking cessation is a public health priority. After a short review of the validated pharmacological tools for smoking cessation we have analysed the clinical data obtained with the increasingly popular e-cigarette as an aid to help current smokers to quit. Although e-cigarette has not proved its effectiveness in smoking cessation yet, the public health authorities have usually adopted a pragmatic position.