The impact of headache intensity on speech in participants with migraine and acute post-traumatic headache.

Background: Slower speaking rates and higher pause rates are found in individuals with migraine or post-traumatic headache during headache compared to when headache-free. We aimed to determine whether headache intensity influences the speaking rate and pause rate of participants with migraine or acute post-traumatic headache (aPTH) following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Methods: Using a speech elicitation tool, participants with migraine, aPTH, and healthy controls (HC) submitted speech samples over a period of 3 months.

Evaluation of family and staff experiences with virtual rounding and bedside presence in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic-related visitation restrictions started in March 2020 in Alberta, Canada. In the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, we implemented a Virtual Communications initiative to allow parents to continue to be present with their infants, attend daily rounds, and communicate with the medical team. The purpose of this survey study was to describe our approach and evaluate the experience for families and staff.

Altered trajectories of neurodevelopment and behavior in mouse models of Rett syndrome.

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a genetic disorder that is caused by mutations in the x-linked gene coding for methyl-CpG-biding-protein 2 (MECP2) and that mainly affects females. Male and female transgenic mouse models of RTT have been studied extensively, and we have learned a great deal regarding RTT neuropathology and how MeCP2 deficiency may be influencing brain function and maturation. In this manuscript we review what is known concerning structural and coinciding functional and behavioral deficits in RTT and in mouse models of MeCP2 deficiency.

Dimensional assessment of behavioral changes in the cuprizone short-term exposure model for psychosis.

Recent clinical studies have suggested a role for immune/inflammatory responses in the pathophysiology of psychosis. However, a mechanistic understanding of this process and its application for drug discovery is underdeveloped. Here we assessed our recently developed cuprizone short-term exposure (CSE) mouse model across behavioral domains targeting neurocognitive and neuroaffective systems.

Impaired hippocampal-dependent memory and reduced parvalbumin-positive interneurons in a ketamine mouse model of schizophrenia.

The hippocampus of patients with schizophrenia displays aberrant excess neuronal activity which affects cognitive function. Animal models of the illness have recapitulated the overactivity in the hippocampus, with a corresponding regionally localized reduction of inhibitory interneurons, consistent with that observed in patients. To better understand whether cognitive function is similarly affected in these models of hippocampal overactivity, we tested a ketamine mouse model of schizophrenia for cognitive performance in hippocampal- and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)-dependent tasks.

Adult Behavior in Male Mice Exposed to E-Cigarette Nicotine Vapors during Late Prenatal and Early Postnatal Life.

Methods: Timed-pregnant C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 2.4% nicotine in propylene glycol (PG) or 0% nicotine /PG once a day from gestational day 15 until delivery. After delivery, offspring and mothers were exposed to E-cigarette vapors for an additional 14 days from postnatal day 2 through 16.

Narp knockout mice show normal reactivity to novelty but attenuated recovery from neophobia.

Narp knockout (KO) mice demonstrate cognitive inflexibility and addictive behavior, which are associated with abnormal reactivity to a novel stimulus. To assess reactivity to novelty, we tested Narp KO and wild-type (WT) mice on a neophobia procedure. Both Narp KO and WT mice showed a similar decrease in consumption upon initial exposure to a novel flavor, but Narp KO mice did not increase consumption with subsequent exposures to the novel flavor like the WT mice.

Inositol polyphosphate multikinase is a transcriptional coactivator required for immediate early gene induction.

Profound induction of immediate early genes (IEGs) by neural activation is a critical determinant for plasticity in the brain, but intervening molecular signals are not well characterized. We demonstrate that inositol polyphosphate multikinase (IPMK) acts noncatalytically as a transcriptional coactivator to mediate induction of numerous IEGs. IEG induction by electroconvulsive stimulation is virtually abolished in the brains of IPMK-deleted mice, which also display deficits in spatial memory.

Impact of trichostatin A and sodium valproate treatment on post-stroke neurogenesis and behavioral outcomes in immature mice.

Stroke in the neonatal brain frequently results in neurologic impairments including cognitive disability. We investigated the effect of long-term sodium valproate (valproate) and trichostatin A (TSA) treatment upon post-stroke neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of stroke-injured immature mice. Decreased or abnormal integration of newborn DG neurons into hippocampal circuits can result in impaired visual-spatial function, abnormal modulation of mood-related behaviors, and the development of post-stroke epilepsy.

Sustaining and spreading the reduction of adverse drug events in a multicenter collaborative.

Objectives: Adverse drug events (ADEs) occur more frequently in pediatric patients than adults. ADEs frequently cause serious harm to children and increase the cost of care. The purpose of this study was to decrease ADEs by targeting the entire medication-delivery system for all high-risk medications.

Different effects of high- and low-dose phenobarbital on post-stroke seizure suppression and recovery in immature CD1 mice.

Neonatal stroke presents with seizures that are usually treated with phenobarbital. We hypothesized that anticonvulsants would attenuate ischemic injury, but that the dose-dependent effects of standard anticonvulsants would impact important age-dependent and injury-dependent consequences. In this study, ischemia induced by unilateral carotid ligation in postnatal day 12 (P12) CD1 mice was immediately followed by an i.

Differences in hippocampal CREB phosphorylation in trace fear conditioning of two inbred mouse strains.

The effects of genetic background on fear trace conditioning were evaluated in relation to phosphorylated levels of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the hippocampus using two different inbred strains of mice, C57BL/6 and DBA/2. The male mice received a trace fear conditioning protocol and unpaired control groups were included to assess nonassociative effects on test performance. Both C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice with paired training displayed higher freezing responses during testing than those with unpaired training, respectively.

An assessment of olfaction and responses to novelty in three strains of mice.

In rodents, the initial exposure to a novel stimulus or environment typically induces exploration. After prolonged exposure the level of exploration decreases. Recently we developed an odor-based novelty detection paradigm that broadly screens for functions such as olfactory perception, olfactory driven exploration and habituation, and novelty preference and memory.

Chronic brain injury and behavioral impairments in a mouse model of term neonatal strokes.

Stroke in term neonates remains a significant cause of long-term neurological morbidity. This study was designed to assess the relationships between ischemic stroke induced by permanent unilateral carotid ligation in P12 CD1 mice and the structural and functional outcomes in the young mice as a consequence. After P12 ischemic strokes, mice were behaviorally tested using accelerated rotorod, spontaneous alternation on a T-maze, open-field, and cylinder tests between P33 and P39.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptor TrkB is critical for the acquisition but not expression of conditioned incentive value.

Stimuli paired with reward acquire incentive properties that are important for many aspects of motivated behavior, such as feeding and drug-seeking. Here we used a novel chemical-genetic strategy to determine the role of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptor TrkB, known to be critical to many aspects of neural development and plasticity, during acquisition and expression of positive incentive value by a cue paired with food. We assessed that cue's learned incentive value in a conditioned reinforcement task, in which its ability to reinforce instrumental responding later, in the absence of food itself, was examined.

Genetic background differences and nonassociative effects in mouse trace fear conditioning.

Fear conditioning, including variants such as delay and trace conditioning that depend on different neural systems, is widely used to behaviorally characterize genetically altered mice. We present data from three strains of mice, C57/BL6 (C57), 129/SvlmJ (129), and a hybrid strain of the two (F(1) hybrids), trained on various versions of a trace fear-conditioning protocol. The initial version was taken from the literature but included unpaired control groups to assess nonassociative effects on test performance.

Transcriptional mechanisms of hippocampal aging.

Aging related cognitive decline is an increasing health problem but affects only a subset of elderly humans. This research uses outbred young (Y) and aged rats. Behavioral characterization distinguishes aged rats with impaired spatial learning (AI) and aged rats with unimpaired learning ability (AU), mimicking the varied susceptibility of the human population to age-associated learning impairment.