Publications by authors named "Esther S K Lai"
Stress affects behavior and involves critical dynamic changes at multiple levels ranging from molecular pathways to neural circuits and behavior. Abnormalities at any of these levels lead to decreased stress resilience and pathological behavior. However, temporal modulation of molecular pathways underlying stress response remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroligin is a postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecule that is involved in synapse formation and maturation by interacting with presynaptic neurexin. Mutations in neuroligin genes, including the arginine to cystein substitution at the 451st amino acid residue (R451C) of neuroligin-3 (NLGN3), have been identified in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Functional magnetic resonance imaging and examination of post-mortem brain in ASD patients implicate alteration of cerebellar morphology and Purkinje cell (PC) loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- AUTS2 is a gene linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and plays a crucial role in the development of the telencephalon and cerebellum, specifically in Purkinje and Golgi cells.
- Researchers found that conditional knockout (cKO) mice, which lack AUTS2, had smaller and malformed cerebella with immature Purkinje cells, indicating a disruption in cerebellar maturation.
- The absence of AUTS2 was associated with impaired motor learning and social communication in cKO mice, suggesting its essential role in synapse development in Purkinje cells, which may contribute to cerebellar dysfunction related to ASDs.
Study Objective: Working memory deficits in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have been reported in previous studies, but the results were inconclusive. This study tried to address this issue by delineating working memory functions into executive processes and storage/maintenance components based on Baddeley's working memory model.
Methods: Working memory and basic attention tasks were administered on 23 OSA children aged 8-12 years and 22 age-, education-, and general cognitive functioning-matched controls.