Neurostructural Consequences of Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy in Childhood.

Background: Obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is a condition impairing limb function caused by birth injury. In 20 to 30% of cases, severe OBPP can cause life constraints in feeding, grooming, and clothing tasks.

Objective: The present study, using voxel- and surface-based morphometry (VBM and SBM), examined the brain structure of pediatric OBPP patients to better understand the effects of this peripheral motor deficit on early brain development.

Adolescent chronic sleep restriction promotes alcohol drinking in adulthood: evidence from epidemiological and preclinical data.

Epidemiological investigations have indicated that insufficient sleep is prevalent among adolescents, posing a globally underestimated health risk. Sleep fragmentation and sleep loss during adolescence have been linked to concurrent emotional dysregulation and an increase in impulsive, risk-taking behaviors, including a higher likelihood of substance abuse. Among the most widely used substances, alcohol stands as the primary risk factor for deaths and disability among individuals aged 15-49 worldwide.

On the brain struggles to recognize basic facial emotions with face masks: an fMRI study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted public health and our lifestyles, leading to new social adaptations such as quarantine, social distancing, and facial masks. Face masks, covering extended facial zones, hamper our ability to extract relevant socio-emotional information from others' faces. In this fMRI study, we investigated how face masks interfere with facial emotion recognition, focusing on brain responses and connectivity patterns as a function of the presence of a face mask.

Age-Dependent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in the NF-κB/c-Rel Knockout Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Non-motor symptoms are frequently observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) and precede the onset of motor deficits by years. Among them, neuropsychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and apathy, are increasingly considered as a major challenge for patients with PD and their caregivers. We recently reported that mice lacking the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/c-Rel protein (c-rel mice) develop an age-dependent PD-like pathology and phenotype characterized by the onset of non-motor symptoms, including constipation and hyposmia, starting at 2 months of age, and motor deficits at 18 months.

Bilingualism and Aging: Implications for (Delaying) Neurocognitive Decline.

As a result of advances in healthcare, the worldwide average life expectancy is steadily increasing. However, this positive trend has societal and individual costs, not least because greater life expectancy is linked to higher incidence of age-related diseases, such as dementia. Over the past few decades, research has isolated various protective "healthy lifestyle" factors argued to contribute positively to cognitive aging, e.

Add Bilingualism to the Mix: L2 Proficiency Modulates the Effect of Cognitive Reserve Proxies on Executive Performance in Healthy Aging.

We investigated the contribution of bilingual experience to the development of cognitive reserve (CR) when compared with other, traditionally more researched, CR proxies, in a sample of cognitively healthy senior (60 +) bilingual speakers. Participants performed in an online study where, in addition to a wide inventory of factors known to promote CR, we assessed several factors related to their second language (L2) use. In addition, participants' inhibitory executive control was measured via the Flanker Task.

Detection of spontaneous seizures in EEGs in multiple experimental mouse models of epilepsy.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a key tool for non-invasive recording of brain activity and the diagnosis of epilepsy. EEG monitoring is also widely employed in rodent models to track epilepsy development and evaluate experimental therapies and interventions. Whereas automated seizure detection algorithms have been developed for clinical EEG, preclinical versions face challenges of inter-model differences and lack of EEG standardization, leaving researchers relying on time-consuming visual annotation of signals.

Role of T cells during the cerebral infection with Trypanosoma brucei.

The infection by Trypanosoma brucei brucei (T.b.b.

Cognitive Trajectories and Dementia Risk: A Comparison of Two Cognitive Reserve Measures.

Background And Objectives: Cognitive reserve (CR) is meant to account for the mismatch between brain damage and cognitive decline or dementia. Generally, CR has been operationalized using proxy variables indicating exposure to enriching activities ( CR). An alternative approach defines CR as residual variance in cognition, not explained by the brain status ( CR).

Attriters and Bilinguals: What's in a Name?

The use of language as a universal tool for communication and interaction is the backbone of human society. General sociocultural milieu and specific contextual factors can strongly influence various aspects of linguistic experience, including language acquisition and use and the respective internal neurolinguistic processes. This is particularly relevant in the case of bilingualism, which encompasses a diverse set of linguistic experiences, greatly influenced by societal, cultural, educational, and personal factors.

Gut microbiota modulates seizure susceptibility.

A bulk of data suggest that the gut microbiota plays a role in a broad range of diseases, including those affecting the central nervous system. Recently, significant differences in the intestinal microbiota of patients with epilepsy, compared to healthy volunteers, have been reported in an observational study. However, an active role of the intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, through the so-called "gut-brain axis," has yet to be demonstrated.

The Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Epilepsy: Possible Treatments and Future Perspectives.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent adult cells with self-renewing capacities. MSCs display specific properties, such as the ability to repair damaged tissues, resulting in optimal candidates for cell therapy against degenerative diseases. In addition to the reparative functions of MSCs, growing evidence shows that these cells have potent immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties.

Sleep inhibition induced by amyloid-β oligomers is mediated by the cellular prion protein.

Sleep is severely impaired in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid-β deposition in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients is a key event in its pathogenesis and is associated with disrupted sleep, even before the appearance of cognitive decline. Because soluble amyloid-β oligomers are the key mediators of synaptic and cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and impair long-term memory in rodents, the first aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that amyloid-β oligomers would directly impair sleep in mice.

Genome-wide microRNA profiling of plasma from three different animal models identifies biomarkers of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Epilepsy diagnosis is complex, requires a team of specialists and relies on in-depth patient and family history, MRI-imaging and EEG monitoring. There is therefore an unmet clinical need for a non-invasive, molecular-based, biomarker to either predict the development of epilepsy or diagnose a patient with epilepsy who may not have had a witnessed seizure. Recent studies have demonstrated a role for microRNAs in the pathogenesis of epilepsy.

A systems approach delivers a functional microRNA catalog and expanded targets for seizure suppression in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common drug-resistant form of epilepsy in adults. The reorganization of neural networks and the gene expression landscape underlying pathophysiologic network behavior in brain structures such as the hippocampus has been suggested to be controlled, in part, by microRNAs. To systematically assess their significance, we sequenced Argonaute-loaded microRNAs to define functionally engaged microRNAs in the hippocampus of three different animal models in two species and at six time points between the initial precipitating insult through to the establishment of chronic epilepsy.

Daily Fluctuation of Orexin Neuron Activity and Wiring: The Challenge of "Chronoconnectivity".

In the heterogeneous hub represented by the lateral hypothalamus, neurons containing the orexin/hypocretin peptides play a key role in vigilance state transitions and wakefulness stability, energy homeostasis, and other functions relevant for motivated behaviors. Orexin neurons, which project widely to the neuraxis, are innervated by multiple extra- and intra-hypothalamic sources. A key property of the adaptive capacity of orexin neurons is represented by daily variations of activity, which is highest in the period of the animal's activity and wakefulness.

Sleep and brain infections.

Sleep is frequently altered in systemic infections as a component of sickness behavior in response to inflammation. Sleepiness in sickness behavior has been extensively investigated. Much less attention has instead been devoted to sleep and wake alterations in brain infections.

Neuroplasticity across the lifespan and aging effects in bilinguals and monolinguals.

Evidence that bilingualism protects against age-related neurocognitive decline is mixed. One relatively consistent finding is that bilingual seniors have greater grey matter volume (GMV) in regions implicated in executive control (EC) and language processing. Here, we compare the neuroplastic effects of bilingual experience on the EC network of young and aging populations directly, and for the first time we evaluate the extent to which such effects may predict executive control performance across age.

Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on cognitive functions, electrocortical activity and neurogenesis in a non-human primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus).

Among environmental factors that may affect on brain function, some nutrients and particularly n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) are required for optimal brain development. Their effects on cognitive functions, however, are still unclear, and studies in humans and rodents have yielded contradictory results. We used a non-human primate model, the grey mouse lemur, phylogenetically close to human.

The excitatory/inhibitory input to orexin/hypocretin neuron soma undergoes day/night reorganization.

Orexin (OX)/hypocretin-containing neurons are main regulators of wakefulness stability, arousal, and energy homeostasis. Their activity varies in relation to the animal's behavioral state. We here tested whether such variation is subserved by synaptic plasticity phenomena in basal conditions.