Effects of memantine on mania-like phenotypes exhibited by Drosophila Shaker mutants.

Introduction: Increased glutamate levels and electrolytic fluctuations have been observed in acutely manic patients. Despite some efficacy of the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist memantine (Mem), such as antidepressant-like and mood-stabilizer drugs in clinical studies, its specific mechanisms of action are still uncertain. The present study aims to better characterize the Drosophila melanogaster fly Shaker mutants (SH), as a translational model of manic episodes within bipolar disorder in humans, and to investigate the potential anti-manic properties of Mem.

Healthy Women and Men Do Not Show Differences in Tongue Strength and Regular Effort Saliva Swallows as Assessed by Piezo-Resistive Sensors: Results from a Reproducibility Study.

The aim of this study was to establish the reproducibility of tongue strength measurements in healthy women and men during maximum anterior isometric pressure (MAIP) and regular effort saliva swallows (RESS). In this cross-sectional study, 30 healthy young adults were required to push with the tip of the tongue on a piezo-resistive sensor glued to the hard palate, immediately above the central incisor line. Tongue pressures exerted on the sensor during MAIP and spontaneous RESS were recorded.

Maternal Immune Activation Disrupts Dopamine System in the Offspring.

Background: In utero exposure to maternal viral infections is associated with a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders with a supposed neurodevelopmental origin, including schizophrenia. Hence, immune response factors exert a negative impact on brain maturation that predisposes the offspring to the emergence of pathological phenotypes later in life. Although ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons and their target regions play essential roles in the pathophysiology of psychoses, it remains to be fully elucidated how dopamine activity and functionality are disrupted in maternal immune activation models of schizophrenia.

PPARα regulates cholinergic-driven activity of midbrain dopamine neurons via a novel mechanism involving α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons control reward-driven learning, and their dysregulation can lead to psychiatric disorders. Tonic and phasic activity of these dopaminergic neurons depends on cholinergic tone and activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), particularly those containing the β2 subunit (β2*-nAChRs). Nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors type-α (PPARα) tonically regulate β2*-nAChRs and thereby control dopamine neuron firing activity.

Chronic cannabinoid exposure reduces phencyclidine-induced schizophrenia-like positive symptoms in adult rats.

Rationale: Chronic cannabis use can induce psychotic states that resemble schizophrenia. Yet, schizophrenic patients often smoke cannabis as a form of self-medication to counter the aversive symptoms of schizophrenia. We recently demonstrated an ameliorating effect of cannabinoid self-administration (SA) on negative and cognitive schizophrenia-like symptoms induced experimentally by the non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP).