The open field assay is influenced by room temperature and by drugs that affect core body temperature.

Background: The open field assay is used to study anxiety-related traits and anxiolytic drugs in rodents. This assay entails measuring locomotor activity and time spent in the center of a chamber that is maintained at ambient room temperature. However, the ambient temperature in most laboratories varies daily and seasonally and can differ between buildings.

"The problem is that our culture is just so messed up about aging." Recruiting older men who have sex with men (MSM) into research studies: an example from a study of aging, HIV, and anal HPV.

Background: Anal human papillomavirus (HPV) disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly those who are older and those living with HIV. After experiencing difficulty recruiting older MSM into a study on aging and anal HPV, we conducted a sub-study to gain feedback on our recruitment methods and explore barriers and facilitators to participating in anal HPV research.

Methods: We conducted focus groups with 30 men who have sex with men (MSM), both HIV-negative and MSM living with HIV, ages 50-75.

ToxCast chemical library Wnt screen identifies diethanolamine as an activator of neural progenitor proliferation.

Numerous autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk genes are associated with Wnt signaling, suggesting that brain development may be especially sensitive to genetic perturbation of this pathway. Additionally, valproic acid, which modulates Wnt signaling, increases risk for ASD when taken during pregnancy. We previously found that an autism-linked gain-of-function mutant construct hyperactivated canonical Wnt signaling, providing a genetic means to elevate Wnt signaling above baseline levels.

Giant cell myositis associated with metastatic thymoma and granulomatous hypercalcaemia.

Giant cell myositis (GCM) is a rare inflammatory myopathy associated with myasthenia gravis and thymoma. Here, we report on a woman in her late 50s with a history of myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus and stage IV thymoma with pleural metastases, who presented with proximal weakness, neuromuscular respiratory failure and hypercalcaemia. She was diagnosed with GCM via muscle biopsy and screened for myocarditis but showed no evidence of myocardial involvement.

Highly unstable heterogeneous representations in VIP interneurons of the anterior cingulate cortex.

A hallmark of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is its functional heterogeneity. Functional and imaging studies revealed its importance in the encoding of anxiety-related and social stimuli, but it is unknown how microcircuits within the ACC encode these distinct stimuli. One type of inhibitory interneuron, which is positive for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), is known to modulate the activity of pyramidal cells in local microcircuits, but it is unknown whether VIP cells in the ACC (VIP) are engaged by particular contexts or stimuli.

Detection of Azoxystrobin Fungicide and Metabolite Azoxystrobin-Acid in Pregnant Women and Children, Estimation of Daily Intake, and Evaluation of Placental and Lactational Transfer in Mice.

Background: Azoxystrobin (AZ) is a broad-spectrum strobilurin fungicide that is used in agriculture and was recently added to mold- and mildew-resistant wallboards. AZ was found to have toxic effects in animals at embryonic stages and was listed as a frontline target for biomonitoring in children.

Objectives: This study investigated exposure to AZ in pregnant women and young children, whether AZ could be transferred from an exposed mother to offspring, and whether AZ or one of its primary metabolites, AZ-acid, was neurotoxic .

Controlling litter effects to enhance rigor and reproducibility with rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research with rodents is crucial for expanding our understanding of genetic and environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). However, there is growing concern about the number of animal studies that are difficult to replicate, potentially undermining the validity of results. These concerns have prompted funding agencies and academic journals to implement more rigorous standards in an effort to increase reproducibility in research.

Chd8 haploinsufficiency impairs early brain development and protein homeostasis later in life.

Background: Chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 8 (Chd8) is a high-confidence risk gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how Chd8 haploinsufficiency impairs gene expression in the brain and impacts behavior at different stages of life is unknown.

Methods: We generated a mutant mouse line with an ASD-linked loss-of-function mutation in Chd8 (V986*; stop codon mutation).

Drainage of inflammatory macromolecules from the brain to periphery targets the liver for macrophage infiltration.

Many brain pathologies are associated with liver damage, but a direct link has long remained elusive. Here, we establish a new paradigm for interrogating brain-periphery interactions by leveraging zebrafish for its unparalleled access to the intact whole animal for in vivo analysis in real time after triggering focal brain inflammation. Using traceable lipopolysaccharides (LPS), we reveal that drainage of these inflammatory macromolecules from the brain led to a strikingly robust peripheral infiltration of macrophages into the liver independent of Kupffer cells.

Contextual fear memory retrieval by correlated ensembles of ventral CA1 neurons.

Ventral hippocampal CA1 (vCA1) projections to the amygdala are necessary for contextual fear memory. Here we used in vivo Ca imaging in mice to assess the temporal dynamics by which ensembles of vCA1 neurons mediate encoding and retrieval of contextual fear memories. We found that a subset of vCA1 neurons were responsive to the aversive shock during context conditioning, their activity was necessary for memory encoding, and these shock-responsive neurons were enriched in the vCA1 projection to the amygdala.

A Distributed Neural Code in the Dentate Gyrus and in CA1.

Neurons are often considered specialized functional units that encode a single variable. However, many neurons are observed to respond to a mix of disparate sensory, cognitive, and behavioral variables. For such representations, information is distributed across multiple neurons.

A neuronal signature for monogamous reunion.

Pair-bond formation depends vitally on neuromodulatory signaling within the nucleus accumbens, but the neuronal dynamics underlying this behavior remain unclear. Using 1-photon in vivo Ca imaging in monogamous prairie voles, we found that pair bonding does not elicit differences in overall nucleus accumbens Ca activity. Instead, we identified distinct ensembles of neurons in this region that are recruited during approach to either a partner or a novel vole.

Adult-born hippocampal neurons bidirectionally modulate entorhinal inputs into the dentate gyrus.

Young adult-born granule cells (abGCs) in the dentate gyrus (DG) have a profound impact on cognition and mood. However, it remains unclear how abGCs distinctively contribute to local DG information processing. We found that the actions of abGCs in the DG depend on the origin of incoming afferents.

Heterozygous huntingtin promotes cadmium neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration in striatal cells via altered metal transport and protein kinase C delta dependent oxidative stress and apoptosis signaling mechanisms.

Huntington's disease (HD) is functionally linked to environmental factors including cigarette use and dyshomeostasis in the levels of metals. Interestingly, one of the most abundant heavy metals in cigarettes is cadmium (Cd), which also accumulates in the striatum and causes neurotoxicity upon exposure. Thus, we hypothesized that heterozygous huntingtin (HTT), responsible for the majority of cases of HD in patients, in combination with Cd exposure would cause neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration via increased intracellular accumulation of Cd and activation of oxidative stress signaling mechanisms in a mouse striatal cell line model of HD.

Hippocampal neurogenesis confers stress resilience by inhibiting the ventral dentate gyrus.

Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is highly regulated by environmental influences, and functionally implicated in behavioural responses to stress and antidepressants. However, how adult-born neurons regulate dentate gyrus information processing to protect from stress-induced anxiety-like behaviour is unknown. Here we show in mice that neurogenesis confers resilience to chronic stress by inhibiting the activity of mature granule cells in the ventral dentate gyrus (vDG), a subregion that is implicated in mood regulation.

Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Depression in Adults with Heart Failure.

Heart failure (HF) is a major and costly public health concern, and its prognosis is grim-with high hospitalization and mortality rates. HF affects millions of individuals across the world, and this condition is expected to become "the epidemic" of the twenty-first century (Jessup et al., 2016).

Atropa belladonna neurotoxicity: Implications to neurological disorders.

Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, ranks among one of the most poisonous plants in Europe and other parts of the world. The plant contains tropane alkaloids including atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine, which are used as anticholinergics in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs and homeopathic remedies. These alkaloids can be very toxic at high dose.

Efficient and accurate extraction of in vivo calcium signals from microendoscopic video data.

In vivo calcium imaging through microendoscopic lenses enables imaging of previously inaccessible neuronal populations deep within the brains of freely moving animals. However, it is computationally challenging to extract single-neuronal activity from microendoscopic data, because of the very large background fluctuations and high spatial overlaps intrinsic to this recording modality. Here, we describe a new constrained matrix factorization approach to accurately separate the background and then demix and denoise the neuronal signals of interest.

Anxiety Cells in a Hippocampal-Hypothalamic Circuit.

The hippocampus is traditionally thought to transmit contextual information to limbic structures where it acquires valence. Using freely moving calcium imaging and optogenetics, we show that while the dorsal CA1 subregion of the hippocampus is enriched in place cells, ventral CA1 (vCA1) is enriched in anxiety cells that are activated by anxiogenic environments and required for avoidance behavior. Imaging cells defined by their projection target revealed that anxiety cells were enriched in the vCA1 population projecting to the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) but not to the basal amygdala (BA).

Pictograms, Units and Dosing Tools, and Parent Medication Errors: A Randomized Study.

Background And Objectives: Poorly designed labels and dosing tools contribute to dosing errors. We examined the degree to which errors could be reduced with pictographic diagrams, milliliter-only units, and provision of tools more closely matched to prescribed volumes.

Methods: This study involved a randomized controlled experiment in 3 pediatric clinics.

A Guide for Undergraduates to the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.

The annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) attracts over 30,000 attendees, including many of the world's most accomplished researchers. Although it can be intimidating to attend a conference of this scale, there are many rewards for undergraduates. Based on surveys of young neuroscientists, we provide planning strategies to ensure attendees maximize their exposure and retention of the breadth and depth offered by this large conference format without becoming overwhelmed.

Liquid Medication Dosing Errors by Hispanic Parents: Role of Health Literacy and English Proficiency.

Objective: Hispanic parents in the United States are disproportionately affected by low health literacy and limited English proficiency (LEP). We examined associations between health literacy, LEP, and liquid medication dosing errors in Hispanic parents.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from a multisite randomized controlled experiment to identify best practices for the labeling/dosing of pediatric liquid medications (SAFE Rx for Kids study); 3 urban pediatric clinics.

Parent Preferences and Perceptions of Milliliters and Teaspoons: Role of Health Literacy and Experience.

Background And Objectives: A recent American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement recommends milliliter-exclusive dosing for pediatric liquid medications. Little is known about parent preferences regarding units, perceptions about moving to milliliters only, and the role of health literacy and prior milliliter-dosing experience.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data collected as part of a randomized controlled study in 3 urban pediatric clinics (SAFE Rx for Kids study).