Publications by authors named "Luigi Prisco"

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic alterations mostly related to visceral adiposity, which in turn promotes glucose intolerance and a chronic systemic inflammatory state, characterized by immune cell infiltration. Such immune system activation increases the risk of severe disease subsequent to viral infections. Strong correlations between elevated body mass index (BMI), type-2-diabetes and increased risk of hospitalization after pandemic influenza H1N1 infection have been described.

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To identify and memorize discrete but similar environmental inputs, the brain needs to distinguish between subtle differences of activity patterns in defined neuronal populations. The Kenyon cells (KCs) of the adult mushroom body (MB) respond sparsely to complex olfactory input, a property that is thought to support stimuli discrimination in the MB. To understand how this property emerges, we investigated the role of the inhibitory anterior paired lateral (APL) neuron in the input circuit of the MB, the calyx.

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The formation and consolidation of memories are complex phenomena involving synaptic plasticity, microcircuit reorganization, and the formation of multiple representations within distinct circuits. To gain insight into the structural aspects of memory consolidation, we focus on the calyx of the Drosophila mushroom body. In this essential center, essential for olfactory learning, second- and third-order neurons connect through large synaptic microglomeruli, which we dissect at the electron microscopy level.

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