Enriched Environment Contributes to the Recovery from Neurotoxin-Induced Parkinson's Disease Pathology.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurological disorder that affects dopaminergic neurons. The lack of understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of PD pathology makes treating it a challenge. Several pieces of evidence support the protective role of enriched environment (EE) and exercise on dopaminergic neurons.

Development and Validation of a New Home Cooking Frequency Questionnaire: A Pilot Study.

Home cooking and the type of cooking techniques can have an effect on our health. However, as far as we know, there is no questionnaire that measures in depth the frequency and type of cooking techniques used at home. Our aim was to design a new Home Cooking Frequency Questionnaire (HCFQ) and to preliminarily assess its psychometric properties.

Gambling in Spanish Adolescents: Prevalence and Association with Mental Health Indicators.

Concern about the development of behavioral addictions in adolescence, including gambling, has increased in recent years. Evidence shows that problem gambling can lead to personal, social, or health problems. However, even though gambling is an illegal activity, studies on this problem are quite limited in Spain.

Gene Associated with Cholesterol-Related Traits in the Hispanic Population.

Genetic variants in the apolipoprotein E () gene are associated with lipid metabolism and lipid-related traits in the non-Hispanic population. There have been limited studies regarding the association between the gene and hypercholesterolemia in the Hispanic population; therefore, our aim for this study is to examine the APOE gene's associations with cholesterol level and its related phenotypes. The gene consists of three different alleles, ε2, ε3, and ε4, with ε4 being associated with dementia and cardiovascular diseases.

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms Among Hispanics: Results of the Maracaibo Aging Study.

Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms play an important role in diagnosing and clinical follow-up of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between neuropsychiatric symptoms, cognitive impairment, and dementia in Hispanics.

Methods: We included 529 participants (age ≥40 years) from the Maracaibo Aging Study with standardized neuropsychiatric assessments, including the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI).

Synthetic Monopartite Peptide That Enables the Nuclear Import of Genes Delivered by the Neurotensin-Polyplex Vector.

Neurotensin (NTS)-polyplex is a multicomponent nonviral vector that enables gene delivery via internalization of the neurotensin type 1 receptor (NTSR1) to dopaminergic neurons and cancer cells. An approach to improving its therapeutic safety is replacing the viral karyophilic component (peptide KPSV40; MAPTKRKGSCPGAAPNKPK), which performs the nuclear import activity, by a shorter synthetic peptide (KPRa; KMAPKKRK). We explored this issue and the mechanism of plasmid DNA translocation through the expression of the green fluorescent protein or red fluorescent protein fused with KPRa and internalization assays and whole-cell patch-clamp configuration experiments in a single cell together with importin α/β pathway blockers.

Nighttime Blood Pressure Interacts with APOE Genotype to Increase the Risk of Incident Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type in Hispanics.

Background: Dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) impacts Hispanics disproportionately, with almost a twofold elevated risk of developing DAT, as well as earlier onset of the disease, than in non-Hispanic Whites. However, the role of main risk factors for DAT, such as APOE-ɛ4 and blood pressure (BP) levels, remains uncertain among Hispanics.

Objective: To investigate the association of APOE-ɛ4 and BP levels, measures with 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring, with incidence of DAT in an elderly cohort of Hispanics.

Influence of biological sex on social behavior, individual recogntion, and non-associative learning in the adult gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica).

Social behavior is critical for relationship formation and is influenced by myriad environmental and individual factors. Basic and preclinical research typically relies on rodent models to identify the mechanisms that underlie behavior; however, it is important to use non-rodent models as well. A major objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that biological sex and social experience modulate the expression of social behavior in the adult gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica), a non-traditional model.

Correction to: Mind, Brain, and Behavior: an Integrative Approach to Teaching Neuroscience to Medical Students.

This article was updated to correct Ignacio Martinez Escobedo's name.

A Pilot Study of Parent Mentors for Early Childhood Obesity.

Objective. To assess the feasibility of a parent mentor model of intervention for early childhood obesity using positive deviance-based methods to inform the intervention. Methods.

Distinct dendritic morphology across the blades of the rodent dentate gyrus.

The dentate gyrus (DG) is a hippocampal region that has long been characterized as a critical mediator of enduring memory formation and retrieval. As such, there is a wealth of studies investigating this area. Most of these studies have either treated the DG as a homogeneous structure, or examined differences in neurons along the septal-temporal axis.

A randomized clinical trial of the effects of parent mentors on early childhood obesity: Study design and baseline data.

Background: Few effective community-based interventions exist for early childhood obesity. Parent mentors have been successful as an intervention for other conditions, but have not been used in childhood obesity. We designed an intervention for early childhood obesity using parent mentors and a positive outlier approach to assess potential efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability.

Survival of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Aeromonas hydrophila in sea bream (Sparus aurata) fillets packaged under enriched CO(2) modified atmospheres.

The ability to survive of two pathogens (Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Aeromonas hydrophila) spread over sea bream fillets packaged under different modified atmospheres (MAPs) was studied at 0°C and 4°C under refrigerated storage. The atmospheres used were 60% CO2/40% N2, 70% CO2/30% N2 and 80% CO2/20% N2 and a control batch packaged in air. Head space gas analyses, microbial counts and confirming test of pathogenic bacteria were carried out during 16days.

Productivity in physical and chemical science predicts the future economic growth of developing countries better than other popular indices.

Scientific productivity of middle income countries correlates stronger with present and future wealth than indices reflecting its financial, social, economic or technological sophistication. We identify the contribution of the relative productivity of different scientific disciplines in predicting the future economic growth of a nation. Results show that rich and poor countries differ in the relative proportion of their scientific output in the different disciplines: countries with higher relative productivity in basic sciences such as physics and chemistry had the highest economic growth in the following five years compared to countries with a higher relative productivity in applied sciences such as medicine and pharmacy.

Social reward: interactions with social status, social communication, aggression, and associated neural activation in the ventral tegmental area.

Nearly all species engage in a variety of intraspecific social interactions, and there is evidence that these interactions are rewarding. Less is known, however, about the factors that influence social reward. Using the conditioned place preference paradigm, we tested whether social interactions are rewarding for male Syrian hamsters.

Sexual experience increases oxytocin receptor gene expression and protein in the medial preoptic area of the male rat.

Oxytocin (OT) promotes social and reproductive behaviors in mammals, and OT deficits may be linked to disordered social behaviors like autism and severe anxiety. Male rat sexual behavior is an excellent model for OT regulation of behavior, as its pattern and neural substrates are well characterized. We previously reported that OT microinjected into the medial preoptic area (MPOA), a major integrative site for male sexual behavior, facilitates copulation in sexually experienced male rats, whereas intra-MPOA injection of an OT antagonist (OTA) inhibits copulation.

Survival of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Enteritidis in sea bream (Sparus aurata) fillets packaged under enriched CO2 modified atmospheres.

The effect of packaging of fresh sea bream fillets under different modified atmospheres (high levels of CO2 combined with N2) on the behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Enteritidis was studied. Two different strains of each pathogen were spread over the sea bream fillets stored at either 0 °C or 4 °C for 16 days under standard supermarket lighting conditions (14 h a day). The atmospheres investigated were 60% CO2/40% N2, 70% CO2/30% N2, 80% CO2/20% N2 and air as control.

Influence of dietary fat on pork eating quality.

This study compared the influence of dietary fat sources on meat quality, fatty acid composition and sensory attributes in pork. The experiment was conducted with 43 entire male pigs (Pietrain×(Landrace×Large White)) which were fed a basal diet without added fat (control diet) or supplemented with different sources of fat: animal fat (1%, AF1; 3%, AF3), soyabean oil (1%, SBO1) and calcium soaps of palm oil (1%, CaSPO1). Dietary fat supplementation did not significantly affect ultimate pH, colour, Warner-Bratzler shear force values, sensory attributes or SFA.

The impact of short-term feeding of magnesium supplements on the quality of pork packaged in modified atmosphere.

This study compared the effect of dietary magnesium (Mg) supplementation on pork quality during 13 days of storage at 4±1°C under modified atmosphere. The experiment was conducted with 40 gilts (Pietrain×(Landrace×Large White)) which were fed one of four diets five days prior to slaughter: 1) control diet; 2) Mg oxide; 3) Mg sulphate; or 4) Mg chelate. Dietary Mg supplementation did not affect 24-h pH, colour, and Warner-Bratzler shear force values.

Oxytocin in the medial preoptic area facilitates male sexual behavior in the rat.

Oxytocin (OT) is a versatile neuropeptide that is involved in a variety of mammalian behaviors, and its role in reproductive function and behavior has been well established. The majority of pharmacological studies of the effects of OT on male sexual behavior have focused on the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), ventral tegmental area (VTA), hippocampus, and amygdala. Less attention has been given to the medial preoptic area (MPOA), a major integrative site for male sexual behavior.

Sexual experience increases nitric oxide synthase in the medial preoptic area of male rats.

Nitric oxide in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) is important for the expression and sensitization of male sexual behavior. In this article, the authors report that repeated sexual experience (mating for 2 hr on each of 3 days) increased levels of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the MPOA of male rats, regardless of whether they mated on the day they were given an overdose of sodium phenobarbital. This effect resulted from the previous experience and not acute mating, as NOS was not increased 2 hr after the first mating in previously naive males.

Preoptic glutamate facilitates male sexual behavior.

The medial preoptic area (MPOA) is a critical regulatory site for the control of male sexual behavior. We first measured glutamate in 2 min microdialysate samples from the MPOA before, during, and after copulation by male rats. There was a slight [approximately 140% of baseline (BL)] rise in extracellular glutamate when the female was presented, a significant increase (approximately 170% of BL) during periods of mounting and intromitting, and a very large increase in samples collected during ejaculation (approximately 300% of BL).