Reaching into the toolbox: Stem cell models to study neuropsychiatric disorders.

Recent advances in genetics, molecular biology, and stem cell biology have accelerated our understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders, like autism spectrum disorder (ASD), major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SZ). This progress highlights the incredible complexity of both the human brain and mental illnesses from the biochemical to the cellular level. Contributing to the complexity of neuropsychiatric disorders are their polygenic nature, cellular and brain region interconnectivity, and dysregulation of human-specific neurodevelopmental processes.

Two decades of research towards a potential first anti-epileptic drug.

The basic mechanisms by which brain insults, such as trauma, stroke or status epilepticus produce epilepsy are not completely understood, and effective preventive measures and treatment are still not available in the clinical setting. Over the last 2 decades we have conducted several studies with animal models of epilepsy (rodents and non-human primates) and demonstrated that drugs that modify neuronal plastic processes, such as anticholinergic agents (e.g.

Trophic State Evolution and Nutrient Trapping Capacity in a Transboundary Subtropical Reservoir: A 25-Year Study.

Artificial reservoirs have been used for drinking water supply, other human activities, flood control and pollution abatement worldwide, providing overall benefits to downstream water quality. Most reservoirs in Brazil were built during the 1970s, but their long-term patterns of trophic status, water chemistry, and nutrient removal are still not very well characterized. We aimed to evaluate water quality time series (1985-2010) data from the riverine and lacustrine zones of the transboundary Itaipu Reservoir (Brazil/Paraguay).

Patterns of the UP-Down state in normal and epileptic mice.

Goal of this manuscript is to investigate whether changes that exist in epileptic brain generating spontaneous seizures are reflected in the pattern of the UP-Down state (UDS) recorded from the neocortex and dentate gyrus. Experiments were carried out on naive and epileptic mice under urethane anesthesia. Local field potentials were recorded with chronically implanted microelectrodes and single unit activity was recorded with glass microelectrodes.

Further evidence that pathologic high-frequency oscillations are bursts of population spikes derived from recordings of identified cells in dentate gyrus.

Purpose: To analyze activity of identified dentate gyrus granular cells and interneurons during pathologic high-frequency oscillations (pHFOs).

Methods: Pilocarpine-treated epileptic mice were anesthetized with urethane and ketamine. Their heads were fixed in a stereotaxic frame.