Levodopa-induced dyskinesia in early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) associates with glucocerebrosidase mutation: A next-generation sequencing study in EOPD patients in Thailand.

Background: With the benefit of using next-generation sequencing (NGS), our aim was to examine the prevalence of known monogenic causes in early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD) patients in Thailand. The association between clinical features, such as levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID), and genotypes were also explored.

Method: NGS studies were carried out for EOPD patients in the Tertiary-referral center for Parkinson's disease and movement disorders.

Nine patients with KCNQ2-related neonatal seizures and functional studies of two missense variants.

Mutations in KCNQ2 encoding for voltage-gated K channel subunits underlying the neuronal M-current have been associated with infantile-onset epileptic disorders. The clinical spectrum ranges from self-limited neonatal seizures to epileptic encephalopathy and delayed development. Mutations in KCNQ2 could be either gain- or loss-of-function which require different therapeutic approaches.

Student academic performance in non-lecture physiology topics following the abrupt change from traditional on-site teaching to online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-clerkship medical education, including all physiology classes, was obliged to change to online teaching due to limitations of on-site (face-to-face) classes. However, the effectiveness of online teaching in non-lecture physiology topics during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been thoroughly investigated.

Method: We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the students' academic achievement and opinions on online teaching during the COVID-19 academic year.

Monoamine Levels and Parkinson's Disease Progression: Evidence From a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Study.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with dysfunction of monoamine neurotransmitter systems. We investigated changes in the levels of monoamine and their metabolites in PD patients, together with their association to clinical profiles. PD patients and age-matched control subjects ( = 40 per group) were enrolled.

MCM-2, Ki-67, and EGFR downregulated expression levels in advanced stage laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

We present the conceptual study investigated the capacity of minichromosome maintenance-2 (MCM-2), Ki-67, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to assess the severity and progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) disease and to study the correlations among these markers. A total of 30 patients with LSCC with immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for MCM-2, Ki-67 and EGFR were examined. Mean expression levels of the three markers were evaluated for comparing between early and advanced stages of LSCC.

The concept-sharing approach: a teaching strategy to promote objective-oriented learning and academic performance in medical students.

Traditionally teachers display the learning outline at the beginning and conclusions at the end of didactic teaching sessions, and students may find it difficult to understand how teaching activities relate to learning objectives and what they should study for assessments. We introduced the "concept-sharing approach" in our neurophysiology course. This approach explicates how the content relates with learning objectives throughout the entirety of each teaching session to help the students assimilate the learning material and direct their learning in an objective-orientated way.

EGFR cut-off point for prognostic impact in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Various molecular biomarkers, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), have gained importance as predictors of head and neck cancer disease progression. This study aimed to investigate the ability of EGFR expression as a prognostic marker for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). A total of 31 patients with LSCC with immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for EGFR were examined.

Attitude, but not self-evaluated knowledge, correlates with academic performance in physiology in Thai medical students.

Positive attitude and self-evaluation are necessary for medical students and doctors. To explore how best to integrate physiology teaching in our Thai medical curriculum, we investigated relationships between student's academic performance, their attitude, self-evaluated knowledge, and proportion of physiology taught in an organ-system integrated block. We organized 13 physiology laboratory classes, during which students self-rated attitude and knowledge.

Interactive laboratory classes enhance neurophysiological knowledge in Thai medical students.

Interactive laboratory class (ILC) is a two-way communication teaching method that encourages students to correlate laboratory findings with materials from lectures. In Thai medical education, active learning methods are uncommon. This paper aims to establish 1) if ILCs would effectively promote physiology learning; 2) if effectiveness would be found in both previously academically high-performing and low-performing students; and 3) the acceptability of ILCs to Thai medical students as a novel learning method.

Estrous Cycle Induces Peripheral Sensitization in Trigeminal Ganglion Neurons: An Animal Model of Menstrual Migraine.

Background: Many women experience menstrual migraines that develop into recurrent migraine attacks during menstruation. In the human menstrual cycle, the estrogen level fluctuates according to changes in the follicular and luteal phases. The rat estrous cycle is used as an animal model to study the effects of estrogen fluctuation.

GluN2A/B ratio elevation induced by cortical spreading depression: electrophysiological and quantitative studies of the hippocampus.

Cortical spreading depression (CSD), an underlying mechanism of migraine aura, propagates to the hippocampus, and might explain hippocampusassociated symptoms during migraine attack. We hypothesised that this process is, some parts, mediated by NMDA receptors. By using a rat model, CSD was elicited by solid KCl for 45 minutes prior to electrophysiological and quantitative analyses.

The estrous cycle modulates voltage-gated ion channels in trigeminal ganglion neurons.

Migraines typically occur more frequently in women than men because of the effects of estrogen on both the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Many women suffer from migraine attacks during menstruation, which are known as menstrual migraines. The pathophysiology of menstrual migraines can be explored by using the rat estrous cycle, which shows a cyclical fluctuation of estrogen level that resembles the menstrual cycle.

Involvement of AMPA receptors in CSD-induced impairment of LTP in the hippocampus.

Objective: To investigate the alteration of hippocampal long-term plasticity and basal synaptic transmission induced by repetitive cortical spreading depressions (CSDs).

Background: There is a relationship between migraine aura and amnesia attack. CSD, a state underlying migraine attacks, may be responsible for hippocampus-related symptoms.

Pathophysiology of medication-overuse headache: implications from animal studies.

Recent animal experiments have shown that chronic medication exposure profoundly affects the function of several areas in the nervous system related to headache pathogenesis. These changes include upregulation of calcitonin gene-related peptide, substance P, and nitric oxide synthase in trigeminal ganglia; expansion of receptive field and decreased nociceptive threshold of central trigeminal neurons; decrease in diffuse noxious inhibitory control; and increased susceptibility to develop cortical spreading depression (CSD). These changes indicate an increase in excitability of cortical and trigeminal neurons.

Nociceptin/orphanin FQ modulates cortical activity and trigeminal nociception.

Background: Alterations in the levels of nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) have been reported in patients with primary headaches, including migraines and cluster headaches. These clinical observations suggest that N/OFQ is involved in the pathogenesis of primary headaches.

Objectives: The present study was conducted to determine the role of N/OFQ in the control of trigeminal nociception and cortical excitation.

The neuropeptide nociceptin is a synaptically released endogenous inhibitor of hippocampal long-term potentiation.

Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synaptic transmission has been regarded as a cellular model of learning and memory. Its induction is regulated by many functional molecules at synapses, including the neuropeptide nociceptin, which is identified as an endogenous ligand for the orphan opioid receptor. Mutant mice lacking the receptor exhibit enhanced LTP and hippocampus-dependent memory formation; however, the precise molecular and cellular mechanism is largely unknown.

A biosensing system based on extracellular potential recording of ligand-gated ion channel function overexpressed in insect cells.

We have used outer cell potential measurement to record agonist-dependent cellular responses in cells engineered to express ligand-gated ion channels and grown on a microelectrode surface. Application of glutamate, a natural agonist, induced a complex and robust potentiometric response in cells expressing homomeric GluR-D glutamate receptor, but not in nonexpressing control cells. The response consisted of an initial decrease in outer potential followed by a transient increase and was not obtained for other amino acids devoid of agonist activity at glutamate receptors.