Electroacupuncture activates AMPKα1 to improve learning and memory in the APP/PS1 mouse model of early Alzheimer's disease by regulating hippocampal mitochondrial dynamics.

Objective: Studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) can alleviate cognitive impairments from Alzheimer's disease (AD) by regulating the expression of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), but the specific mechanism involved remains to be elucidated. Therefore, this study explores the potential mechanism by which EA improves cognitive function from the perspective of mitochondrial dynamics.

Methods: The four-month-old transgenic mice with amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin 1 (PS1) and AMPKα1-subunit conditional knockout (AMPKα1-cKO) were used for experiments.

Electroacupuncture improves vascular cognitive impairment no dementia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Electroacupuncture (EA) could represent a clinically effective treatment strategy for patients with vascular cognitive impairment no dementia (VCIND). This randomized trial aims to explore the underlying mechanism of EA in VCIND patients through cognitive function assessment and neuroimaging assessment.

Methods: 140 eligible patients with VCIND were recruited and randomly divided into EA group (n = 70) and Control group (n = 70).

Tai Chi-Induced Exosomal LRP1 is Associated With Memory Function and Hippocampus Plasticity in aMCI Patients.

Objectives: The study was designed to identify the potential peripheral processes of circulating exosome in response to Tai Chi (TC) exercise and the possibility of its loaded cargos in mediating the effects of TC training on cognitive function among older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a multicenter randomized controlled trial. One hundred community-dwelling old adults with aMCI were randomly assigned (1:1) to experimental (n = 50) and control groups (n = 50).

Brain network hierarchy reorganization in subthreshold depression.

Background: Hierarchy is the organizing principle of human brain network. How network hierarchy changes in subthreshold depression (StD) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the altered brain network hierarchy and its clinical significance in patients with StD.

Emerging Role of Interleukin-38 (IL-38) in the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an incurable autoimmune disease. The role of interleukin-38 (IL-38), an anti-inflammatory cytokine, in RA is not fully understood, and its clinical relevance in RA remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the correlation of IL-38 with disease activity and the clinical manifestation of RA.

Physical exercise/sports ameliorate the internet addiction from college students during the pandemic of COVID-19 in China.

The rapid advancement of modern technology has significantly driven progress in various IT-related activities, resulting in a substantial increase in internet penetration rates, particularly among college students. The utilization of the internet has become one of the most essential tools in our modern society. However, internet addiction (IA) has emerged as a serious concern, particularly among college students, adversely affecting academic performance and having significant psychological and psychiatric implications.

Atypical characteristic changes of surface morphology and structural covariance network in developmental dyslexia.

Background: Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties with all aspects of information acquisition in the written word, including slow and inaccurate word recognition. The neural basis behind DD has not been fully elucidated.

Method: The study included 22 typically developing (TD) children, 16 children with isolated spelling disorder (SpD), and 20 children with DD.

Altered morphological characteristics and structural covariance connectivity associated with verbal working memory performance in ADHD children.

Objectives: Deficits in verbal working memory (VWM) observed in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children can persist into adulthood. Although previous studies have identified brain regions that are activated during VWM tasks, the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between VWM deficits remain unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the structural covariance network connectivity and brain morphology changes that are associated with VWM performance in ADHD children.

Effects of computerized cognitive training on structure‒function coupling and topology of multiple brain networks in people with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) experience a loss of cognitive functions, whose mechanism is characterized by aberrant structure‒function (SC-FC) coupling and topological attributes of multiple networks. This study aimed to reveal the network-level SC-FC coupling and internal topological changes triggered by computerized cognitive training (CCT) to explain the therapeutic effects of this training in individuals with MCI.

Methods: In this randomized block experiment, we recruited 60 MCI individuals and randomly divided them into an 8-week multidomain CCT group and a health education control group.

Automatic brain extraction for rat magnetic resonance imaging data using U-Net.

Skull stripping is a key step in the pre-processing of rodent brain magnetic resonance images (MRI). This study aimed to develop a new skull stripping method via U-Net, a neural network model based on deep learning method, for rat brain MRI.In this study, 599 rats were enrolled and U-Net was applied to segment MRI images of rat brain.

Computerized Cognitive Training Enhances Episodic Memory by Down-Modulating Posterior Cingulate-Precuneus Connectivity in Older Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The neural mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of a computerized cognitive training (CCT) program for improving episodic memory in older persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remain unclear. This study aimed to use both functional and structural brain changes to elucidate the treatment effects of CCT on enhancing episodic memory.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Single-blinded, multicenter randomized controlled trial on 60 older adults with MCI in Fuzhou, China.

Effects of Tai Chi Chuan on Cognitive Function in Adults 60 Years or Older With Type 2 Diabetes and Mild Cognitive Impairment in China: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with the progression of cognitive dysfunction. Physical activity benefits cognition, but no evidence from randomized clinical trials has shown whether tai chi chuan has better long-term benefits than fitness walking in cognitive function for patients with T2D and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of tai chi chuan, a mind-body exercise, for improving cognitive function in older adults with T2D and MCI, with fitness walking.

Ischemic stroke rehabilitation through optogenetic modulation of parvalbumin neurons in the contralateral motor cortex.

Background: Based on the theory of interhemispheric inhibition and the bimodal balance-recovery model in stroke, we explored the effects of excitation/inhibition (E/I) of parvalbumin (PV) neurons in the contralateral primary motor cortex (cM1) connecting the ipsilateral M1 (iM1) via the corpus callosum (cM1-CC-iM1) of ischemic stroke rats by optogenetic stimulation.

Methods: We tested this by injecting anterograde and retrograde virus in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), and evaluated the neurological scores, motor behavior, volume of cerebral infarction and the E/I balance of the bilateral M1 two weeks after employing optogenetic treatment.

Results: We found that concentrations of Glu and GABA decreased and increased, respectively, in the iM1 of MCAO rats, and that the former increased in the cM1, suggesting E/I imbalance in bilateral M1 after ischemic stroke.

Brain functional activity of swallowing: A meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Swallowing is one of the most important activities in our life and serves the dual roles of nutritional intake and eating enjoyment.

Objective: The study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to investigate the brain activity of swallowing.

Methods: Studies of swallowing using functional magnetic resonance imaging were reviewed in PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wan Fang before 30 November 2021.

Functional Connectivity of Ipsilateral Striatum in Rats with Ischemic Stroke Increased by Electroacupuncture.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment at Zusanli (ST36) and Quchi (LI11) on cortico-striatal network connectivity after ischemia stroke by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods: A rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was established. Rats were randomly assigned into a sham-operated control group (SC group, n = 8), untreated MCAO model group (MCAO group, n = 8), and MCAO group receiving EA treatment at ST36 and LI11 (MCAO + EA group, n = 8).

The current status and trend of the functional magnetic resonance combined with stimulation in animals.

As a non-radiative, non-invasive imaging technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has excellent effects on studying the activation of blood oxygen levels and functional connectivity of the brain in human and animal models. Compared with resting-state fMRI, fMRI combined with stimulation could be used to assess the activation of specific brain regions and the connectivity of specific pathways and achieve better signal capture with a clear purpose and more significant results. Various fMRI methods and specific stimulation paradigms have been proposed to investigate brain activation in a specific state, such as electrical, mechanical, visual, olfactory, and direct brain stimulation.

Aberrant pattern of regional cerebral blood flow in mild cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis of arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging.

Unlabelled: In mild cognitive impairment (MCI), cognitive decline is associated with abnormal changes of cerebral blood flow (CBF). Arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-MRI) is an effective method for assessing regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). However, the CBF estimated ASL-MRI in MCI often differs between studies, and the consistency of CBF changes in MCI is unclear.

A novel rat model for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: verification of similarity to human disease via clinical analysis and experimental validation.

Background: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare neurovascular disorder with highly variable manifestations and clinical courses. Animal models properly matched to the clinical form of CVST are necessary for elucidating the pathophysiology of the disease. In this study, we aimed to establish a rat model that accurately recapitulates the clinical features of CVST in human patients.

Enhanced Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampal Activity Improves Memory Generalization in APP/PS1 Mice: A Multimodal Animal MRI Study.

Memory generalization allows individuals to extend previously learned movement patterns to similar environments, contributing to cognitive flexibility. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), the disturbance of generalization is responsible for the deficits of episodic memory, causing patients with AD to forget or misplace things, even lose track of the way home. Cognitive training can effectively improve the cognition of patients with AD through changing thinking mode and memory flexibility.

Electro-Acupuncture Improve the Early Pattern Separation in Alzheimer's Disease Mice Basal Forebrain-Hippocampus Cholinergic Neural Circuit.

Objectives: To explore the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on pattern separation and investigate the neural circuit mechanism involved in five familial mutations (5 × FAD) mice.

Methods: Five familial mutations mice were treated with EA at Baihui (DU20) and Shenting (DU24) acupoints for 30 min each, lasting for 4 weeks. Cognitive-behavioral tests were performed to evaluate the effects of EA treatment on cognitive functions.

Activation of Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase Drives the Aerobic Glycolysis in Hippocampus for Delaying Cognitive Decline Following Electroacupuncture Treatment in APP/PS1 Mice.

Aerobic glycolysis (AG), an important pathway of glucose metabolism, is dramatically declined in Alzheimer's disease (AD). AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key regulator to maintain the stability of energy metabolism by promoting the process of AG and regulating glucose metabolism. Interestingly, it has been previously reported that electroacupuncture (EA) treatment can improve cognitive function in AD through the enhancement of glucose metabolism.

Differentiation of paediatric posterior fossa tumours by the multiregional and multiparametric MRI radiomics approach: a study on the selection of optimal multiple sequences and multiregions.

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a radiomics model based on multiregional and multiparametric MRI to classify paediatric posterior fossa tumours (PPFTs), explore the contribution of different MR sequences and tumour subregions in tumour classification, and examine whether contrast-enhanced weighted (T1C) images have irreplaceable added value.

Methods: This retrospective study of 136 PPFTs extracted 11,958 multiregional (enhanced, non-enhanced, and total tumour) features from multiparametric MRI (- and weighted, T1C, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and diffusion-weighted images). These features were subjected to fast correlation-based feature selection and classified by a support vector machine based on different tasks.

Meta-Analysis of Neurochemical Changes Estimated via Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.

The changes of neurochemicals in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients has been observed via magnetic resonance spectroscopy in several studies. However, whether it exists the consistent pattern of changes of neurochemicals in the encephalic region during the progression of MCI to AD were still not clear. The study performed meta-analysis to investigate the patterns of neurochemical changes in the encephalic region in the progress of AD.