Anticonvulsant Effect of Time-Restricted Feeding in a Pilocarpine-Induced Seizure Model: Metabolic and Epigenetic Implications.

A new generation of antiepileptic drugs has emerged; however, one-third of epilepsy patients do not properly respond to pharmacological treatments. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether time-restricted feeding (TRF) has an anticonvulsant effect and whether this restrictive diet promotes changes in energy metabolism and epigenetic modifications in a pilocarpine-induced seizure model. To resolve our hypothesis, one group of rats had free access to food and water ad libitum (AL) and a second group underwent a TRF schedule.

TRH regulates action potential shape in cerebral cortex pyramidal neurons.

Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) is a neuropeptide with a wide neural distribution and a variety of functions. It modulates neuronal electrophysiological properties, including resting membrane potential, as well as excitatory postsynaptic potential and spike frequencies. We explored, with whole-cell patch clamp, TRH effect on action potential shape in pyramidal neurons of the sensorimotor cortex.

NMDA receptor up-regulates pyroglutamyl peptidase II activity in the rat hippocampus.

Ecto-peptidases hydrolyze peptides in the extracellular fluid of the brain. This process is critical for defining the strength of peptidergic communication. A few studies suggest that brain ecto-peptidase activities are regulated by brain function but the extracellular messengers involved are generally unknown.

Measurement of variability dynamics in cortical spike trains.

We propose a method for the time-resolved joint analysis of two related aspects of single neuron variability, the spiking irregularity measured by the squared coefficient of variation (CV(2)) of the ISIs and the trial-by-trial variability of the spike count measured by the Fano factor (FF). We provide a calibration of both estimators using the theory of renewal processes, and verify it for spike trains recorded in vitro. Both estimators exhibit a considerable bias for short observations that count less than about 5-10 spikes on average.

Spike timing and reliability in cortical pyramidal neurons: effects of EPSC kinetics, input synchronization and background noise on spike timing.

In vivo studies have shown that neurons in the neocortex can generate action potentials at high temporal precision. The mechanisms controlling timing and reliability of action potential generation in neocortical neurons, however, are still poorly understood. Here we investigated the temporal precision and reliability of spike firing in cortical layer V pyramidal cells at near-threshold membrane potentials.