Publications by authors named "Weihui Shao"
Article Synopsis
- Midazolam is a medication with hypnotic and sedative effects, important for various clinical uses, but its exact action on consciousness is not fully understood.
- Research using advanced techniques like pharmacology and optogenetics has identified the locus coeruleus-ventrolateral preoptic nucleus noradrenergic neural circuit as key to how midazolam affects consciousness, particularly through α1 adrenergic receptors.
- The study highlights the GABAA receptor as a critical site for midazolam's action, offering new insights that could improve understanding and management of consciousness recovery in medical settings.
Article Synopsis
- Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a significant cause of mortality in epilepsy patients, with unclear underlying mechanisms that hinder effective prevention and treatment.
- Current animal models used in SUDEP research have limitations due to differences between species, which affects their ability to accurately replicate the complex human condition.
- The review proposes creating an ideal SUDEP model using brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence to enhance understanding of SUDEP's pathogenesis and advance prevention strategies.
The advent of general anesthesia (GA) has significant implications for clinical practice. However, the exact mechanisms underlying GA-induced transitions in consciousness remain elusive. Given some similarities between GA and sleep, the sleep-arousal neural nuclei and circuits involved in sleep-arousal, including the 5-HTergic system, could be implicated in GA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeneral anesthesia is widely used in various clinical practices due to its ability to cause loss of consciousness. However, the exact mechanism of anesthesia-induced unconsciousness remains unclear. It is generally thought that arousal-related brain nuclei are involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study focuses on how the locus coeruleus (LC) and noradrenergic transmission relate to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
- It outlines a protocol to modulate the noradrenergic pathway from the LC to the heart to potentially prevent SUDEP in specific mouse models.
- Key steps include creating SUDEP models, recording calcium signals, monitoring ECGs, and analyzing neurotransmitter components and neuron destruction.
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the leading cause of death among epilepsy patients. However, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Seizure-induced respiratory arrest (S-IRA) is recognized as a main cause of SUDEP, but the contribution of other factors such as cardiac arrhythmias cannot be excluded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dorsal raphe nucleus (DR) and the pre-Bötzinger complex (PBC) may play an important role in regulating seizure-induced respiratory arrest (S-IRA), the main contributor to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. Here, we describe pharmacological, optogenetic, and retrograde labeling approaches to specifically modulate the DR to PBC serotonergic pathway. We detail steps for implanting optical fibers and viral infusion into DR and PBC regions and optogenetic techniques for exploring the role of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HT) neural circuit of DR-PBC in S-IRA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, poses a serious public health threat. Effective therapeutic and prophylactic treatments are urgently needed. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2, which binds to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
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