Publications by authors named "Zheng-Yi Luo"
Article Synopsis
- Many teenagers are struggling with depression, and it keeps coming back even when they become adults, so it’s important to find ways to diagnose it better.
- The study tested 204 people, comparing healthy teens with those who just started experiencing depression, using special lab tests to find chemicals called non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA).
- The results showed that certain NEFAs were much lower in depressed teens and could help doctors spot depression earlier, but more research is needed to confirm these findings and include different groups.
Article Synopsis
- * Research utilizing advanced techniques like AFADESI-mass spectrometry imaging has identified significant metabolic changes, particularly in glycerophospholipid and sphingolipid pathways, after esketamine injections.
- * Understanding the spatial distribution of these metabolic changes could enhance knowledge of ketamine's mechanisms and improve its clinical application for depression.
Background: Depression is the most common mental illness. Mounting evidence suggests that dysregulation of extracellular ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is involved in the pathophysiology of depression. However, the cellular and neural circuit mechanisms through which ATP modulates depressive-like behavior remain elusive.
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- * The study highlights the role of parvalbumin (PV) neuronal networks and neuregulin 1-ErbB4 signaling in the mPFC’s plasticity and fear extinction in adult male mice.
- * Findings suggest that the configuration of these PV networks influences how certain neurons regulate fear extinction, opening up potential new therapies for fear disorders.
Thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is a group of inhibitory neurons surrounding the thalamus. Due to its important role in sensory information processing, TRN is considered as the target nucleus for the pathophysiological investigation of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of acoustic startle response, a phenomenon that strong stimulus-induced startle reflex is reduced by a weaker prestimulus, is always found impaired in schizophrenia and ASD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExposure to social stress and dysregulated serotonergic neurotransmission have both been implicated in the etiology of psychiatric disorders. However, the serotonergic circuit involved in stress vulnerability is still unknown. Here, we explored whether a serotonergic input from the dorsal raphe (DR) to ventral tegmental area (VTA) influences vulnerability to social stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder, and the effective pharmacological treatments for the core autistic symptoms are currently limited. Increasing evidence, particularly that from clinical studies on ASD patients, suggests a functional link between the gut microbiota and the development of ASD. However, the mechanisms linking the gut microbiota with brain dysfunctions (gut-brain axis) in ASD have not yet been full elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric diseases, affecting 28% of people worldwide within their lifetime. The excitation-inhibition imbalance in the amygdala is thought to be an underlying pathological mechanism; however, the cellular and molecular control of amygdala excitation-inhibition balance is largely unknown.
Methods: By using mice expressing chemogenetic activator or inhibitor channel in amygdala parvalbumin (PV) neurons, Erbin mutant mice, and mice with Erbin specifically knocked down in amygdala PV neurons, we systematically investigated the role of amygdala PV neurons and Erbin expressed therein in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders using the combined approaches of immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology, and behavior.
Article Synopsis
- * A study found that adolescent mice developed anxiety symptoms after 2 weeks of social isolation, which was linked to increased levels of mGluR5 protein in the brain.
- * Treatments that block mGluR5, like MPEP, helped reduce anxiety behaviors and normalize neuronal activity in the amygdala, highlighting a crucial period where social isolation affects mental health.
Article Synopsis
- * In a study with mice, isolated individuals displayed increased anxiety, reduced social interaction, and showed a persistent retention of fear memories.
- * The research indicated that isolated mice had abnormal hippocampal responses and increased levels of BDNF, suggesting potential pathways for addressing mental health issues linked to experiences of isolation.
Enhanced excitability in the infralimbic cortex produces anxiety-like behaviors.
Neuropharmacology
September 2013
Article Synopsis
- The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is important for controlling anxiety, but it's not clear how certain chemical signals in a specific part of it (the infralimbic or IL cortex) affect anxiety behaviors.
- Experiments showed that activating the IL cortex made mice less likely to explore and more anxious, while turning it off made them less anxious.
- Differences in brain activity were found between anxious and less anxious mice, suggesting that an imbalance in chemical signals might be a reason why some mice experience more anxiety than others.
[Pathological features of atrial isomerism and its diagnosis by computed tomography].
Di Yi Jun Yi Da Xue Xue Bao
September 2002
Objective: To study the diagnostic significance of computed tomography (CT) in atrial isomerism.
Method: In one of the 2 cases of left atrial isomerism, abdominal CT scan with and without contrast enhancement were both performed, the other had plain thoraco-abdominal CT scan, and another case of right atrial isomerism received thoraco-abdominal contrast enhanced scan and thin-slice scan of the trachea. The diagnoses of all the 3 cases were surgically and pathologically confirmed.