As the old adage goes: practice makes perfect. Yet, the neural mechanisms by which rote repetition transforms a halting behavior into a fluid, effortless, and "automatic" action are not well understood. Here we consider the possibility that well-practiced motor sequences, which initially rely on higher-level decision-making circuits, become wholly specified in lower-level control circuits. We review studies informing this idea, discuss the constraints on such shift in control, and suggest approaches to pinpoint circuit-level changes associated with motor sequence learning.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2022.102624 | DOI Listing |
BMC Med Genomics
January 2025
Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) lacks a specific biomarker, but is defined by relatively selective toxicity to motor neurons (MN). As others have highlighted, this offers an opportunity to develop a sensitive and specific biomarker based on detection of DNA released from dying MN within accessible biofluids. Here we have performed whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) of iPSC-derived MN from neurologically normal individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Neurodegener
January 2025
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Non-Human Primate Research, Key Laboratory of CNS Regeneration (Ministry of Education), School of Medicine, GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Background: HD is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the HTT. Silencing the expression of mutated proteins is a therapeutic direction to rescue HD patients, and recent advances in gene editing technology such as CRISPR/CasRx have opened up new avenues for therapeutic intervention.
Methods: The CRISPR/CasRx system was employed to target human HTT exon 1, resulting in an efficient knockdown of HTT mRNA.
Neurology
January 2025
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Background And Objectives: Rolandic epilepsy (RE), the most common childhood focal epilepsy syndrome, is characterized by a transient period of sleep-activated epileptiform activity in the centrotemporal regions and variable cognitive deficits. Sleep spindles are prominent thalamocortical brain oscillations during sleep that have been mechanistically linked to sleep-dependent memory consolidation in animal models and healthy controls. Sleep spindles are decreased in RE and related sleep-activated epileptic encephalopathies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unidade Local de Saúde de Lisboa Ocidental, Lisbon, PRT.
Chondrodysplasia punctata (CP) is a rare skeletal dysplasia characterized by punctate calcifications in areas of endochondral ossification, with Conradi-Hünermann-Happle syndrome (CDPX2) being the most common form. This study presents a clinical case of a 10-month-old female child, diagnosed with CDPX2 following a referral from a neonatology department of a secondary hospital center to a genetics consultation at a tertiary hospital center in Portugal. Despite normal prenatal monitoring, postnatal evaluations revealed typical manifestations of the syndrome, including nasomaxillary hypoplasia, macrocephaly, and skeletal abnormalities confirmed through imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y)
January 2025
Department of General Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China.
Background: Variants in the gene, encoding guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase, are associated with dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) and are considered risk factors for parkinson's disease.
Methods: Comprehensive neurological assessments documented motor and non-motor symptoms in a Chinese family affected by DRD. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was employed to identify potential mutations, with key variants confirmed by Sanger sequencing and analyzed for familial co-segregation.
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