Dopamine dysfunction in stimulant use disorders: mechanistic comparisons and implications for treatment.

Dopamine system deficiencies and associated behavioral phenotypes may be a critical barrier to success in treating stimulant use disorders. Similarities in dopamine dysfunction between cocaine and methamphetamine use disorder but also key differences may impact treatment efficacy and outcome. This review will first compare the epidemiology of cocaine and methamphetamine use disorder.

Alcohol and oxytocin: Scrutinizing the relationship.

The initial enthusiasm towards oxytocin (OXT) as a potential treatment for alcohol use disorder has been recently tempered by recognizing existing gaps in literature and the recent appearance of a relatively small number of clinical studies with negative outcomes. On the other hand, several new studies continue to support the OXT system's potential for such treatment. In this review, we thoroughly analyze existing literature assessing both alcohol's effects on the OXT system and OXT's effects on alcohol-related behaviors.

Baseline brain function in the preadolescents of the ABCD Study.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is a 10-year longitudinal study of children recruited at ages 9 and 10. A battery of neuroimaging tasks are administered biennially to track neurodevelopment and identify individual differences in brain function. This study reports activation patterns from functional MRI (fMRI) tasks completed at baseline, which were designed to measure cognitive impulse control with a stop signal task (SST; N = 5,547), reward anticipation and receipt with a monetary incentive delay (MID) task (N = 6,657) and working memory and emotion reactivity with an emotional N-back (EN-back) task (N = 6,009).

Inhibition of CMP-sialic acid transport by endogenous 5-methyl CMP.

Nucleotide-sugar transporters (NSTs) transport nucleotide-sugar conjugates into the Golgi lumen where they are then used in the synthesis of glycans. We previously reported crystal structures of a mammalian NST, the CMP-sialic acid transporter (CST) (Ahuja and Whorton 2019). These structures elucidated many aspects of substrate recognition, selectivity, and transport; however, one fundamental unaddressed question is how the transport activity of NSTs might be physiologically regulated as a means to produce the vast diversity of observed glycan structures.

Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Blockade after Stroke Onset Protects Normal but Not Diabetic Mice.

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is abundant in the brain, is upregulated in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), and is possible mediator of ischemic injury via the breakdown of neuroprotective epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). Prophylactic, pre-ischemic sEH blockade with 4-[[-4-[[(tricyclo[3.3.

Systematic Review and Methodological Considerations for the Use of Single Prolonged Stress and Fear Extinction Retention in Rodents.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event that can lead to lifelong burden that increases mortality and adverse health outcomes. Yet, no new treatments have reached the market in two decades. Thus, screening potential interventions for PTSD is of high priority.

Electrocardiogram machine learning for detection of cardiovascular disease in African Americans: the Jackson Heart Study.

Aims: Almost half of African American (AA) men and women have cardiovascular disease (CVD). Detection of prevalent CVD in community settings would facilitate secondary prevention of CVD. We sought to develop a tool for automated CVD detection.

TRPM channels mediate learned pathogen avoidance following intestinal distention.

Upon exposure to harmful microorganisms, hosts engage in protective molecular and behavioral immune responses, both of which are ultimately regulated by the nervous system. Using the nematode , we show that ingestion of leads to a fast pathogen avoidance behavior that results in aversive learning. We have identified multiple sensory mechanisms involved in the regulation of avoidance of The G-protein coupled receptor NPR-1-dependent oxygen-sensing pathway opposes this avoidance behavior, while an ASE neuron-dependent pathway and an AWB and AWC neuron-dependent pathway are directly required for avoidance.

A socioecological framework for engaging substance-using pregnant persons in longitudinal research: Multi-stakeholder perspectives.

Objective: Understanding the impact of substance use during pregnancy on fetal development and child health is essential for designing effective approaches for reducing prenatal substance exposures and improving child outcomes. Research on the developmental impacts of prenatal substance exposure has been limited by legal, ethical, and practical challenges. This study examined approaches to engage substance-using (with an emphasis on opioids) pregnant persons in longitudinal research, from multi-stakeholder perspectives.

Effects of ethanol-and choline-treated astrocytes on hippocampal neuron neurite outgrowth in vitro.

Exposure to ethanol in utero can result in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, which may cause long-lasting cognitive and behavioral abnormalities. Preclinical studies indicate that choline ameliorates the behavioral effects of developmental alcohol exposure in rodents, and clinical studies on the effectiveness of choline, administered early in pregnancy, showed that the adverse effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure on postnatal growth, and cognition in human infants were mitigated. However, little is known on the mechanisms behind the effects of choline.

Extracellular ATP-Induced Alterations in Extracellular H Fluxes From Cultured Cortical and Hippocampal Astrocytes.

Small alterations in the level of extracellular H can profoundly alter neuronal activity throughout the nervous system. In this study, self-referencing H-selective microelectrodes were used to examine extracellular H fluxes from individual astrocytes. Activation of astrocytes cultured from mouse hippocampus and rat cortex with extracellular ATP produced a pronounced increase in extracellular H flux.

Effect of chronic ethanol consumption in rhesus macaques on the nucleus accumbens core transcriptome.

The nucleus accumbens core (NAcc) has been repeatedly demonstrated to be a key component of the circuitry associated with excessive ethanol consumption. Previous studies have illustrated that in a nonhuman primate (NHP) model of chronic ethanol consumption, there is significant epigenetic remodeling of the NAcc. In the current study, RNA-Seq was used to examine genome-wide gene expression in eight each of control, low/binge (LD*), and high/very high (HD*) rhesus macaque drinkers.

"It was just for us": qualitative evaluation of an exercise intervention for African-American couples.

Background: Promoting long-term exercise adherence should be a key focus for health and fitness professionals working to reduce obesity and cardiometabolic health disparities, and all-cause mortality in inactive African-American (AA) adults. Data have suggested that romantic partners can improve long-term exercise adherence and that this dyadic approach should be examined in exercise interventions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative evaluation of a pilot exercise intervention conducted in older AA couples.

The Updated Neuroradiology Milestones: Synapsing from 1.0 to 2.0.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education is currently in the process of specialty-by-specialty revision of the Milestones. As a result, the Neuroradiology Milestones 2.0 Workgroup was created to refine a system of competency-based assessments for fellow educational growth and development.

Case-Control Study of Nodding Syndrome in Acholiland: Urinary Multi-Mycotoxin Screening.

This case-control study adds to the growing body of knowledge on the medical, nutritional, and environmental factors associated with Nodding Syndrome (NS), a seizure disorder of children and adolescents in northern Uganda. Past research described a significant association between NS and prior history of measles infection, dependence on emergency food and, at head nodding onset, subsistence on moldy maize, which has the potential to harbor mycotoxins. We used LC-MS/MS to screen for current mycotoxin loads by evaluating nine analytes in urine samples from age-and-gender matched NS cases (n = 50) and Community Controls (CC, n = 50).

Role of endothelium-pericyte signaling in capillary blood flow response to neuronal activity.

Local blood flow in the brain is tightly coupled to metabolic demands, a phenomenon termed functional hyperemia. Both capillaries and arterioles contribute to the hyperemic response to neuronal activity via different mechanisms and timescales. The nature and specific signaling involved in the hyperemic response of capillaries versus arterioles, and their temporal relationship are not fully defined.

Screening for Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Importance: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that performs an important role in calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism and also affects many other cellular regulatory functions outside the skeletal system. Vitamin D requirements may vary by individual; thus, no one serum vitamin D level cutpoint defines deficiency, and no consensus exists regarding the precise serum levels of vitamin D that represent optimal health or sufficiency.

Objective: To update its 2014 recommendation, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a systematic review on screening for vitamin D deficiency, including the benefits and harms of screening and early treatment.

Neuroimaging markers of adolescent depression in the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study.

Background: Adolescents are at increased risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) than many other age groups. Although the neural correlates of MDD in adults have been studied prospectively, such adolescent depression studies are mainly cross-sectional. We extracted data regarding the relationship between cortical thickness and later development of adolescent MDD from a national community study that uses an accelerated longitudinal design to examine the psychological, environmental, and neural differences related to drinking and brain development.

Sex-specific 25-hydroxyvitamin D threshold concentrations for functional outcomes in older adults: PRoject on Optimal VItamin D in Older adults (PROVIDO).

Background: Threshold serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations for extraskeletal outcomes are uncertain and could differ from recommendations (20-30 ng/mL) for skeletal health.

Objectives: We aimed to identify and validate sex-specific threshold 25(OH)D concentrations for older adults' physical function.

Methods: Using 5 large prospective, population-based studies-Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik (n = 4858, Iceland); Health, Aging, and Body Composition (n = 2494, United States); Invecchiare in Chianti (n = 873, Italy); Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (n = 2301, United States); and Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (n = 5862, United States)-we assessed 16,388 community-dwelling adults (10,376 women, 6012 men) aged ≥65 y.

LC-MS/MS measurement of endogenous oxytocin in the posterior pituitary and CSF of macaques: A pilot study.

Oxytocin (OT) is a nanopeptide released into systemic circulation via the posterior pituitary (peripheral) and into the central nervous system via widespread OTergic pathways (central). Central OT plays a significant role in variety of functions from social and executive cognition to immune regulation. Many ongoing studies explore its therapeutic potential for variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.