Adolescent and adult rat cortical protein kinase A display divergent responses to acute ethanol exposure.

Adolescent rats display reduced sensitivity to many dysphoria-related effects of alcohol (ethanol) including motor ataxia and sedative hypnosis, but the underlying neurobiological factors that contribute to these differences remain unknown. The cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) pathway, particularly the type II regulatory subunit (RII), has been implicated in ethanol-induced molecular and behavioral responses in adults. Therefore, the current study examined cerebral cortical PKA in adolescent and adult ethanol responses.

Overexpression of the steroidogenic enzyme cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage in the ventral tegmental area increases 3α,5α-THP and reduces long-term operant ethanol self-administration.

Neuroactive steroids are endogenous neuromodulators capable of altering neuronal activity and behavior. In rodents, systemic administration of endogenous or synthetic neuroactive steroids reduces ethanol self-administration. We hypothesized this effect arises from actions within mesolimbic brain regions that we targeted by viral gene delivery.

Agenesis of the corpus callosum: symptoms consistent with developmental disability in two siblings.

Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is a congenital disorder that disrupts the development of neurological structures connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain. In addition to neurological symptoms, many individuals with AgCC demonstrate marked deficits in social, communication, and adaptive skills. This paper presents two case studies of congenital AgCC in siblings with socioemotional and behavioral symptoms consistent with developmental disability, but with notably different symptom presentations and clinical needs.

Examining the efficacy of a personalized normative feedback intervention to reduce college student gambling.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a stand-alone personalized normative feedback (PNF) intervention targeting misperceptions of gambling among college students.

Participants: Undergraduates (N = 136; 55% male) who reported gambling in the past 30 days were recruited between September 2011 and March 2012.

Methods: Using a randomized clinical trial design, participants were assigned to receive either PNF or an attention control task.

Differential cortical neurotrophin and cytogenetic adaptation after voluntary exercise in normal and amnestic rats.

Voluntary exercise (VEx) has profound effects on neural and behavioral plasticity, including recovery of CNS trauma and disease. However, the unique regional cortical adaption to VEx has not been elucidated. In a series of experiments, we first examined whether VEx would restore and retain neurotrophin levels in several cortical regions (frontal cortex [FC], retrosplenial cortex [RSC], occipital cortex [OC]) in an animal model (pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency [PTD]) of the amnestic disorder Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.

Critical involvement of the motor cortex in the pathophysiology and treatment of Parkinson's disease.

This review examines the involvement of the motor cortex in Parkinson's disease (PD), a debilitating movement disorder typified by degeneration of dopamine cells of the substantia nigra. While much of PD research has focused on the caudate/putamen, many aspects of motor cortex function are abnormal in PD patients and in animal models of PD, implicating motor cortex involvement in disease symptoms and their treatment. Herein, we discuss several lines of evidence to support this hypothesis.

Effects of 5-HT1A receptor stimulation on striatal and cortical M1 pERK induction by L-DOPA and a D1 receptor agonist in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.

Motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease are commonly treated using l-DOPA although long-term treatment usually causes debilitating motor side effects including dyskinesias. A putative source of dyskinesia is abnormally high levels of phosphorylated extracellular-regulated kinase (pERK) within the striatum. In animal models, the serotonin 1A receptor agonist ±8-OH-DPAT reduces dyskinesia, suggesting it may exhibit efficacy through the pERK pathway.

Early hominin auditory ossicles from South Africa.

The middle ear ossicles are only rarely preserved in fossil hominins. Here, we report the discovery of a complete ossicular chain (malleus, incus, and stapes) of Paranthropus robustus as well as additional ear ossicles from Australopithecus africanus. The malleus in both early hominin taxa is clearly human-like in the proportions of the manubrium and corpus, whereas the incus and stapes resemble African and Asian great apes more closely.

Caregiver perspectives on unintentional injury risk in children with an autism spectrum disorder.

Unintentional injury risk research for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently limited. This article presents findings from a two-phase investigation of caregiver perspectives regarding unintentional injury risk in children with an ASD. Results indicate that children with an ASD exhibit elevated rates of risk-taking behaviors compared with peers, which increases the likelihood of more frequent and severe injuries.

Maternal programming of reproductive function and behavior in the female rat.

Parental investment can be used as a forecast for the environmental conditions in which offspring will develop to adulthood. In the rat, maternal behavior is transmitted to the next generation through epigenetic modifications such as methylation and histone acetylation, resulting in variations in estrogen receptor alpha expression. Natural variations in maternal care also influence the sexual strategy adult females will adopt later in life.

Enhancement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis but not cytokine responses to stress challenges imposed during withdrawal from acute alcohol exposure in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Rationale: Alcohol withdrawal is associated with reduced activity, increased anxiety, and other signs of distress.

Objective: The goal of the current studies was to determine whether acute ethanol exposure would alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity and cytokine responses to stress challenges imposed during the withdrawal period.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intubated with 4 g/kg of ethanol to simulate acute binge-like ethanol intake.

Local modulation of striatal glutamate efflux by serotonin 1A receptor stimulation in dyskinetic, hemiparkinsonian rats.

Serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT(1A)R) agonists reduce both L-DOPA- and D1 receptor (D1R) agonist-mediated dyskinesia, but their anti-dyskinetic mechanism of action is not fully understood. Given that 5-HT(1A)R stimulation reduces glutamatergic neurotransmission in the dopamine-depleted striatum, 5-HT(1A)R agonists may diminish dyskinesia in part through modulation of pro-dyskinetic striatal glutamate levels. To test this, rats with unilateral medial forebrain bundle dopamine or sham lesions were primed with L-DOPA (12 mg/kg+benserazide, 15 mg/kg, sc) or the D1R agonist SKF81297 (0.

Site-specific microinjection of baclofen into the anterior ventral tegmental area reduces binge-like ethanol intake in male C57BL/6J mice.

The GABAB agonist baclofen has been shown to alter ethanol intake in human and animal studies (E. M. Moore et al.

Blocking GABA-A receptors in the medial septum enhances hippocampal acetylcholine release and behavior in a rat model of diencephalic amnesia.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), a form of diencephalic amnesia caused by thiamine deficiency, results in severe anterograde memory loss. Pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (PTD), an animal model of WKS, produces cholinergic abnormalities including decreased functional hippocampal acetylcholine (ACh) release and poor spatial memory. Increasing hippocampal ACh levels has increased performance in PTD animals.

Infantile sensitivity to ethanol's motivational effects: Ethanol reinforcement during the third postnatal week.

Background: Although tests specific to newborn rats have frequently verified their susceptibility to the reinforcing properties of ethanol, demonstration of comparable reinforcing effects in older infants has been elusive. Using a second-order conditioning procedure, the present study assessed in preweanling rats whether pairing with early postabsorptive effects of ethanol would render intraorally delivered gustatory stimuli capable of positive reinforcement for association with a salient texture. Direct reinforcing effects of ethanol were also evaluated through intake tests of gustatory stimuli previously paired with the drug.

Effect of nighttime temperature on tomato plant defensive chemistry.

Given that the amplitude of diurnal temperature fluctuations has been decreasing, mainly via warmer night temperatures, we examined the effects of nighttime temperature on concentration of the catecholic phenolics chlorogenic acid and rutin in tomato plants. A two-factor design, with carbon dioxide (350 ppm and 700 ppm) and nighttime temperature (14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 degrees C, with a 26 degrees C daytime temperature) was used. Compared to the lower carbon dioxide level, for whole plants the concentration of phenolics was lower at the higher carbon dioxide level, but patterns for plant parts differed.

Brain size and encephalization in early to Mid-Pleistocene Homo.

Important changes in the brain have occurred during the course of human evolution. Both absolute and relative size increases can be documented for species of Homo, culminating in the appearance of modern humans. One species that is particularly well-represented by fossil crania is Homo erectus.

Reinforcement from pharmacological effects of ethanol in newborn rats.

Background: The preweanling period in the rat is characterized by acceptance of substantial amounts of ethanol and susceptibility to its reinforcing effects. It has been unclear, however, whether the neurobiological basis of ethanol reinforcement properties at this age is in ethanol's olfactory, gustatory, or pharmacological effects.

Methods: The effectiveness of intraperitoneal (ip) ethanol as a reinforcer for newborn (3-hr-old) rats was tested toward separation of the orosensory and pharmacological sources of ethanol reinforcement.