Involvement of PPARγ in the Anticonvulsant Activity of EP-80317, a Ghrelin Receptor Antagonist.

Ghrelin, des-acyl ghrelin and other related peptides possess anticonvulsant activities. Although ghrelin and cognate peptides were shown to physiologically regulate only the ghrelin receptor, some of them were pharmacologically proved to activate the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) through stimulation of the scavenger receptor CD36 in macrophages. In our study, we challenged the hypothesis that PPARγ could be involved in the anticonvulsant effects of EP-80317, a ghrelin receptor antagonist.

Plant Polyphenols and Exendin-4 Prevent Hyperactivity and TNF-α Release in LPS-Treated Neuron/Astrocyte/Microglial Networks.

Increasing evidence supports a decisive role for neuroinflammation in the neurodegenerative process of several central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Microglia are essential mediators of neuroinflammation and can regulate a broad spectrum of cellular responses by releasing reactive oxygen intermediates, nitric oxide, proteases, excitatory amino acids, and cytokines. We have recently shown that also in cortical networks of neurons, astrocytes and microglia, an increased level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was detected a few hours after exposure to the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

How Game Location Affects Soccer Performance: T-Pattern Analysis of Attack Actions in Home and Away Matches.

The influence of game location on performance has been widely examined in sport contexts. Concerning soccer, game-location affects positively the secondary and tertiary level of performance; however, there are fewer evidences about its effect on game structure (primary level of performance). This study aimed to detect the effect of game location on a primary level of performance in soccer.

A QSTR-Based Expert System to Predict Sweetness of Molecules.

This work describes a novel approach based on advanced molecular similarity to predict the sweetness of chemicals. The proposed Quantitative Structure-Taste Relationship (QSTR) model is an expert system developed keeping in mind the five principles defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for the validation of (Q)SARs. The 649 sweet and non-sweet molecules were described by both conformation-independent extended-connectivity fingerprints (ECFPs) and molecular descriptors.

Spatial Alignment and Response Hand in Geometric and Motion Illusions.

Perception of visual illusions is susceptible to manipulation of their spatial properties. Further, illusions can sometimes affect visually guided actions, especially the movement planning phase. Remarkably, visual properties of objects related to actions, such as affordances, can prime more accurate perceptual judgements.

The Glare Effect Test and the Impact of Age on Luminosity Thresholds.

The glare effect (GE) is an illusion in which a white region appears self-luminous when surrounded by linearly decreasing luminance ramps. It has been shown that the magnitude of the luminosity effect can be modulated by manipulating the luminance range of the gradients. In the present study we tested the thresholds for the GE on two groups of adults: young (20-30 years old) and elderly (60-75 years old).

The What, the When, and the Whether of Intentional Action in the Brain: A Meta-Analytical Review.

In their attempt to define discrete subcomponents of intentionality, Brass and Haggard (2008) proposed their (-) which postulates that the content, the timing and the possibility of generating an action can be partially independent both at the cognitive level and at the level of their neural implementation. The original proposal was based on a limited number of studies, which were reviewed with a discursive approach. To assess whether the model stands in front of the more recently published data, we performed a systematic review of the literature with a meta-analytic method based on a hierarchical clustering (HC) algorithm.

Anatomical Modularity of Verbal Working Memory? Functional Anatomical Evidence from a Famous Patient with Short-Term Memory Deficits.

Cognitive skills are the emergent property of distributed neural networks. The distributed nature of these networks does not necessarily imply a lack of specialization of the individual brain structures involved. However, it remains questionable whether discrete aspects of high-level behavior might be the result of localized brain activity of individual nodes within such networks.

'The More We Stand For - The More We Fight For': Compatibility and Legitimacy in the Effects of Multiple Social Identities.

This paper explores the expression of multiple social identities through coordinated collective action. We propose that perceived compatibility between potentially contrasting identities and perceived legitimacy of protest serve as catalysts for collective action. The present paper maps the context of the "Euromaidan" anti-regime protests in Ukraine and reports data ( = 996) collected through an online survey following legislation to ban protests (March-May, 2014).

Embodied Medicine: Mens Sana in Corpore Virtuale Sano.

Progress in medical science and technology drastically improved physicians' ability to interact with patient's physical body. Nevertheless, medicine still addresses the human body from a Hippocratic point of view, considering the organism and its processes just as a matter of mechanics and fluids. However, the interaction between the cognitive neuroscience of bodily self-consciousness (BSC), fundamentally rooted in the integration of multisensory bodily inputs, with virtual reality (VR), haptic technologies and robotics is giving a new meaning to the classic Juvenal's latin dictum "" (a healthy mind in a healthy body).

Social Threat and Motor Resonance: When a Menacing Outgroup Delays Motor Response.

Motor resonance (MR) involves the activation of matching motor representations while observing others' actions. Recent research has shown that such a phenomenon is likely to be influenced by higher order variables such as social factors (e.g.

Competition between Visual Events Modulates the Influence of Salience during Free-Viewing of Naturalistic Videos.

In daily life the brain is exposed to a large amount of external signals that compete for processing resources. The attentional system can select relevant information based on many possible combinations of goal-directed and stimulus-driven control signals. Here, we investigate the behavioral and physiological effects of competition between distinctive visual events during free-viewing of naturalistic videos.

Melodic Priming of Motor Sequence Performance: The Role of the Dorsal Premotor Cortex.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to specific auditory sequences leads to the induction of new motor memories and to investigate the role of the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) in this crossmodal learning process. Fifty-two young healthy non-musicians were familiarized with the sound to key-press mapping on a computer keyboard and tested on their baseline motor performance. Each participant received subsequently either continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) or sham stimulation over the dPMC and was then asked to remember a 12-note melody without moving.

Corrigendum: Crossmodal illusions in neurorehabilitation.

[This corrects the article on p. 212 in vol. 9, PMID: 26321933.