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Topic Review
Biography
Peer Reviewed Entry
Video Entry
Topic Review
Structural Components of the Neurovascular Unit
Formulated as a group effort of the stroke community, the transforming concept of the neurovascular unit (NVU) depicts the structural and functional relationship between brain cells and the vascular structure. Composed of both neural and vascular elements, the NVU forms the blood–brain barrier that regulates cerebral blood flow to meet the oxygen demand of the brain in normal physiology and maintain brain homeostasis. Conversely, the dysregulation and dysfunction of the NVU is an essential pathological feature that underlies neurological disorders spanning from chronic neurodegeneration to acute cerebrovascular events such as ischemic stroke and cerebral hemorrhage.
2.0K
29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Mechanism of Action of Carnosine
Carnosine is a natural endogenous molecule that has been extensively studied during the last years due to its promising beneficial effects for human health. It presents multimodal mechanisms of action, being able to exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-aggregate activities, among others.
1.9K
11 May 2022
Topic Review
Arsenic Induced Neurotoxicity
Arsenic is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant widely distributed in the surrounding environmental compartments. Exposure to inorganic arsenic is known to cause major neurological effects such as cytotoxicity, chromosomal aberration, damage to cellular DNA and genotoxicity. On the other hand, long-term exposure to arsenic may cause neurobehavioral effects in the juvenile stage, which may have detrimental effects in the later stages of life. Thus, it is important to understand the toxicology and underlying molecular mechanism of arsenic which will help to mitigate its detrimental effects.
1.9K
11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Neuropsychology of Emotion and Emotion-Regulation
In classic neuropsychological terms, emotion regulation is a higher cortical function that depends on the concerted work of widespread cortical, subcortical, and deep subcortical brain areas. This suggests that we should not only consider the historically relevant question of hemispheric laterality, but also the contribution of specific cognitive skills and brain regions. Thus far, there is emerging evidence to support the link between particular emotion-regulation strategies (e.g., reappraisal and suppression) and well-known basic neuropsychological processes (e.g., inhibition and verbal fluency).
1.8K
04 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Electrodiffusion in Neuroscience and NPP-Equations
There are two main processes governing the ionic transport, i.e., diffusion—the particle motion caused by a gradient of concentration, and migration—motion of ions caused by a gradient of electrical potential. These two processes are referred to as electrodiffusion. Electrodiffusion of electrolytes serves as a mean for communication in the nervous system. It can directly affect the excitatory transmission in the synaptic cleft. Electrodiffusion maintains the local ions concentration in brain extracellular spaces at heathy levels but may be also involved in the propagation of epileptic seizures during pathological conditions. The accurate interpretation of physiological observations requires better understanding of the underlying electrodiffusion phenomena.The description of electrodiffusion is very often performed using the Nernst–Planck–Poisson (NPP) model. It has been acknowledged that the spatiotemporal dynamics of the ion concentrations in thin dendrites and dendritic spines of nerve cells follow the Nernst–Planck equation, and sub-membrane currents in neuronal membrane have already been successfully described using the NPP model.
1.8K
29 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Pathophysiology-Based Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability and death among children and young adults, with an incidence of approximately 1.7 million per year in the USA, resulting in 52,000 deaths. Survivors of the initial impact must still contend with the consequences of trauma, as not all injury occurs at the time of impact. The primary injury results from forces applied to the head and involve direct structural damage to the brain. This triggers a cascade of events leading to neurological damage that evolves secondary injury. Several external brain insults, both intracranial and systemic, may complicate and worsen the secondary injury.
1.7K
07 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Biological Theories of Dyslexia
The primary symptoms of dyslexia were first identified by Oswald Berkhan in 1881. The term dyslexia was coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin, an ophthalmologist practicing in Stuttgart, Germany . Since then generations of researchers have been investigating what dyslexia is and trying to identify the biological causes. The theories of the etiology of dyslexia have and are evolving with each new generation of dyslexia researchers, and the more recent theories of dyslexia tend to enhance one or more of the older theories as understanding of the nature of dyslexia evolves. Theories should not be viewed as competing, but as attempting to explain the underlying causes of a similar set of symptoms from a variety of research perspectives and background.
1.6K
09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Antioxidant Therapy in Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurodegenerative Diseases
Free radicals are formed as a part of normal metabolic activities but are neutralized by the endogenous antioxidants present in cells/tissue, thus maintaining the redox balance. This redox balance is disrupted in certain neuropathophysiological conditions, causing oxidative stress, which is implicated in several progressive neurodegenerative diseases. Following neuronal injury, secondary injury progression is also caused by excessive production of free radicals. Highly reactive free radicals, mainly the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), damage the cell membrane, proteins, and DNA, which triggers a self-propagating inflammatory cascade of degenerative events. Dysfunctional mitochondria under oxidative stress conditions are considered a key mediator in progressive neurodegeneration. Exogenous delivery of antioxidants holds promise to alleviate oxidative stress to regain the redox balance.
1.6K
24 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Sensory Neurons
Four sensory systems (vestibular, lateral line, electroreception, auditory) are unique and project exclusively to the brainstem of vertebrates. All sensory neurons depend on a common set of genes (Eya1, Sox2, Neurog1, Neurod1) that project to a dorsal nucleus and an intermediate nucleus, which differentiate into the vestibular ear, lateral line and electroreception in vertebrates.
1.6K
23 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Mechanisms of Hericium erinaceus in Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, and no effective treatments are available to treat this disorder. Hericium erinaceus (HE), also known as the monkey’s head mushroom, lion’s mane mushroom, or Yamabushitake, is commonly found in East Asia. It is well-known for its diverse therapeutic activities, including neuroprotection and neuroregeneration, which are attributed to its neurogenesis, antioxidative, and anti-neuroinflammatory functions. Therefore, researchers have been investigating HE as a possible treatment for AD.
1.6K
25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Ischemic Stroke Pathophysiology and Preclinical Models
Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death worldwide, mainly in western countries. So far, approved therapies rely mainly on reperfusion of the affected brain area, by intravenous thrombolysis or mechanical thrombectomy. The combination of pharmacological brain-protective strategies with reperfusion is the future of stroke therapy, aiming to reduce brain cell death and decrease patients’ disabilities. The success of new therapies relies on bringing preclinical studies and clinical practice close together. Recent upgrades of in vitro and in vivo stroke models for accurate and effective evaluation of therapeutic strategies are described.
1.6K
20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Rare Genetic Syndromes Associated with Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social and communicative skills, behavioral stereotypes, and sensory abnormalities. Its prevalence is one in 54 children, with the number of identified cases rising annually. Atypical sensory processing is one of the key characteristics of autistic people that can have a cascading influence on higher-level functions, such as language or social inference. Behaviorally, sensory abnormalities can present as hypo- and hyperresponsiveness (or hypo- and hyperreactivity). One of potential reasons for this multidirectional deficit is the high heterogeneity of idiopathic ASD (the form of autism where the biological cause of the disease is not identified).
1.6K
17 May 2022
Topic Review
Cofilin and Actin Dynamics
Proteins of the actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin family are ubiquitous among eukaryotes and are essential regulators of actin dynamics and function. Mammalian neurons express cofilin-1 as the major isoform, but ADF and cofilin-2 are also expressed. All isoforms bind preferentially and cooperatively along ADP-subunits in F-actin, affecting the filament helical rotation, and when either alone or when enhanced by other proteins, promotes filament severing and subunit turnover.
1.5K
25 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Antipsychotic-Induced Parkinsonism
Among neurological adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics (APs), drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is the most common motility disorder caused by drugs affecting dopamine receptors. One of the causes of DIP is the disruption of neurotransmitter interactions that regulate the signaling pathways of the dopaminergic, cholinergic, GABAergic, adenosinergic, endocannabinoid, and other neurotransmitter systems.
1.5K
26 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Tryptophan Metabolic Pathways in Migraine-Related Mechanisms
Migraine is a complex neurovascular disorder, which causes intense socioeconomic problems worldwide. The pathophysiology of disease is enigmatic; accordingly, therapy is not sufficient. Migraine research focused on tryptophan, which is metabolized via two main pathways, the serotonin and kynurenine pathways. Both produce neuroactive molecules that influence pain processing and stress response by disturbing neural and brain hypersensitivity and interacting with molecules that control vascular and inflammatory actions. Serotonin has a role in trigeminal pain processing, and melatonin, another product of this pathway, also has a role in these processes. One of the end products of the kynurenine pathway is kynurenic acid (KYNA), which can decrease the overexpression of migraine-related neuropeptides in experimental conditions. However, the ability of KYNA to cross the blood-brain barrier is minimal, necessitating the development of synthetic analogs with potentially better pharmacokinetic properties to exploit its therapeutic potential.
1.5K
05 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Peer Reviewed
Unveiling Neuromarketing and Its Research Methodology
Neuromarketing is the union of cognitive psychology, which studies mental processes, neurology and neurophysiology, which study the functioning and responses of the brain and body physiology to external stimuli, and marketing, which studies valuable exchanges, to explain marketing effects on customers’ and consumers’ behaviours and on buying and decision processes. It includes a set of research techniques that, by observing and evaluating how the brain and other body parts respond, avoids possible biases and provides truthful and objective information on consumer subconscious. The term “consumer neuroscience” covers academic approaches using techniques such as fMRI, Eye Tracking, or EED. The objectives of this entry are to show what neuromarketing is and what added value it brings to the study of consumer behaviour and purchase decision processes. The conclusions show a favourable future and positive attitudes towards neuromarketing.
1.5K
13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Obesity as A Cause of Cancer
Obesity is defined as the accumulation of an excessive amount of body fat. The correlation of obesity with increased cancer incidence and death has been well established.
1.5K
03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
The Genetic Architecture of SLD
Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is a multifactorial, neurodevelopmental disorder which may involve persistent difficulties in reading (dyslexia), written expression and/or mathematics. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with speed and accuracy of word reading, deficient decoding abilities, and poor spelling. Several studies from different, but complementary, scientific disciplines have investigated possible causal/risk factors for SLD. Biological, neurological, hereditary, cognitive, linguistic-phonological, developmental and environmental factors have been incriminated. Despite worldwide agreement that SLD is highly heritable, its exact biological basis remains elusive.
1.5K
09 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Curcumin as a Potential Neuroprotective Agent
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a slowly progressive multisystem disorder affecting dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), which is characterized by a decrease of dopamine (DA) in their striatal terminals. A crucial unmet demand in the management of Parkinson’s disease is the discovery of new approaches that could slow down, stop, or reverse the process of neurodegeneration. Novel potential treatments involving natural substances with neuroprotective activities are being developed. Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound isolated from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa (turmeric), and is considered a promising therapeutic and nutraceutical agent for the treatment of PD. However, molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate the pharmacological actions of curcumin remain largely unknown. Stimulation of nicotinic receptors and, more precisely, selective α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChR), have been found to play a major modulatory role in the immune system via the “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway”. Recently, α7-nAChR has been proposed to be a potential therapeutic approach in PD. In this review, the detailed mechanisms of the neuroprotective activities of curcumin as a potential therapeutic agent to help Parkinson’s patients are being discussed and elaborated on in detail.
1.5K
12 Nov 2021
Topic Review
BBSOAS Neurodevelopmental Disorder: Clinical Manifestations and Mouse Models
Bosch–Boonstra–Schaaf Optic Atrophy Syndrome (BBSOAS; OMIM 615722; ORPHA 401777) is a genetic neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by the haploinsufficiency of the NR2F1 gene, a key transcriptional regulator of brain and eye development. Although intellectual disability, developmental delay and visual impairment are arguably the most common symptoms affecting BBSOAS patients, multiple additional features are often reported, including epilepsy, autistic traits and hypotonia. These features can be present alone or as comorbidities, with a severity degree that presumably varies depending on the type of NR2F1 genetic perturbation, following a still not well characterized genotype–phenotype correlation. Pathogenic BBSOAS point mutations are principally located in the two most conserved functional domains of the NR2F1 protein: the DNA-binding domain (DBD), responsible for the interaction with target gene regulatory sequences, and the ligand-binding domain (LBD), necessary for dimerization and co-factor binding.
1.5K
27 Apr 2022
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