Perceptual Speed and IQ Are Associated Through Common Genetic Factors

Individual differences in inspection time explain about 20% of IQ test variance. To determine whether the association between inspection time and IQ is mediated by common genes or by a common environmental factor, inspection time and IQ were assessed in an extended twin design. Data from 688 participants from 271 families were collected as part of a large ongoing project on the genetics of adult brain function and cognition. The sample consisted of a young adult cohort (mean age 26.2 years) and an older adult cohort (mean age 50.4 years). IQ was assessed with the Dutch version of the WAIS-3R. Inspection time was measured in the so-called -paradigm, in which a subject is asked to decide which leg of the -figure is longest at varying display times of the -figure. The number of correct inspections per second (i.e., the reciprocal of inspection time) was used to index perceptual speed. For Verbal IQ and Performance IQ, heritabilities were 85% and 69%, respectively. For perceptual speed, 46% of the total variance was explained by genetic variance. No differences in heritability estimates across age cohorts or sexes were found. Across the whole sample, a significant phenotypic correlation was found between perceptual speed and Verbal IQ (0.19) and between perceptual speed and Performance IQ (0.27). These correlations were entirely due to a common genetic factor that accounted for 10% of the genetic variance in verbal IQ and for 22% of the genetic variance in performance IQ. This factor is hypothesized to reflect the influence of genetic factors that determine axonal myelination in the central nervous system.     

神经生长因子对穹窿海马伞切割后海马自体神经干细胞增殖和向神经元分化的影响

目的 探讨切割穹窿海马伞及脑室给予神经生长因子(NGF)后,对大鼠海马自体神经干细胞增殖和分化为神经元的影响.方法 12只SD大鼠,随机分成给药组和对照组,每组6只,切割右侧穹窿海马伞,两组切割后即时及第2d、4d向侧脑室分别注射NGF和人工脑脊液, 并在术后第3～7d每日腹腔注射2次BrdU.于术后28d灌注取脑、冷冻切片,行BrdU/NF-200免疫荧光双标检测.结果 海马齿状回内BrdU阳性细胞数,给药组和对照组切割侧明显多于正常侧,给药组切割侧和正常侧分别多于对照组切割侧和正常侧;海马齿状回内的BrdU/NF-200双标神经元数,给药组切割侧最多,给药组正常侧和对照组切割侧较少,而对照组正常侧则无.结论 切割穹窿海马伞后,可致大鼠海马齿状回自体神经干细胞增殖加快并向神经元分化,脑室施加 NGF可促进其增殖和分化.     

一种EEG信号盲分离和分类的神经网络方法

提出一种采用多神经网络处理脑电(EEG)信号的方法。首先，对混有噪声的脑电信号给出一种盲分离的自适应神经算法。通过寻求采样时间序列线性组合的kurtosis系数的局部极值，得出该算法的模型和步骤。在盲分离的基础上，对分离出的估计信号进一步利用Kohonen网络进行分类。将该算法用于300个EEG样本处理，并给出处理结果。     

Chronic morphine treatment increases the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule in the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord

It is well known that prolonged exposure to morphine results in tolerance to morphine-induced antinociception. In the present study, we found that mice that were tolerant to morphine-induced antinociception exhibited an increase in immunoreactivity for the neural cell adhesion molecule in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, which was highly overlapped with immunoreactivity for the increased metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 induced by morphine. These findings support the idea that repeated stimulation of μ-opioid receptors increases the expression of neural cell adhesion molecule and metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. This phenomenon leads to the enhanced excitatory synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, and in turn suppresses the morphine-induced antinociception.     

The formation of mesoderm and mesectoderm in 5- to 41-somite rat embryos cultured in vitro, using WGA-Au as a marker

Summary The formation of mesectodermal cells by the neural crest in 5- to 41-somite stage embryos was investigated experimentally in rat embryos cultured in vitro, using lectincoated colloidal gold as a probe. This method labelled all ectodermal cells, among them neural crest, surface ectodermal placodal and epiblastic (primitive streak) cells. The neural crest provides the mesodermal compartment of the entire head region with cells, including the primitive cranial ganglia and the branchial arches. In the head region migration of neural crest cells over a great distance (long-distance migration) was not observed. In the trunk region neural crest derived cells were mainly found to form the primitive spinal ganglia and the sympathetic trunk, once again without long-distance cell migration. Structures and tissues that supposedly were derived from the primitive streak were hardly labelled with colloidal gold. Surface ectodermal placodes were not only found at the expected sites (e.g. epibranchial placodes) but also in the ectoderm covering the transverse septum and lateral abdominal walls.     

Afferent axons and their relations with neurons in the nucleus lateralis of the cerebellum: A light microscopic study

Summary The axons of Purkinje cells are the sole corticonuclear afferents to the lateral nucleus. The terminal arborizations of these axons consist of many (30–50) varicose branchlets, which issue from a thick, myelinated parent axon. Each terminal plexus fills a conical field which penetrates the lateral nucleus radially encompassing the cell bodies and parts of the dendritic trees of approximately 40 neurons. The fields of neighboring Purkinje axons overlap considerably. The non-cortical axons are simple, usally unbranched varicose fibers of three sizes: (1) thick, with large varicosities, (2) medium sized with smaller varicosities, or (3) fine, delicate threads with beadlike varicosities. These axons cross the dendritic trees of successive neurons as they penetrate into the nucleus in a radial fashion.The configuration of the dendritic trees of neurons in the various parts of the nucleus—the multipolar neurons and the columnar neurons—can be related to the conical shape of the Purkinje axonal plexus. It is suggested that the organization of converging Purkinje cell axonal fields determines the pattern of input to the cells of the lateral nucleus, rather than the topographical arrangement of Purkinje cells in the cortex. The terminal arborizations of Purkinje cell axons adjacent to one another in the lateral nucleus need not necessarily arise from neighboring Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex.The relationships between neurons in the central columnar zone and in the swirled zones of the lateral nucleus with the two classes of afferents are discussed. It is suggested that by virtue of their slender profiles, each of the large columnar neurons falls into the field of one Purkinje cell axonal cone whereas elsewhere, the multipolar neurons tend to share their well spread dendrites with neighboring Purkinje axonal fields. The small neurons that span columns in the central zone are oriented to sample larger numbers of axonal inputs than are adjacent columnar neurons.Supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grants NS10536, NS03659, Training Grant NS 05591 from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, and a William F. Milton Fund Award from Harvard University.     

Fibre type specific expression of Leu19-antigen and N-CAM in skeletal muscle in various stages after experimental denervation

Leu-19 antigen, which seems to be identical with neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM), plays a major role in the innervation of muscle cells, and in adult muscle appears after denervation and during regeneration of muscle fibres, where it acts as part of a signalling system increasing the probability of re-innervation. This combined enzyme-histochemical and immunohistochemical study examined whether this signalling process was regulated in a uniform or differential pattern for type 1 and type 2 muscle fibres. The subscapular nerve of 18 rabbits was transsected with subsequent complete denervation of the supraspinatus muscle. Leu19 and N-CAM immunohistochemistry was performed 2 to 64 days after surgery. Whereas in normal muscle there are virtually no Leu-19/N-CAM positive muscle fibres; from day 2 after denervation an increasing proportion of fibres expressed Leu-19/N-CAM, prior to any neurogenic atrophy. In the early stage of denervation Leul9/N-CAM expression was confined to type 1 fibres. After 11 days nearly all fibres were Leul9/N-CAM positive irrespective of their fibre type. Sixty-four days after denervation type 1 fibres became Leu19/N-CAM negative, while atrophic type 2 fibres showed intensive staining. Thus, expression of Leu-19 antigenity is differently regulated in both fibre types.     

Spatial learning and memory following fimbria-fornix transection and grafting of fetal septal neurons to the hippocampus

Summary The ability of intrahippocampal grafts of fetal septal-diagonal band tissue, rich in developing cholinergic neurons, to ameliorate cognitive impairments induced by bilateral fimbria-fornix transections in rats was examined in three experiments using the Morris water-maze to test different aspects of spatial memory. Experiment 1. Rats with fimbria-fornix lesions received either septal cell suspension grafts or solid septal grafts; normal rats and rats with lesions alone were used as controls. Sixteen weeks after surgery, the rats' spatial learning and memory were tested in the water-maze using a place test, designed to investigate place navigation performance, in which rats learned to escape from the water by swimming to a platform hidden beneath the water's surface. After 5 days of training, the rats were given a spatial probe test in which the platform was removed from the tank to test spatial reference memory. Experiment 2. The same rats used in Exp. 1 were tested in a delayed-match-to-sample, working memory version of the water-maze task. The platform was located in one of two possible locations during each trial, which was composed of 2 swims. If the rat remembered the location of the platform on the 2nd swim of a trial, it should find the platform more quickly on that swim, and thereby demonstrate working memory. Experiment 3. Prior to receiving fimbria-fornix lesions, normal rats were trained in a modification of the water-maze task using alternating cue navigation and place navigation trials (i.e., with visible or non-visible escape platforms). The retention and reacquisition of the place task and the spatial probe test were examined in repeated tests up to 6 months after the lesion and intrahippocampal grafting of septal cell suspensions. The effects of central muscarinic cholinergic receptor blockade with atropine were also tested. Normal rats performed well in both the place and spatial probe tests. In contrast, rats with fimbria-fornix lesions only were unable to acquire or retain spatial information in any test. Instead, these rats adopted a random, nonspatial search strategy, whereby their latencies to find the platform decreased in the place navigation tasks. Sixty to 80% of the rats with septal suspension or solid grafts had recovered place navigation, i.e., the ability to locate the platform site in the tank, in Exp. 1 and 3, and they showed a significantly improved performance in the working memory test in Exp. 2. Atropine abolished the recovered place navigation in the grafted rats, whereas normal rats were impaired to a lesser extent. In contrast, atropine had no effect on the non-spatial strategy adopted by rats with fimbria-fornix lesions only. The results show that: (1) fimbria-fornix lesions disrupt spatial learning and memory in both naive and pretrained rats; (2) with extended training the fimbria-fornix lesioned rats develop an efficient non-spatial strategy, which enables them to reduce their escape latency to levels close to those of intact controls; (3) intrahippocampal septal grafts can restore the ability of the lesioned rats to use spatial cues in the localization of the platform site; and (4) the behavioural recovery produced by grafts is dependent upon an atropine sensitive mechanism.     

Cadherins in the central nervous system

The central nervous system (CNS) is divided into diverse embryological and functional compartments. The early embryonic CNS consists of a series of transverse subdivisions (neuromeres) and longitudinal domains. These embryonic subdivisions represent histogenetic fields in which neurons are born and aggregate in distinct cell groups (brain nuclei and layers). Different subsets of these aggregates become selectively connected by nerve fiber tracts and, finally, by synapses, thus forming the neural circuits of the functional systems in the CNS. Recent work has shown that 30 or more members of the cadherin family of morphoregulatory molecules are differentially expressed in the developing and mature brain at almost all stages of development. In a regionally specific fashion, most cadherins studied to date are expressed by the embryonic subdivisions of the early embryonic brain, by developing brain nuclei, cortical layers and regions, and by fiber tracts, neural circuits and synapses. Each cadherin shows a unique expression pattern that is distinct from that of other cadherins. Experimental evidence suggests that cadherins contribute to CNS regionalization, morphogenesis and fiber tract formation, possibly by conferring preferentially homotypic adhesiveness (or other types of interactions) between the diverse structural elements of the CNS. Cadherin-mediated adhesive specificity may thus provide a molecular code for early embryonic CNS regionalization as well as for the development and maintenance of functional structures in the CNS, from embryonic subdivisions to brain nuclei, cortical layers and neural circuits, down to the level of individual synapses.     

绿色荧光蛋白、菲立磁体外双标记神经干细胞及其活性的研究

目的探索用绿色荧光蛋白(green fluorescent protein,GFP)重组逆转录病毒和菲立磁(超顺磁性氧化铁,,Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide,SPIO)体外双标记神经干细胞的可行性及其对细胞活力的影响。方法用病毒介导的GFP基因转导大鼠胚胎神经干细胞。用SPIO和Lipofectamine体外磁化标记经GFP标记的胚胎神经干细胞。用荧光显微镜观察双标记神经干细胞,并行普鲁士蓝染色,了解转染成功率。MTT(四甲基偶氮唑蓝)法检测标记神经干细胞的细胞增殖活力。结果双标记神经干细胞分化的细胞荧光显微镜下观察见发出绿色荧光,普鲁士蓝染色呈阳性。而未标记神经干细胞荧光显微镜下观察未见发出绿色荧光,普鲁士蓝染色呈阴性。MTT法检测发现GFP和SPIO双标记神经干细胞的增殖活力与未标记神经干细胞相比无改变。结论绿色荧光蛋白重组逆转录病毒和菲立磁可以有效地标记体外分离培养的大鼠胚胎神经干细胞。双标记神经干细胞的增殖、分化活力与未标记神经干细胞相比无改变。