Ipsilateral cortical connections of motor, premotor, frontal eye, and posterior parietal fields in a prosimian primate, Otolemur garnetti

The ipsilateral connections of motor areas of galagos were determined by injecting tracers into primary motor cortex (M1), dorsal premotor area (PMD), ventral premotor area (PMV), supplementary motor area (SMA), and frontal eye field (FEF). Other injections were placed in frontal cortex and in posterior parietal cortex to define the connections of motor areas further. Intracortical microstimulation was used to identify injection sites and map motor areas in the same cases. The major connections of M1 were with premotor cortex, SMA, cingulate motor cortex, somatosensory areas 3a and 1, and the rostral half of posterior parietal cortex. Less dense connections were with the second (S2) and parietal ventral (PV) somatosensory areas. Injections in PMD labeled neurons across a mediolateral belt of posterior parietal cortex extending from the medial wall to lateral to the intraparietal sulcus. Other inputs came from SMA, M1, PMV, and adjoining frontal cortex. PMV injections labeled neurons across a large zone of posterior parietal cortex, overlapping the region projecting to PMD but centered more laterally. Other connections were with M1, PMD, and frontal cortex and sparsely with somatosensory areas 3a, 1-2, S2, and PV. SMA connections were with medial posterior parietal cortex, cingulate motor cortex, PMD, and PMV. An FEF injection labeled neurons in the intraparietal sulcus. Injections in posterior parietal cortex revealed that the rostral half receives somatosensory inputs, whereas the caudal half receives visual inputs. Thus, posterior parietal cortex links visual and somatosensory areas with motor fields of frontal cortex.     

Is the cutoff to define remission on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression too high?

The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) is the most frequently used measure of outcome in antidepressant efficacy trials. More than a decade ago, a consensus panel recommended that remission be defined on the 17-item version of the HRSD as a cutoff 相似文献   

Effects of CP 154,526, a CRF1 receptor antagonist, on behavioral responses to cocaine in rats

We examined the influence of CP 154,526, a selective antagonist of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)1 receptors, in the locomotor, sensitizing, discriminative stimulus and rewarding effects of cocaine, as well as on the cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in male Wistar rats. CP 154,526 in doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, which did not affect basal locomotor activity, dose-dependently reduced the hyperactivation evoked by cocaine. To assess the effects of CP 154,526 on the expression of cocaine sensitization, the rats were injected with either saline or cocaine (10 mg/kg) for 5 days, and were then challenged with cocaine (10 mg/kg) after pretreatment with saline or CP 154,526 on day 5 of withdrawal. The cocaine-induced hyperactivity in sensitized rats was reduced by CP 154,526 (10 and 20 mg/kg). In rats trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg) from saline, pretreatment with CP 154,526 (5-20 mg/kg) did not affect the cocaine (1.25-10 mg/kg)-induced discriminative stimulus effects. In a self-administration model, the rats were trained to self-administer cocaine (0.5 mg/kg/infusion) in the FR 5 schedule of reinforcement. Administration of CP 154,526 (10-20 mg/kg) did not alter the rewarding effects of cocaine, assessed as the number of active-lever presses and infusions; however, following a 10-day extinction phase, CP 154,526 (5-20 mg/kg) significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner the cocaine (10 mg/kg) priming-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. The present study implies that CRF1 receptors control the expression of cocaine hyperactivation and sensitization as well as the cocaine-induced relapse behavior, but do not play any role in cocaine discrimination and self-administration. These findings may suggest that CRF1 receptor antagonists should be considered as possible medications in the treatment of cocaine addiction.     

Neutrophil-specific chemokines are produced by astrocytic cells but not by neuronal cells

BACKGROUND: Neutrophils have a central role in the inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS). ELR chemokines direct neutrophil migration, but the source of chemokines in the CNS is unclear. We quantified chemokine production using cell-line models of astrocytic and neuronal cells, specifically NT2.N cells, a human line with characteristics of immature neurons, and NT2.A cells, a line with characteristics of astrocytes. OBJECTIVE: In NT2.N and NT2.A cells, and their parent cell line NT2, we sought to: (1) quantify ELR chemokines, (2) determine receptor (CXCR-1 and CXCR-2) expression, and (3) measure the function of the chemokines generated from these cells. DESIGN/METHODS: NT2 cells were differentiated into NT2.N cells and NT2.A cells with all trans retinoic acid and mitosis inhibitors. Chemokine concentrations in culture supernatants were determined by ELISA. Immunofluorescence was used to detect CXCR-1 and CXCR-2. RT-PCR was used to determine chemokine and chemokine receptor mRNA. Chemotaxis assays were used to assess function. RESULTS: ELR chemokines were not detected in supernatants of NT2 or NT2.N cells, although mRNA for GRO-gamma/CXCL3 was found in both. In contrast, in NT2.A cells, mRNA and protein were present for GCP-2/CXCL6, GRO-alpha/CXCL1, GRO-gamma/CXCL3, and IL-8/CXCL8. CXCR-1 and CXCR-2 were expressed on NT2, NT2.N, and NT2.A cells detected by immunofluorescent staining and RT-PCR. Supernatants of NT2.A cells resulted in neutrophil chemotactic function of 30.5 +/- 3.9%, greater than NT2 cells (12.3 +/- 1.6%, mean +/- SEM, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We speculate that astrocytes are a source of ELR chemokines in the human CNS and that neurons and astrocytes can respond to those chemokines.     

The role of the human ventromedial prefrontal cortex in memory for contextual information

There is a growing body of evidence that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) is implicated in the new learning of visual items. Little is known, however, as to the involvement of that portion of the prefrontal cortex in the learning of temporal and spatial relationship of those items. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to investigate the role of the VMPFC in memory for temporal and spatial order. Patients who had undergone surgery of the anterior communicating artery aneurysm, and normal control subjects (C), participated in the study. The patients were subdivided into three groups: with resection of the left (LGR+) or right (RGR+) gyrus rectus, and without such a resection (GR-). Subjects were presented with two memory tests: a temporal order (TO) test and a spatial order (SO) test. In the TO test, the LGR+ and RGR+ groups performed worse than the C group, while the GR- group did not differ significantly from the C group. In the SO test, the LGR+ and RGR+ groups did not differ significantly from the C and GR- groups. However, the trend appears to be the same for both tests, although only the TO test provides statistically significant group differences. Our results thus suggest that the VMPFC is involved in memory for contextual information. Together with previous findings, the data suggest that the learning of the relationship between items as well as the learning of those items are mediated by overlapping areas of the VMPFC.     

Retrospective analysis of the results of Allergic Diseases Prevention Program in children in the Lódź area

Growing prevalence of allergic diseases requires concentrating on patients' education, prevention, suitable organization of medical care as well as the early diagnosis. It the presented retrospective study of the results of Prevention Allergic Diseases Programme in children in Lodz region in years 2000-2003 was analysed. Analysis of medical records of patients undergone preventive program showed: solid growth of number of patients with allergic disease in frames of Programme, the solid growth of percentage of new diagnosed allergic diseases, essential changes in structure of diagnosed allergic diseases during Programme, particularly visible in the youngest age group up to 5 years of age as well as the systematic fall in number of hospitalization from asthma and atopic dermatitis. With attention on growing number of referred patients Program should be continued and with the reason of still missing good medical care in children of Lodz region.