Neurological Basis Research Articles

Shank3 mutant mice display autistic-like behaviours and striatal dysfunction

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a range of disorders that share a core of neurobehavioural deficits characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions, deficits in communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. The neurological basis and circuitry mechanisms underlying these abnormal behaviours are poorly understood. Shank3 is a postsynaptic protein, whose disruption at the genetic level is thought to be responsible for development of 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan-McDermid Syndrome) and other non-syndromic ASDs. Here we show that mice with Shank3 gene deletions exhibit self-injurious repetitive grooming and deficits in social interaction. Cellular, electrophysiological and biochemical analyses uncovered defects at striatal synapses and cortico-striatal circuits in Shank3 mutant mice. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for Shank3 in the normal development of neuronal connectivity and establish causality between a disruption in the Shank3 gene and the genesis of autistic like-behaviours in mice.

The gender differences of the magnetic source imaging during recognizing dynamically sad facial expression in depressed patients

Objective To explore the gender differences of brain activation between patients with depression in recognition of dynamically sad expression with magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology and the paradigm of expressional experiment,and further to examine its neurological basis. Methods Brain activities were detected using MEG during the recognition of dynamic facial video with 12 female depressed patients, 11 male depressed patients, and their corresponding normal controls matched by age and education. Results Compared with male depression,female depression showed increased activation during different time periods were in turn as follows: bilateral inferior frontal gyrus ( x, y, z = 58/- 60,12/22,20/20, T = 2.17,1.88 ), left anterior cingulate gyrus ( x, y, z = 64,12,4, T = 2.37 ), bilateral superior frontal gyrus ( x, y, z= 30/-24,64/- 4,0/50, T = 2.86,2.36 ),the left brainstem( x, y,z = - 12, - 16, - 18 ,T = 1.96) ,right middle frontal gyrus( x,y,z =40,60,4,T = 2.22 ),bilateral precentral gyrus(x,y,z = -62/56, 16/10, 10/8. T = 1.99,2.65 ) ,left hippocampus ( x,y,z = - 26,- 14, -20,T = 1.77) ,left parahippocampal gyrus(x,y,z = - 16, - 12, -20,T = 1.72) ,right middle occipital gyrus( x ,y ,z = 50, -76, -14 ,T = 1. 75 ),while the decreased brain activation were in turn in right superior temporal gyrus ( x, y, z = 68, - 18,2, T = 1.85 ), right parahippocampal gyrus ( x, y, z = 20, - 36, - 14, T = 1.92 ), left cuneus( x,y,z = -6, -98,14,T =2.46) ,bilateral temporal middle gyrus( x,y,z =52/-34, - 80/-62,20/28,T = 1.95,2.57 ), left pre-cuneus ( x, y, z = - 40, - 74,38, T = 2.58 ), right hippocampus( x, y, z = 24, - 32, - 18,T = 2.05 ) in recognition of dynamically sad expression. ( p ＜ 0. 05, corrected). Conclusion The data suggest that there may be significant gender differences of functional network in depressed patients during recognizing dynamical sad facial expression. Key words: Depression; Negative emotion recognition; Gender difference; Magnetoencephalography

Acute cardiorespiratory effects of intracisternal injections of mercuric chloride

The present studies were conducted to changes arising from mercury poisoning in the central nervous system (CNS), with a focus on determining the receptors and neurotransmitters involved. Currently, little is known regarding the neurological basis of the cardiopulmonary effects of mercury poisoning. We evaluated changes in systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) following a 5μl intracisternal (i.c) injection of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) and the participation of the autonomic nervous system in these responses. 58 animals were utilized and distributed randomly into 10 groups and administered a 5μL intracisternal injection of 0.68μg/kg HgCl2 (n=7), 1.2μg/kg HgCl2 (n=7), 2.4μg/kg HgCl2 (n=7), 60μg/kg HgCl2 (n=7), 120μg/kg HgCl2 (n=3), saline (control) (n=7), 60μg/kg HgCl2 plus prazosin (n=6), saline plus prazosin (n=6), 60μg/kg HgCl2 plus metilatropina (n=4) or saline plus metilatropina (n=4)HgCl2. Anesthesia was induced with halothane and maintained as needed with urethane (1.2g/kg) administered intravenously (i.v.) through a cannula placed in the left femoral vein. The left femoral artery was also cannulated to record systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and heart rate (HR). A tracheotomy was performed to record respiratory rate. Animals were placed in a stereotaxic frame, and the cisterna magna was exposed. After a stabilization period, solutions (saline or HgCl2) were injected i.c., and cardiopulmonary responses were recorded for 50min. Involvement of the autonomic nervous system was assessed through the i.v. injection of hexamethonium (20mg/kg), prazosin (1mg/kg) and methylatropine (1mg/kg) 10min before the i.c. injection of HgCl2 or saline. Treatment with 0.68, 1.2, 2.4μg/kg HgCl2 or saline did not modify basal cardiorespiratory parameters, whereas the 120μg/kg dose induced acute toxicity, provoking respiratory arrest and death. The administration of 60μg/kg HgCl2, however, induced significant increases (p<0.05) in SAP at the 30°, 40° and 50°min, timepoints and DAP at the 5°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40° and 50° timepoints. RR was significantly decreased at the 5°, 10°, 20°, 40° and 50°min timepoints; however, there was no change in HR. Hexamethonium administration, which causes non-specific inhibition of the autonomic nervous system, abolished the observed cardiorespiratory effects. Similarly, prazosin, a α1-adrenoceptor blocker that specifically inhibits sympathetic nervous system function, abolished HgCl2 induced increases in SAP and DAP without affecting HR and RR. Methylatropine (1mg/Kg), a parasympathetic nervous system inhibitor, exacerbated the effects of HgCl2 and caused slow-onset respiratory depression, culminating in respiratory arrest and death. Our results demonstrate that increases in SAP and DAP induced by the i.c. injection of mercuric chloride are mediated by activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Reveals White Matter Microstructure Correlations With Auditory Processing Ability

Correlation of white matter microstructure with various cognitive processing tasks and with overall intelligence has been previously demonstrated. We investigate the correlation of white matter microstructure with various higher-order auditory processing tasks, including interpretation of speech-in-noise, recognition of low-pass frequency filtered words, and interpretation of time-compressed sentences at two different values of compression. These tests are typically used to diagnose auditory processing disorder (APD) in children. Our hypothesis is that correlations between white matter microstructure in tracts connecting the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes, as well as callosal pathways, will be seen. Previous functional imaging studies have shown correlations between activation in temporal, frontal, and parietal regions from higher-order auditory processing tasks. In addition, we hypothesize that the regions displaying correlations will vary according to the task because each task uses a different set of skills. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were acquired from a cohort of 17 normal-hearing children aged 9 to 11 yrs. Fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter fiber tract integrity and organization, was computed and correlated on a voxelwise basis with performance on the auditory processing tasks, controlling for age, sex, and full-scale IQ. Divergent correlations of white matter FA depending on the particular auditory processing task were found. Positive correlations were found between FA and speech-in-noise in white matter adjoining prefrontal areas and between FA and filtered words in the corpus callosum. Regions exhibiting correlations with time-compressed sentences varied depending on the degree of compression: the greater degree of compression (with the greatest difficulty) resulted in correlations in white matter adjoining prefrontal (dorsal and ventral), whereas the smaller degree of compression (with less difficulty) resulted in correlations in white matter adjoining audiovisual association areas and the posterior cingulate. Only the time-compressed sentences with the lowest degree of compression resulted in positive correlations in the centrum semiovale; all the other tasks resulted in negative correlations. The dependence of performance on higher-order auditory processing tasks on brain anatomical connectivity was seen in normal-hearing children aged 9 to 11 yrs. Results support a previously hypothesized dual-stream (dorsal and ventral) model of auditory processing, and that higher-order processing tasks rely less on the dorsal stream related to articulatory networks and more on the ventral stream related to semantic comprehension. Results also show that the regions correlating with auditory processing vary according to the specific task, indicating that the neurological bases for the various tests used to diagnose APD in children may be partially independent.

Neurologic bases for comorbidity of balance disorders, anxiety disorders and migraine: neurotherapeutic implications

The comorbidity among balance disorders, anxiety disorders and migraine has been studied extensively from clinical and basic research perspectives. From a neurological perspective, the comorbid symptoms are viewed as the product of sensorimotor, interoceptive and cognitive adaptations that are produced by afferent interoceptive information processing, a vestibulo–parabrachial nucleus network, a cerebral cortical network (including the insula, orbitofrontal cortex, prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex), a raphe nuclear–vestibular network, a coeruleo–vestibular network and a raphe–locus coeruleus loop. As these pathways overlap extensively with pathways implicated in the generation, perception and regulation of emotions and affective states, the comorbid disorders and effective treatment modalities can be viewed within the contexts of neurological and psychopharmacological sites of action of current therapies.

Evolution of Extra-Nigral Damage Predicts Behavioural Deficits in a Rat Proteasome Inhibitor Model of Parkinson's Disease

Establishing the neurological basis of behavioural dysfunction is key to provide a better understanding of Parkinson's disease (PD) and facilitate development of effective novel therapies. For this, the relationships between longitudinal structural brain changes associated with motor behaviour were determined in a rat model of PD and validated by post-mortem immunohistochemistry. Rats bearing a nigrostriatal lesion induced by infusion of the proteasome inhibitor lactacystin into the left-medial forebrain bundle and saline-injected controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline (prior to surgery) and 1, 3 and 5 weeks post-surgery with concomitant motor assessments consisting of forelimb grip strength, accelerating rotarod, and apormorphine-induced rotation. Lactacystin-injected rats developed early motor deficits alongside decreased ipsilateral cortical volumes, specifically thinning of the primary motor (M1) and somatosensory cortices and lateral ventricle hypertrophy (as determined by manual segmentation and deformation-based morphometry). Although sustained, motor dysfunction and nigrostriatal damage were maximal by 1 week post-surgery. Additional volume decreases in the ipsilateral ventral midbrain; corpus striatum and thalamus were only evident by week 3 and 5. Whilst cortical MRI volume changes best predicted the degree of motor impairment, post-mortem tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the striatum was a better predictor of motor behaviour overall, with the notable exception of performance in the accelerating rotarod, in which, M1 cortical thickness remained the best predictor. These results highlight the importance of identifying extra-nigral regions of damage that impact on behavioural dysfunction from damage to the nigrostriatal system.

Brain functional magnetic resonance imaging response to glucose and fructose infusions in humans

In animals, intracerebroventricular glucose and fructose have opposing effects on appetite and weight regulation. In humans, functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies during glucose ingestion or infusion have demonstrated suppression of hypothalamic signalling, but no studies have compared the effects of glucose and fructose. We therefore sought to determine if the brain response differed to glucose vs. fructose in humans independently of the ingestive process. Nine healthy, normal weight subjects underwent blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI measurements during either intravenous (IV) glucose (0.3 mg/kg), fructose (0.3 mg/kg) or saline, administered over 2 min in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study. Blood was sampled every 5 min during a baseline period and following infusion for 60 min in total for glucose, fructose, lactate and insulin levels. No significant brain BOLD signal changes were detected in response to IV saline. BOLD signal in the cortical control areas increased during glucose infusion (p = 0.002), corresponding with increased plasma glucose and insulin levels. In contrast, BOLD signal decreased in the cortical control areas during fructose infusion (p = 0.006), corresponding with increases of plasma fructose and lactate. Neither glucose nor fructose infusions significantly altered BOLD signal in the hypothalamus. In normal weight humans, cortical responses as assessed by BOLD fMRI to infused glucose are opposite to those of fructose. Differential brain responses to these sugars and their metabolites may provide insight into the neurologic basis for dysregulation of food intake during high dietary fructose intake.

Time-Related Changes in Detrusor Overactivity in Awake Rats with Spinal Cord Injury Observed by Simultaneous Registrations of Intravesical and Intraabdominal Pressures

PurposeTo compare the physical characteristics of detrusor overactivity (DO) induced by intravesical infusion of saline in awake, sham rats and rats with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), by simultaneous registrations of intravesical and intraabdominal pressures.MethodsMale Sprague-Dawley rats, normal or with a spinal vascular clip at the level of Th9, were investigated cystometrically 1 and 4 weeks after SCI. Intravesical pressure (IVP) and intraabdominal pressure (IAP) were recorded simultaneously to evaluate true DO. During the filling phase, the event of IVP rises, defined as increments that exceeded 2 cmH2O from baseline, were determined as DO according to the absence of simultaneous changes in IAP.ResultsAll SCI rats exhibited DO during the filling phase, which was not shown in sham rats. The frequency and pressure of DO had a tendency to decrease with time. The DO frequency of SCI rats after 4 weeks (0.9±0.2 min-1) was decreased compared with that after 1 week (2.1±0.4 min-1; P<0.05). The DO pressure of SCI rats after 4 weeks (8.4±1.9 cmH2O) was decreased compared with that after 1 week (11.6±2.9 cmH2O; P>0.05).ConclusionsCystometric studies in awake male SCI rats showed some significant changes in bladder function after SCI. All SCI rats exhibited DO during the filling phase, and showed different physical characteristics of DO over the course of time. The neurological basis of these time-related changes remains poorly understood, but may provide important prognostic information about long-term urological management in SCI patients.

The neural architecture of the language comprehension network: converging evidence from lesion and connectivity analyses.

While traditional models of language comprehension have focused on the left posterior temporal cortex as the neurological basis for language comprehension, lesion and functional imaging studies indicate the involvement of an extensive network of cortical regions. However, the full extent of this network and the white matter pathways that contribute to it remain to be characterized. In an earlier voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping analysis of data from aphasic patients (Dronkers et al., 2004), several brain regions in the left hemisphere were found to be critical for language comprehension: the left posterior middle temporal gyrus, the anterior part of Brodmann's area 22 in the superior temporal gyrus (anterior STG/BA22), the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) extending into Brodmann's area 39 (STS/BA39), the orbital part of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA47), and the middle frontal gyrus (BA46). Here, we investigated the white matter pathways associated with these regions using diffusion tensor imaging from healthy subjects. We also used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to assess the functional connectivity profiles of these regions. Fiber tractography and functional connectivity analyses indicated that the left MTG, anterior STG/BA22, STS/BA39, and BA47 are part of a richly interconnected network that extends to additional frontal, parietal, and temporal regions in the two hemispheres. The inferior occipito-frontal fasciculus, the arcuate fasciculus, and the middle and inferior longitudinal fasciculi, as well as transcallosal projections via the tapetum were found to be the most prominent white matter pathways bridging the regions important for language comprehension. The left MTG showed a particularly extensive structural and functional connectivity pattern which is consistent with the severity of the impairments associated with MTG lesions and which suggests a central role for this region in language comprehension.

Behavioral Patterns Associated with Chemotherapy-Induced Emesis: A Potential Signature for Nausea in Musk Shrews

Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms in patients with many diseases, including cancer and its treatments. Although the neurological basis of vomiting is reasonably well known, an understanding of the physiology of nausea is lacking. The primary barrier to mechanistic research on the nausea system is the lack of an animal model. Indeed investigating the effects of anti-nausea drugs in pre-clinical models is difficult because the primary readout is often emesis. It is known that animals show a behavioral profile of sickness, associated with reduced feeding and movement, and possibly these general measures are signs of nausea. Studies attempting to relate the occurrence of additional behaviors to emesis have produced mixed results. Here we applied a statistical method, temporal pattern (t-pattern) analysis, to determine patterns of behavior associated with emesis. Musk shrews were injected with the chemotherapy agent cisplatin (a gold standard in emesis research) to induce acute (<24 h) and delayed (>24 h) emesis. Emesis and other behaviors were coded and tracked from video files. T-pattern analysis revealed hundreds of non-random patterns of behavior associated with emesis, including sniffing, changes in body contraction, and locomotion. There was little evidence that locomotion was inhibited by the occurrence of emesis. Eating, drinking, and other larger body movements including rearing, grooming, and body rotation, were significantly less common in emesis-related behavioral patterns in real versus randomized data. These results lend preliminary evidence for the expression of emesis-related behavioral patterns, including reduced ingestive behavior, grooming, and exploratory behaviors. In summary, this statistical approach to behavioral analysis in a pre-clinical emesis research model could be used to assess the more global effects and limitations of drugs used to control nausea and its potential correlates, including reduced feeding and activity levels.

Topographical disorientation in a patient with late-onset blindness with multiple acute ischemic brain lesions

The neurological basis for topographical disorientation has recently shifted from a model of navigation utilizing egocentric techniques alone, to multiple parallel systems of topographical cognition including egocentric and allocentric strategies. We explored if this hypothesis may be applicable to a patient with late-onset blindness. A 72-year-old male with bilateral blindness experienced a sudden inability to navigate after suffering a stroke. Multiple lesions scattered bilaterally throughout the parietal–occipital lobes were found. Deficits in the neural correlates underlying egocentric or allocentric strategies may result in topographical disorientation, even if one appears to be the predominant orientation strategy utilized.

Neurological soft signs in juvenile patients with Asperger syndrome, early‐onset psychosis, and healthy controls

The study of neurological soft signs (NSS) in patients with Asperger syndrome may help us to elucidate the neurological basis of this disorder and to clarify its relationship with other neurodevelopmental disorders. The goal of this study was to compare the prevalence of NSS in a sample of patients with Asperger syndrome, early-onset psychosis and healthy controls. NSS were assessed by means of the Neurological Evaluation Scale in a sample of 29 patients with Asperger syndrome (mean age = 12.86 ± 2.58 years), 30 patients with first-episode early-onset psychoses (mean age 14.17 ± 1.02 years) and 30 healthy controls (mean age 12.33 ± 2.69 years). Significant group differences were found between Asperger syndrome patients and healthy controls both in all the Neurological Evaluation Scale subscales and in the Neurological Evaluation Scale total score. There were no significant differences between both groups of patients in any of the Neurological Evaluation Scale scores. NSS are more prevalent in Asperger syndrome than in healthy controls. The NSS profile was not disorder-specific in our samples of patients with Asperger syndrome and early-onset psychoses.

Moral markets

Is market exchange solely dependent on selfishness or does other-regarding behavior play any substantial role? This article reviews the philosophical, psychological and neurological basis for moral values, showing that they are consistent and measurable. I demonstrate that values play a role in social interactions, including market exchange. Indeed, market exchange in moderately regulated economies is predicated on the notion that most people, most of the time, behave morally – albeit in the shadow of enforcement. This idea is of ancient origin, but is most clearly articulated in Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments. The moral nature of social decisions is used to identify modifications of the standard expected utility model, and implications for a value-based approach to human decisions are elucidated for law, regulation, business organization, economic growth, and happiness. The conditions that lead to moral market failures like the Enron debacle are also described. Not only do morals underpin markets, but intriguing new evidence suggests that markets may strengthen moral values.

Neurocognitive ‘Training’ May Undo Schizophrenia's Brain Damage

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull AccessNeurocognitive ‘Training’ May Undo Schizophrenia's Brain DamageJoan Arehart-TreichelJoan Arehart-TreichelSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:6 Aug 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.45.15.psychnews_45_15_029AbstractAs psychiatrists well know, psychotropic medications are of only limited value in improving cognition in people with schizophrenia. So scientists have been working diligently to develop effective cognitive remediation programs for such individuals—for example, drill-and-practice exercises or computer-based neurocognitive training.And it looks as if such programs can lead to moderate cognitive improvement, a meta-analysis published in the December 2007 American Journal of Psychiatry showed.As the lead investigator, Susan McGurk, Ph.D., of the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, and colleagues wrote: “The effects of cognitive remediation on cognitive performance were remarkably similar across the 26 studies included in the analysis despite differences in length and training methods between cognitive remediation programs, inpatient/outpatient setting, patient age, and provision of adjunctive psychiatric rehabilitation.”Matcheri Keshavan, M.D.: “Our observations provide a neurological basis of understanding how psychosocial treatments such as cognitive remediation work.”Credit: Matcheri Keshavan, M.D.But what is it that makes such programs effective? They prevent or reverse schizophrenia-induced damage to the brain, a study by Matcheri Keshavan, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues suggested. The report of their findings was published May 3 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.The researchers selected as their subjects 53 symptomatically stabilized but cognitively disabled outpat ients fairly early in the course of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. That is, most had experienced their first psychotic symptoms within the previous five years. Subjects' average age was 26.The subjects were randomized to receive, over the next two years, either a cognitive remediation program called cognitive enhancement therapy (CET) or a control regimen called enriched supportive therapy (EST).CET included 60 hours of weekly computer-based neurocognitive training in attention, memory, and problem solving as well as 45 weekly sessions designed to address key social-cognitive deficits that can limit functional recovery from schizophrenia, such as difficulties in managing emotions, trouble communicating nonverbally, a lack of foresight, or a lack of perspective. The researchers had previously found that CET could produce strong and lasting improvements in cognition in subjects who had had schizophrenia for many years.Subjects in the EST group met individually with a therapist to learn and practice a variety of stress-reduction and illness-management techniques designed to forestall relapse and enhance adjustment to their illness.The researchers used structural MRI scans to evaluate the brain topography of all subjects at the start of the study, a year later, and at the end of the study two years later. They then compared subjects' brain-scan results.By the end of the study, the cognitive-therapy group had a significantly greater preservation of gray matter in several brain regions known to be impaired by schizophrenia—the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and fusiform gyrus—than the control group did.Moreover, by the end of the study, the cognitive-therapy group had experienced significantly greater gray-matter increases in the amygdala than the control group had. This brain area, too, is known to be impaired by schizophrenia.And crucially, the researchers noted, “These differential effects of CET on gray-matter change were significantly related to improved cognitive outcome, with patients who experienced less gray-matter decline and greater gray-matter increases also demonstrating significantly greater cognitive improvement over the two years of the study.”Thus cognitive remediation may benefit cognition in people with schizophrenia by preventing or reversing gray-matter loss.True, “overall structural changes in regional brain volumes were not large,” the researchers wrote, “but were reliably detectable and may reflect functional changes.”“Our observations are of clinical relevance on three counts,” Keshavan told Psychiatric News. “First, our observations provide a neurobiological basis of understanding how psychosocial treatments such as cognitive remediation work. Second, these findings suggest that monitoring brain function with neuroimaging techniques may eventually offer the psychiatrist a way to evaluate therapeutic benefits, as well as to identify patients who might be the best candidates for these treatments. Finally, the neuroprotective effects of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia, if confirmed, offer therapeutic optimism in regard to cognitive deficits in this illness, especially since currently there are few medications shown to benefit these deficits.”The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.An abstract of “Neuroprotective Effects of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy Against Gray Matter Loss in Early Schizophrenia” is posted at <http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/2010.63>. ISSUES NewArchived

Detecting corpus callosum abnormalities in autism based on anatomical landmarks

Autism is a severe developmental disorder whose neurological basis is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to identify the shape differences of the corpus callosum between patients with autism and control subjects. Anatomical landmarks were collected from midsagittal magnetic resonance images of 25 patients and 18 controls. Euclidean distance matrix analysis and thin-plate spline analyses were used to examine the landmark forms. Point-by-point shape comparison was performed both globally and locally. A new local shape comparison scheme was proposed which compared each part of the shape in its local coordinate system. Point correspondence was established among individual shapes based on the inherent landmark correspondence. No significant difference was found in the landmark form between patients and controls, but the distance between the interior genu and the posterior-most section was found to be significantly shorter in patients. Thin-plate spline analysis showed significant group differences between the landmark configurations in terms of the deformation from the overall mean configuration. Significant global shape differences were found in the anterior lower body and posterior bottom, and there was a local shape difference in the anterior bottom. This study can serve as both a clinical reference and a detailed procedural guideline for similar studies in the future.

Poetry therapy and schizophrenia: Clinical and neurological perspectives

The focus of this article is on the clinical utility of poetry therapy for people diagnosed with schizophrenia (SCZ). The neurological basis of metaphor processing is also briefly reviewed. A theoretical link between poetry and neuroscience is addressed with subsequent implications for clinical practice. The author found that various methods of poetry therapy can be used to effectively treat schizophrenic symptoms despite the language impairments implicated in SCZ.

The dynamiccharacteristics of the magnetic source imaging of recognizing expression in majordepressive disorder

：Objective To explore thefeatures of functional networks about recognizing dynamically positive expression withusing magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology and the paradigm of expressional experiment,and further to examine its neurological basis. Methods Twelve depressed patients andtwelve age,education-matched healthy controls participated to recognize the dynamicallypositive expression in the MEG scans. Results In comparison with the healthy,theabnormally activities regions in depressed patients during different time periods wereseparately as follow;decreased activation in the right inferior parietal lobule(t =3.94),the right su-pramarginal gyms(t = 3.59),the bilateral posterior cingulated(t = 5.04, t = 4. 85) ,the bilateral precuneus(t = 3.84) ,the left cuneus(t = 3.58) and increasedactivation in the bilateral hippocampus(t = 2. 13, t = 2.56) ,the left amygdale(t = 2.41),the bilateral uncus gyrus(t = 2.33, t = 2.44) , the right anterior cingulated (t = 2. 15), the left fusiform gyms (t = 3. 33) (P < 0. 05, unconnected). Conclusion The resultsindicate, compared with healthy controls,abnormal brain activities as the weakenedfunction of the medial temporal cortex,parietal lobe and the enhanced function of limbicsystem were distributed extensively in depressed patients during recognizing dynamicallypositive expression. These abnormalities may prompt the dynamic characteristics of themagnetic source imaging about recognizing dynamically positive expression,and furtherreveals the mechanisms of emotional symptoms in depression.

The psychophysiology of self-awareness: rediscovering the lost art of body sense

Embodied self-awareness is the practice and science of our ability to feel our movements, sensations, and emotions. As infants, before we can speak or conceptualize, we learn to move toward what makes us feel good and away from what makes us feel bad. Our ability to continue to develop and cultivate awareness of such body-based feelings and understanding is essential for learning how to successfully navigate in the physical and social world, as well as for avoiding injury and stress. Embodied self-awareness is made possible by neuromotor and neurohormonal pathways between the brain and the rest of the body, pathways that serve the function of using information about body state to maintain optimal health and well being. When these pathways become compromised, primarily as a result of physical injury or psychological stress and trauma, we lose our ability to monitor and regulate our basic body functions. This book explains the neurological basis of embodied self-awareness, how to enhance self-awareness, and how to regain it after injury or trauma.

Kinematic movement strategies in primary school children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome compared to age- and IQ-matched controls during visuo-manual tracking

The present study focused on the mechanism subserving the production of kinematic patterns in 21 children with 22q11.2DS (mean age = 9.6 ± 1.9; mean FSIQ = 73.05 ± 10.2) and 21 age- and IQ-matched control children (mean age = 9.6 ± 1.9; mean FSIQ = 73.38 ± 12.0) when performing a visuo-manual tracking task in which they had to track a cursor rhythmically between 2 target zones. Children with 22q11.2DS moved faster (overall) and reached their maximum velocity sooner when compared to controls. However, the number of corrective submovements to attain the target did not differ. Children with 22q11.2DS seem to adopt a young ballistic movement strategy, with a fast ballistic first movement phase, followed by a second movement phase with very little online corrections to attain the target. Children with 22q11.2DS are not able to process the incoming feedback during the second movement phase to maximize the accuracy of the ongoing movement and use this phase to prepare the following. The fact that the parietal cortex and cerebellum are involved in action prediction and internal representation and are implicated in children with 22q11.2DS provides a possible neurological basis for their problems with prospective control and tracking behavior.

Development of genomic resources for the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster): construction of a BAC library and vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map

BackgroundThe prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is a premier animal model for understanding the genetic and neurological basis of social behaviors. Unlike other biomedical models, prairie voles display a rich repertoire of social behaviors including the formation of long-term pair bonds and biparental care. However, due to a lack of genomic resources for this species, studies have been limited to a handful of candidate genes. To provide a substrate for future development of genomic resources for this unique model organism, we report the construction and characterization of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from a single male prairie vole and a prairie vole-mouse (Mus musculus) comparative cytogenetic map.ResultsWe constructed a prairie vole BAC library (CHORI-232) consisting of 194,267 recombinant clones with an average insert size of 139 kb. Hybridization-based screening of the gridded library at 19 loci established that the library has an average depth of coverage of ~10×. To obtain a small-scale sampling of the prairie vole genome, we generated 3884 BAC end-sequences totaling ~2.8 Mb. One-third of these BAC-end sequences could be mapped to unique locations in the mouse genome, thereby anchoring 1003 prairie vole BAC clones to an orthologous position in the mouse genome. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) mapping of 62 prairie vole clones with BAC-end sequences mapping to orthologous positions in the mouse genome was used to develop a first-generation genome-wide prairie vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map. While conserved synteny was observed between this pair of rodent genomes, rearrangements between the prairie vole and mouse genomes were detected, including a minimum of five inversions and 16 inter-chromosomal rearrangements.ConclusionsThe construction of the prairie vole BAC library and the vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map represent the first genome-wide modern genomic resources developed for this species. The BAC library will support future genomic, genetic and molecular characterization of this genome and species, and the isolation of clones of high interest to the vole research community will allow for immediate characterization of the regulatory and coding sequences of genes known to play important roles in social behaviors. In addition, these resources provide an excellent platform for future higher resolution cytogenetic mapping and full genome sequencing.