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[A neurophysiological assessment of the effect of trimetidon on brain function in the cat].

Stimulation of the cat brain mesencephalic RF augmented the high-frequency activity in control animals and failed to do so after 4-oxopyrimidine administration. These and some other EEG changes suggest presence of an anxiolytic component in the trimethidone, the latter thus being similar by its effect to 1,4-benzodiazepines and endogenous pyrimidines.

Analog-Digital Conversion↗

Characteristics of ethacrynic acid highly sensitive Mg2+-ATPase in microsomal fractions of the rat brain: functional molecular size, inhibition by SITS and stimulation by Cl-.

Studies were performed to characterize ethacrynic acid (EA) highly sensitive Mg2+-ATPase isolated from microsomal fractions of the rat brain. The functional molecular sizes of the EA highly sensitive and EA less sensitive Mg2+-ATPases, estimated by a radiation inactivation method, were 480 and 80 kDa, respectively. An anion transport inhibitor, 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS) inhibited the EA highly sensitive Mg2+-ATPase activity. The type of inhibition was uncompetitive with respect to ATP, and the inhibition was suppressed by anions such as Cl-, Br- and I-. Chloride ions stimulated enzyme activity with an increase in Vmax, but not in Km, for ATP. Anions tested also increased the enzyme activity in the following order of decreasing potency: Cl- greater than Br- greater than CH3COO- = I- greater than SO4(2-) = HCO3- greater than SO3(2-). These results suggest that EA highly sensitive Mg2+-ATPase is a relatively large molecule with anion-sensitive sites that affect the ATP hydrolyzing activity and the SITS binding capacity through anions, with Cl- being the most potent.

4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfo↗

Activation of brain function by S-135, a benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist.

1. S-135, 2-(5-methylthien-3-yl)-2,5-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[4,3-c]quinoline-3- one, bind binds to benzodiazepine receptors with a high affinity and shows pharmacological actions opposite to those of conventional benzodiazepine drugs. 2. S-135 induced no convulsion in mice by itself, but selectively potentiated the effect of subconvulsive dose of pentylenetetrazole. 3. S-135 potentiated rat crossed extensor reflex and Ro 15-1788 completely antagonized this potentiation. 4. S-135 antagonized pentobarbital-induced anesthesia, tetrabenazine-induced ptosis and reserpine-induced hypoactivity and shortened immobilization time in the despair test in mice, indicating that this compound possesses antidepressive properties. 5. S-135 antagonized amnesia in mice and rats in passive avoidance tasks. 6. Glucose utilization in brain areas relating to memory and arousal functions was enhanced following S-135 treatment. 7. These results indicate that S-135 can be a useful drug for activating depressed brain function.

Animals↗

In vivo NMR studies of the glutamate neurotransmitter flux and neuroenergetics: implications for brain function.

Until very recently, non-invasive measurement of the glutamate-glutamine cycle in the intact mammalian brain had not been possible. In this review, we describe some studies that have led to quantitative assessment of the glutamate-glutamine cycle (Vcyc), as well as other important metabolic fluxes (e.g., glucose oxidation, CMRglc(ox)), with (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in vivo. These (13)C MRS studies clearly demonstrate that glutamate released from presynaptic neurons is taken up by the astrocyte for subsequent glutamine synthesis. Contrary to the earlier concept of a small, metabolically inactive neurotransmitter pool, in vivo (13)C MRS studies demonstrate that glutamate release and recycling is a major metabolic pathway that cannot be distinguished from its actions of neurotransmission. Furthermore, the in vivo (13)C MRS studies demonstrate in the rat cerebral cortex that increases in Vcyc and neuronal CMRglc(ox) are linearly related with a close to 1:1 slope. Measurements in human cerebral cortex are in agreement with this result. This relationship is consistent with more than two thirds of the energy yielded by glucose oxidation being used to support events associated with glutamate neurotransmission, and it supports a molecular model of a stoichiometric coupling between glutamate neurotransmission and functional glucose oxidation. (13)C MRS measurements of resting human cerebral cortex have found a high level of glutamate-glutamine cycling. This high resting neuronal activity, which is subtracted away in brain mapping studies by positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has significant implications for the interpretations of functional imaging data. Here we review and discuss the importance of neurotransmission and neuroenergetics as measured by (13)C MRS for understanding brain function and interpreting fMRI.

Animals↗

Application of antisense DNA method for the study of molecular bases of brain function and behavior.

The antisense DNA method has been used successfully not only in vitro but also with in vivo systems to block effectively the expression of specific genes. An increasing number of studies have shown that antisense DNA administered directly into the brain can modify various kinds of behaviors. These findings strongly suggest that the antisense DNA method can be widely used as a powerful tool for the study of the molecular bases of behavior. In addition to traditional methods of behavioral genetics, the antisense DNA method may provide a new approach for the study of the effects of gene in behavioral function. In this article, we review recent studies reporting in vivo effects of antisense DNA on brain function and behavior.

Animals↗

Estimating brain functional connectivity with sparse multivariate autoregression.

There is much current interest in identifying the anatomical and functional circuits that are the basis of the brain's computations, with hope that functional neuroimaging techniques will allow the in vivo study of these neural processes through the statistical analysis of the time-series they produce. Ideally, the use of techniques such as multivariate autoregressive (MAR) modelling should allow the identification of effective connectivity by combining graphical modelling methods with the concept of Granger causality. Unfortunately, current time-series methods perform well only for the case that the length of the time-series Nt is much larger than p, the number of brain sites studied, which is exactly the reverse of the situation in neuroimaging for which relatively short time-series are measured over thousands of voxels. Methods are introduced for dealing with this situation by using sparse MAR models. These can be estimated in a two-stage process involving (i) penalized regression and (ii) pruning of unlikely connections by means of the local false discovery rate developed by Efron. Extensive simulations were performed with idealized cortical networks having small world topologies and stable dynamics. These show that the detection efficiency of connections of the proposed procedure is quite high. Application of the method to real data was illustrated by the identification of neural circuitry related to emotional processing as measured by BOLD.

Brain↗

Magnetoencephalography: a tool for functional brain imaging.

At present, one of the most promising windows to the functional organization of the human brain is magnetoencephalography (MEG). By mapping the magnetic field distribution outside the head the sites of neural events can be located with an accuracy of a few millimeters and the temporal evolution of the activation can be traced with a millisecond resolution. This paper reviews some forward field calculation approaches suitable for the interpretation of the brain's electromagnetic signals. Inverse modelling with multiple dipoles is described in detail. An example of the analysis of the somatosensory evoked-responses illustrates the potential of multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm in finding optimal dipole positions.

Algorithms↗

Incorporating constraint-based shape models into an interactive system for functional brain mapping.

Through intraoperative electrical stimulation mapping, it is possible to identify sites on the surface of the brain that are essential for language function. Interesting correlations have been found between the distribution of these sites and behavioral traits such as verbal IQ. In previous work, tools were developed for building a reconstruction of a patient's cortical surface and using it to recover coordinates of essential language sites. However, considerable expertise was required to produce good reconstructions. This paper describes an improved version of the mapping procedure, in which segmentation is driven by a 3-D shape model. The model-based approach provides more intuitive control over the system, allowing a trained user to complete a surface reconstruction and mapping in about two hours. This level of performance makes it feasible to gather language maps for a large number of patients, which hopefully will lead to significant new findings about language organization in the brain.

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional↗

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation effects on brain function and cognition among elders with memory dysfunction. A randomized sham-controlled study.

In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on memory performance and brain activity in elders presenting with subjective memory complaints and a memory performance within the low normal range. Forty participants underwent 2 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions, in which they were administered 2 equivalent face-name memory tasks. Following each fMRI, subjects were asked to pair faces with their corresponding proper name. In-between, high-frequency rTMS was applied randomly using real or sham stimulation in a double-blind design. Only subjects who received active rTMS improved in associative memory significantly. This was accompanied by additional recruitment of right prefrontal and bilaterial posterior cortical regions at the second fMRI session, relative to baseline scanning. Our findings reflect a potentiality of rTMS to recruit compensatory networks, which participate during the memory-encoding process. Present results represent the first evidence that rTMS is capable of transitorily and positively influencing brain function and cognition among elders with memory complaints.

Aged↗