In animals, physical activity has been shown to induce functional and structural changes especially in the hippocampus and to improve memory, probably by upregulating the release of neurotrophic factors. In humans, results on the effect of acute exercise on memory are inconsistent so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effects of a single bout of physical exercise on ...

The functions of adult hippocampal neurogenesis have been extensively investigated during the past decade. Numerous studies have shown that adult neurogenesis may play an important role in the hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. This study evaluated the influence of exercise on hippocampal neurogenesis, neural plasticity, neurotrophic factors, and cognition. Areas of research focused on ...

Neurotrophins are known to promote synapse development as well as to regulate the efficacy of mature synapses. We have previously reported that in two-dimensional rat hippocampal cultures, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 significantly increase the number of excitatory input connections. Here we measure the effect of these neurotrophic agents on propagating fronts tha...

Tibor Harkany, Hanns Ulrich Zeilhofer and Antonino Cattaneo Division of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry & Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Molecular Neurosciences, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, and Institute of Pharmaceutical Sci...

Expression and secretion of neurotrophins, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are regulated also by neuronal activity. Data available in the literature suggest that BDNF central levels are influenced by light and dark. Diurnal changes of BDNF mRNA and protein contents have been demonstrated in the rat central nervous system. Based on these pieces of evidence, we investigated th...

We here propose an updated concept of stem cells (SCs), with an emphasis on neural stem cells (NSCs). The conventional view, which has touched principally on the essential property of lineage multipotency (e.g., the ability of NSCs to differentiate into all neural cells), should be broadened to include the emerging recognition of biofunctional multipotency of SCs to mediate systemic homeostasis...

Phase mask interference lithography was employed to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel structures with high surface area on neural prosthetic devices. A random terpolymer of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate- ran-methyl methacrylate- ran-methacrylic acid) was synthesized and used as a negative-tone photoresist to generate bicontinuous 3D hydrogel structures at the submicrometer scale. We de...

A role for neurotrophins in mature primary sensory neurons persists, extending beyond that of promoting survival during development, to one of maintaining phenotypic and functional properties. Many adaptive changes that occur after peripheral axotomy and in axonal repair are believed to be influenced by altered availability of neurotrophic molecules to the neuron in this state. Indeed, administ...