Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade recently was discovered to play an important role in synaptic plasticity in area CA1 of rat hippocampus. However, the upstream mechanisms regulating MAPK activity and the downstream effectors of MAPK in the hippocampus are uncharacterized. In the present studies we observed that hippocampal MAPK activation is regulated by both th...

Background and Objective: Although diabetes mellitus is known to be one of the risk factors for dementia but neuropathic changes in the brain of diabetic patients have not been completely revealed. Therefore, this research study was done to evaluate structural changes in pyramidal neurons of hippocampal CA1 area of male diabetic rats using Golgi-impregnation method. Materials and Methods: Male ...

The accumulated data indicate that massively released excitatory amino acids play a major role in mediating the acute ischemic neuronal degeneration. Kynurenic acid (KYNA), the endogenous glutamate receptor antagonist, displaying a particularly high affinity for the glycine-site of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, was shown to ameliorate ischemic brain damage and its altered metabolism was...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are required for the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and behave as signaling molecules via redox modifications of target proteins. In particular, superoxide is necessary for induction of LTP, and application of superoxide to hippocampal slices is sufficient to induce LTP in area CA1. Although a rise in postsynaptic intracellular calcium is necessary for L...

Temperature has multiple effects on neurons, yet little is known about the effects of high temperature on the physiology of mammalian central neurons. Hyperthermia can influence behavior and cause febrile seizures. We studied the effects of acute hyperthermia on the immature hippocampus in vitro by recording from pyramidal neurons and inhibitory oriens-lacunosum moleculare (O-LM) interneurons (...

The injury of the CA1 region of the adult rat hippocampus causes cognitive impairment. In this study, animal models were established by mechanically injuring the CA1 region of the adult rat hippocampus, and into the injured area were implanted chitosan carriers loaded either with or without NT-3. Immunohistochemical and nerve tracer methods were adopted to observe the role of the above-mentione...