Cortical activity is the product of interactions among neuronal populations. Macroscopic electrophysiological phenomena are generated by these interactions. In principle, the mechanisms of these interactions afford constraints on biologically plausible models of electrophysiological responses. In other words, the macroscopic features of cortical activity can be modelled in terms of the microsco...

Several recent epidemiological studies have proposed that cholesterol-lowering drug Statin may provide protection against Alzheimer's disease (AD). Probucol is a non-Statin cholesterol-lowering drug and a potent inducer of apolipoprotein E (apoE) production in peripheral circulation. A recent clinical study using Probucol in elderly AD subjects revealed a concomitant stabilisation of cognitive ...

In mature neurons, the number of synapses is determined by a neuronal activity-dependent dynamic equilibrium between positive and negative regulatory factors. We hypothesized that neuronal pentraxin (NP1), a proapoptotic protein induced by low neuronal activity, could be a negative regulator of synapse density because it is found in dystrophic neurites in Alzheimer's disease-affected brains. He...

The quintessential property of neuronal systems is their intensive patterns of selective synaptic connections. The current work describes a physics-based approach to neuronal shape modeling and synthesis and its consideration for the simulation of neuronal development and the formation of neuronal communities. Starting from images of real neurons, geometrical measurements are obtained and used ...

Within the central nervous system, apolipoprotein E (apoE) synthesis is increased in response to nerve injury, a finding that may reflect a role for apoE in neuronal remodeling. Recent studies show that apoE3 promotes and apoE4 inhibits neurite outgrowth in cultured neuronal cells. Interestingly, these isoform-specific effects are observed only when apoE is presented to cells in the presence of...

Physical activity enhances hippocampal function but its effects on neuronal structure remain relatively unexplored outside of the dentate gyrus. Using Golgi impregnation and the lipophilic tracer DiI, we show that long-term voluntary running increases the density of dendritic spines in the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus of adult rats. Exercise was associated with increased dendritic spine de...

background and objective: deprenyl is a drug for the treatment of parkinson’s disease, where the dopaminergic neurons are the target of this drug. several reports also documented that deprenyl has an effect on the sensory and motor neurons. there are some reports about the mode of action of deprenyl on motoneurons as a neuroprotective agent, while others believe that deprenyl acts as a neurores...

Neuronal excitability can cooperate with synaptic transmission to control the information storage. This regulation of neuronal plasticity can be affected by alterations in neuronal inputs and accomplished by modulation of voltage-dependent ion channels. In this study, we report that enhanced excitatory input negatively regulated neuronal excitability. Enhanced excitatory input by glutamate, ele...

This study focuses on computational and theoretical investigations of neuronal activity arising in the pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC), a medullary region generating the inspiratory phase of breathing in mammals. A progressive increase of neuronal excitability in medullary slices containing the pre-BötC produces mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) characterized by large amplitude population bursts ...

BACKGROUND Increased inflammatory markers and oxidative stress have been reported in serum among patients with bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of this study is to assess whether biochemical changes in the serum of patients induces neurotoxicity in neuronal cell cultures. METHODS We challenged the retinoic acid-differentiated human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells with the serum of BD patients at ea...