Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key neurotrophic factor in the brain. It plays an important role in the etiopathogenesis and pharmacotherapy of mental disorders, such as depression or schizophrenia. In recent years, studies have shown that cognitive processes, which are impaired in the course of mental disorders, significantly change BDNF levels in the brain. Administered to rats ...

BACKGROUND Danggui Buxue Tang (DBT), a phytoestrogen-enriched Chinese herbal formula, serves as dietary supplement in stimulating the "Blood" functions of menopausal women. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, "Blood" has a strong relationship with brain activities. Previous studies supported that some ingredients of DBT possessed neuronal beneficial functions. Therefore, the neurotrop...

brain derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) is a neurotrophin acting at several levels in the brain. additionally, bdnf was shown to be responsible for the survival, maintenance and growth of neurons. also, bdnf plays an important role in synaptic plasticity and memory processes. in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, bdnf enhances long-term potentiation (ltp) in the hippocampus but blocks the...

Pitx3 is a critical homeodomain transcription factor for the proper development and survival of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) neurons in mammals. Several variants of this gene have been associated with human Parkinson's disease (PD), and lack of Pitx3 in mice causes the preferential loss of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) mdDA neurons that are most affected in PD. It is currently un...

Emerging evidence suggests that dysfunctions in glutamatergic signaling are associated with the pathophysiology of depression. Several molecules act on glutamate binding sites, so-called modulators, rapid-acting antidepressants stimulate synaptogenesis. Their antidepressant response involves elevation both extracellular and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, as well postsynaptic a...

1. Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Medicine of Porto, University of Porto, Portugal; IBMCInstituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal., 2. Molecular Neurobiology Unit, University of Bristol, CSSB, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Bristol, UK, 3. Department of Urology, Hospital de S. João, Porto, Portugal; IBMCInstituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Unive...

With the discovery of postnatal stem cells within the brain, it has become important to understand how extracellular factors might affect the maturation of neuronal precursors in the postnatal brain. Neurotrophic factors are known to play a role in neuronal development but display pleiotrophic effects, in part because of their physiological interactions with other factors. One factor positioned...

Inhibitory interneurons expressing parvalbumin (PV) are central to cortical network dynamics, generation of γ oscillations, and cognition. Dysfunction PV disrupts information processing cognitive behavior. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tyrosine receptor kinase B (trkB) signaling regulates the maturation but is also implicated in their adult multidimensional functions. Using a novel v...

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a novel technique of non-invasive brain stimulation which has been used to treat several neuropsychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder, chronic pain and epilepsy. Recent studies have shown that the therapeutic effects of rTMS are associated with plastic changes in local and distant neural networks. In fact, it has been sugges...

Altered neurogenesis is suggested to be involved in the onset of brain diseases, including mental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Neurotrophic factors are well known for their positive effects on the proliferation/differentiation of both embryonic and adult neural stem/progenitor cells (NSCs/NPCs). Especially, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been extensively investigated ...