OBJECTIVES Nonionizing radiation is emitted from electronic devices, such as smartphones. In this study, we intended to elucidate the effect of electromagnetic radiation from smartphones on spatial working memory and progenitor cell proliferation in the hippocampus. METHODS Both male and female mice were randomly separated into two groups (radiated and control) and the radiated group was expo...

Aging is associated with cognitive impairment, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We have recently reported that the ability of rats to learn a Y-maze conditional discrimination task depends on the function of the glutamate-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway in brain. The aims of the present work were to assess whether the ability of rats to learn this task decreases with age and whether this...

BACKGROUND We previously demonstrated that a 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) induced lesion of substantia nigra (SN), which is a very well known animal model of Parkinson's disease, resulted in memory deficits and increased brain oxidative stress. Also, recent reports had suggested that nicotine from smoke may contribute, at least in some parts, to the apparent neuroprotective effect of tobacco use ...

Astrocytes are active players in higher brain function as they can release gliotransmitters, which are essential for synaptic plasticity. Various mechanisms have been proposed for gliotransmission, including vesicular mechanisms as well as non-vesicular ones, for example by passive diffusion via connexin hemichannels (HCs). We here investigated whether interfering with connexin43 (Cx43) HCs inf...

Certain species of orb-weavers add extra silk structures, termed a stabilimentum or web decoration, to their webs. In the genus Argiope stabilimenta are silken structures of densely woven zig-zag ribbons. The adaptive value of these stabilimenta is still unclear and controversially discussed. In the course of time, many functional hypotheses have been proposed for silk stabilimenta. Because of ...

Nepeta L. (Lamiaceae) species are belonging to aromatic and medicinal plants. Many biological activities of have been reported. In this study, memory-enhancing nuda ssp. essential oil was aimed be evaluated in laboratory rats treated with scopolamine. GC-MS/GC-FID system used identify composition. Memory performances the were tested using Y-maze radial-arm maze. Acetylcholinesterase enzyme acti...

11Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) locally amplifies active glucocorticoids within specific tissues including in brain. In the hippocampus, 11β-HSD1 messenger RNA increases with aging. Here, we report significantly greater increases in intrahippocampal corticosterone (CORT) levels in aged wild-type (WT) mice during the acquisition and retrieval trials in a Y-maze than age-mat...

This study was aimed at investigating the possible effects of phytoceramide (Pcer) on learning and memory and their underlying mechanisms. Phytoceramide was orally administered to ICR mice for 7 days. Memory performances were assessed using the passive avoidance test and Y-maze task. The expressions of phosphorylated cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB), brain-derived neurotrophic fact...

Mobile robots need a powerful and flexible navigation system in order to move around autonomously in an incompletely known and changing environm.ent. In this paper we present a computational metaphor for path generation which is gleaned from fluid dynamics. It is powerful because it can find optimal paths an a maze of arbitrary com,plexity and it is flexible because it readily adapts to any cha...

Enhanced physical activity is associated with improvements in cognitive function in rodents as well as in humans. The authors examined in detail which aspects of learning and memory are influenced by exercise, using a spatial Y-maze test combined with a 14-day exercise paradigm at different stages of learning. The authors show that 14 days of wheel running promotes memory acquisition, memory re...