Persistent cognitive and behavioral symptoms that characterize many mental health disorders arise from impaired neuroplasticity in several key corticolimbic brain regions. Recent evidence suggests that reciprocal neuron-microglia interactions shape neuroplasticity during physiological conditions, implicating microglia in the neurobiology of mental health disorders. Neuron-microglia interactions...

Physical exercise is one of the most effective methods for managing obesity, and exercise exerts positive effects on various brain functions. Excessive weight gain is known to be related to the impairment of cognitive function. High-fat diet-induced obesity impairs hippocampal neuroplasticity, which impedes cognitive function, such as learning ability and memory function. In this study, we inve...

A growing number of research publications have illustrated the remarkable ability of the brain to reorganize itself in response to various sensory experiences. A traditional view of this plastic nature of the brain is that it is predominantly limited to short epochs during early development. Although examples showing that neuroplasticity exists outside of these finite time-windows have existed ...

Neuroplasticity is essential to learning and memory in the brain; it has therefore also been implicated numerous neurological psychiatric disorders, making measuring state of neuroplasticity foremost importance clinical neuroscience. Long-term potentiation (LTP) a key mechanism studied extensively, invasively non-human animals. Translation human application largely relies on validation non-inva...

Neuroplasticity is related to the addition of additional axon collaterals and dendrites between a nerve cell and one it has previously shared a connection in order to strengthen, re-establish or forge brand new connections with pre-existing neurons. The role of neuroplasticity following a wound to an epithelium such as the cornea is of great importance to vision science, as it may help shape fu...

Patients with optic neuritis (ON) undergo cortical and subcortical neuroplasticity as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the effect of the heterogeneity of scotomas has not been adequately addressed previously. We introduce a new method of modelling scotomas in fMRI, to reveal a clearer pattern of neuroplasticity, across a mixed patient population. A longitudinal...

.....................................................................................i Zusammenfassung .................................................................iii Abbreviations ...........................................................................v Conducted Studies & Own Research Contributions ..........vii 1 Introduction..........................................................

Over the past five decades, the pharmacological treatment of depression has been based on the pathophysiological hypothesis of a deficiency in monoamines, mainly serotonin and noradrenaline. Antidepressant prescribed today, all of them designed to enhance central monoaminergic tone, present several important limitations, including a 2-5 weeks response lag and also a limited clinical efficacy. A...

Repetitive performance of a task can result in learning. The neural mechanisms underpinning such use-dependent plasticity are influenced by several neuromodulators. Variations in neuromodulator levels may contribute to the variability in performance outcomes following training. Circulating levels of the neuromodulator cortisol change throughout the day. High cortisol levels inhibit neuroplastic...