Response Characteristics of Barrel Cortical Neurons in Layers IV/V of Juvenile Rats with Autism-Like Traits after Tactile Stimulation.

The barrel cortex is a specialized region of the primary somatosensory cortex that processes tactile information from whiskers. This study investigates how tactile stimulation (TS) affects excitatory receptive fields and surrounds suppression in barrel cortex neurons of male and female autistic-like rats, using various whisker displacement protocols. The animals were categorized into control, Valproic acid pre-treated (Val), and Val-TS treatment groups.

Ovarian epigenetics modifications following lifestyle interventions by exercise and alternate-day feeding in letrozole-induced PCOS rats.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine disorder affecting women, often associated with changes in emotional well-being, oxidative stress, and epigenetic modifications. While lifestyle changes are the primary treatment, their roles in ovarian epigenetics in PCOS remain unknown. This study investigates the impact of treadmill exercise and alternate-day feeding (ADF), either individually or combined, on PCOS characteristics and their underlying epigenetic mechanisms in PCOS rats.

Tactile stimulation and its impact on barrel cortex neuron receptive fields in whisker-deprived male rats.

Understanding the enhancement of neuronal performance through the interaction of various sensory stimuli and evaluating how these interactions influence neuronal responses and sensorimotor behaviors is critical. This study investigates the simultaneous effects of tactile stimulation (TS) and sensory deprivation of whiskers on the receptive field properties of barrel cortex neurons in Wistar rats. Male rats were subjected to whisker deprivation (WD) or TS for 21 days from birth.

Protective effects of omega-3 against procarbazine-induced brain damage in the cerebellum and CA1 Hippocampus of male rats: a focus on oxidative stress mechanisms.

The study examined the combined effects of procarbazine (PCZ) and omega-3 on cognitive functions, motor skills, and brain histology in male rats over ten days. While PCZ has antitumor properties, omega-3 is a dietary supplement with potential health benefits. Here, forty-eight adult male Wistar rats, averaging 230 to 250 g, were used in this study.

The Effect of Valproic Acid Administration on Learning, Social Interaction, and Depression Induced by Withdrawal Syndrome in Morphine-dependent Mice.

Background: Opioids can lead to mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairment. Valproic acid (VPA) has neuroprotective effects that can prevent neural degeneration. This study aims to examine the impact of VPA on learning, social interaction, and depression in mice dependent on morphine.

Effects of enriched environment on barrel cortex and hippocampus function following somatosensory damage in rat.

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of environmental enrichment (EE) on the behavior and histological alterations of rats with barrel cortex damage.

Methods: Forty-eight adult male rats were divided into Control (Ctrl), Lesion, Lesion+EE.S (Lesion+Standard Enriched Environment, and Lesion+EE.

Amelioration of behavioral and histological impairments in somatosensory cortex injury rats by limbal mesenchymal stem cell transplantation.

Introduction: Cortical lesions can cause major sensory and motor impairments, representing a significant challenge in neuroscience and clinical medicine. Limbal mesenchymal stem cells (LMSCs), renowned for their remarkable ability to proliferate and distinct characteristics within the corneal epithelium, offer a promising opportunity for regenerative treatments. This study aimed to assess whether the transplantation of LMSCs could improve tactile ability in rats with lesions of the barrel cortex.

Exploring the impact of melatonin and omega-3, individually and in combination, on cognitive function, histological changes, and oxidant-antioxidant balance in male rats with dorsal CA1 hippocampal lesions.

Background And Objective: Damage to the hippocampus leads to increased anxiety, memory problems, and learning disabilities. Melatonin (MLT), a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, serves as an antioxidant and provides defense against nerve damage. Omega-3 (ω3) is known for improving brain function.

Social hierarchy differentially influences the anxiety-like behaviors and dendritic spine density in prefrontal cortex and limbic areas in male rats.

Social hierarchy is a fundamental feature of social organization that can influence brain and emotional processing regarding social ranks. Several areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the hippocampus, and the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA), are recognized to be involved in the regulation of emotional processing. However, its delicate structural correlates in brain regions are poorly understood.

Left Barrel Cortical Neurons Activity following Transplantation of Stem Cells into Right Lesioned-Barrel Cortex in Rats.

Objective: Stem cells (SCs) can improve the functional defects of brain injury. Rodents use their whiskers to get tactile information from their surroundings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the transplantation of SCs into the lesioned barrel cortex can help neuronal function in the contralateral cortex.

Comparative effects of the alcoholic extract of Terminalia chebula and crocin on stress‑induced anxiety‑like behavior and memory impairment in male rats.

Crocin and Terminalia chebula (T. chebula) were proven to have neuroprotective effects. In this study, we evaluated the preventive effects of crocin and alcoholic extract of the T.

Alteration in social interaction and tactile discrimination of juvenile autistic-like rats following tactile stimulation and whisker deprivation.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that can affect sensory-motor behaviors in the valproic acid (Val) rodent model of autism. Although whisker deprivation (WD) induces plastic changes in the cortical neurons, tactile stimulation (TS) during the neonatal period may reverse it. Here, we investigate the interaction effects of TS and WD on behavioral and histologic features of barrel cortex neurons in juvenile Val-treated.

Temporal order judgment of multisensory stimuli in rat and human.

We do not fully understand the resolution at which temporal information is processed by different species. Here we employed a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task in rats and humans to test the temporal precision with which these species can detect the order of presentation of simple stimuli across two modalities of vision and audition. Both species reported the order of audiovisual stimuli when they were presented from a central location at a range of stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA)s.

L-carnitine attenuates acoustic startle reflex dysfunction in adult male rats exposed to mancozeb.

The fungicide mancozeb increases oxygen-free radicals in the central nervous system. As an antioxidant, L-carnitine protects DNA and cell membranes from damage caused by oxygen-free radicals. The present study investigated how L-carnitine affected the acoustic startle response (ASR) in rats exposed to mancozeb.

Sex difference in cognitive behavioral alterations and barrel cortex neuronal responses in rats exposed prenatally to valproic acid under continuous environmental enrichment.

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that can affect social interactions and sensory-motor behaviors. The present study investigates the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) on behavioral alterations and neuron responses associated with the barrel cortex of young adult female and male rats exposed prenatally to valproic acid (VPA). Pregnant female rats were pretreated with either saline or VPA (500 mg/kg, IP) on day 12.

The potential impact of Covid-19 on CNS and psychiatric sequels.

Due to its high prevalence and fatality, the current Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which first emerged in China in 2019, quickly spread around the world and immediately became a serious global health concern. Although respiratory issues were initially the most prominent symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it became obvious rapidly that COVID-19, like many other coronavirus family members, could affect the central nervous system (CNS). During the pandemic, CNS involvement expressed itself in a variety of forms, including insomnia, anosmia, headaches, encephalopathies, encephalitis, cerebrovascular accidents, cognitive and memory impairment, and increased psychiatric disorders.

Chronically Pre-treatment of Pistachio Alters the Morphology of CA1 Hippocampus Neurons Following Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Male Wistar Rats.

Background: Consumption of antioxidants is effective on reducing the damage caused by cerebral ischemia.

Objectives: We investigated the effect of Pistacia vera (pistachio) pretreatment on the morphology of the cornu ammonis (CA1) region of hippocampus neurons of the rats' hippocampus following transient focal cerebral occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA).

Methods: In this study, 30  male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups of control, ischemia, and pretreatment with pistachio (fed with pistachio at 6% of the diet for a five-week duration before the right MCA occlusion).

Genetic and epigenetic modifications of F1 offspring's sperm cells following in utero and lactational combined exposure to nicotine and ethanol.

It is well established that maternal lifestyle during pregnancy and lactation affects the intrauterine programming of F1 offspring. However, despite the co-use of alcohol and nicotine is a common habit, the effects of exposure to both substances on the reproductive system of F1 male offspring and the underlying mechanisms of developmental programming have not been investigated. The present study aimed to examine pre- and postnatal concurrent exposure to these substances on genetic and epigenetic alterations of sperm cells as well as testis properties of F1 offspring compared with exposure to each substance alone.

Transplantation of rat dental pulp stem cells facilities post-lesion recovery in the somatosensory whisker cortex of male Wistar rats.

Damage to somatosensory "barrel" cortex reduces the rats' behavioral sensitivity in discrimination of tactile stimuli. Here, we examined how transplantation of stem cells into the lesioned barrel cortex can help in recovery of sensory capacities. We induced mechanical lesions in the right barrel cortex area of male rats.

Administering crocin ameliorates anxiety-like behaviours and reduces the inflammatory response in amyloid-beta induced neurotoxicity in rat.

Anxiety, hippocampus synaptic plasticity deficit, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines, are involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study is designed to evaluate the possible therapeutic effect of crocin on anxiety-like behaviours, hippocampal synaptic plasticity and neuronal shape, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus using in vivo amyloid-beta (Aβ) models of AD. The Aβ peptide (1-42) was bilaterally injected into the frontal-cortex.

Pharmacological mechanism of immunomodulatory agents for the treatment of severe cases of COVID-19 infection.

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a world-wide pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). To date, treatment of severe COVID-19 is far from clear. Therefore, it is urgent to develop an effective option for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Focal unilateral mechanical lesion in barrel cortex impairs rat's abilities to discriminate textures.

Purpose/aim Of The Study: Whiskers are important sensory organs that play a key role in rodents' discriminative and exploration behaviours and unilateral injuries of the somatosensory cortex related to whisker barrel cortex can change the activity of neurons in the intact contralateral barrel cortex. We evaluated the effects of unilateral mechanical lesion of right barrel cortex on novel texture discrimination in behavioural test and neuronal responses of left barrel cortex.

Materials And Methods: Ten days after a unilateral mechanical lesion in the right barrel cortex, adult male rats were experimented regarding three paired different textures in novel texture discrimination test dependent on whiskers.

Crocin attenuates the granular cells damages on the dentate gyrus and pyramidal neurons in the CA3 regions of the hippocampus and frontal cortex in the rat model of Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid β-peptides (Aβ) are considered as a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that can induce synaptic loss and apoptosis in brain regions, particularly in the cortex and the hippocampus. Evidence suggests that crocin, as the major component of saffron, can exhibit neuromodulatory effects in AD. However, specific data related to their efficacy to attenuate the synaptic loss and neuronal death in animal models of AD are limited.

Effect of mild and chronic neonatal hypothyroidism on sensory information processing in a rodent model: A behavioral and electrophysiological study.

Thyroid hormones are essential for neonatal brain development. It is well established that absence of thyroid hormones during critical periods of development can alter sensory functions such as visual and auditory processing, but there are few studies on rat somatosensory system development at mild, long-term, and irreversible neonatal hypothyroidism. Thus, the current study was conducted to investigate whether chronic thyroid hormone insufficiency would alter different cognitive aspects of tactile information processing and sensory motor filtering at behavioral or neuronal levels.

Movento effects on learning and hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein of adult male rats.

Spirotetramat is a toxic commercially known as Movento used to control pistachio psylla pests. In the present study, the effects of Movento on passive avoidance learning of rats and their ability to explore the novel object in the novel object recognition test were investigated. The changes in the concentration of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) proteins were evaluated, too.