The Complex Relationships between Sex and the Brain

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Joel ◽  
Alicia Garcia-Falgueras ◽  
Dick Swaab
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
The Past ◽  
Animal Data ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Complex Scenario ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
The Brain

In the past decennia, our understanding of the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain has dramatically changed. The simple model according to which testosterone masculinizes the brain of males away from a default female form, was replaced with a complex scenario, according to which sex effects on the brain of both females and males are exerted by genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. These factors act via multiple partly independent mechanisms that may vary according to internal and external factors. These observations led to the “mosaic” hypothesis—the expectation of high variability in the degree of “maleness”/“femaleness” of different features within a single brain. Here, we briefly review animal data that form the basis of current understanding of sexual differentiation; present, in this context, the results of co-analyses of human brain measures obtained by magnetic resonance imaging or postmortem; discuss criticisms and controversies of the mosaic hypothesis and implications for research; and conclude that co-analysis of several (preferably, many) features and going back from the group level to that of the individual would advance our understanding of the relations between sex and the brain in health and disease.

scholarly journals DNA Methylation Profiles of Tph1A and BDNF in Gut and Brain of L. Rhamnosus-Treated Zebrafish

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Mariella Cuomo ◽  
Luca Borrelli ◽  
Rosa Della Monica ◽  
Lorena Coretti ◽  
Giulia De Riso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
The Past ◽  
Targeted Analysis ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
High Resolution Power ◽  
Resolution Level ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
High Doses ◽  
The Brain

The bidirectional microbiota–gut–brain axis has raised increasing interest over the past years in the context of health and disease, but there is a lack of information on molecular mechanisms underlying this connection. We hypothesized that change in microbiota composition may affect brain epigenetics leading to long-lasting effects on specific brain gene regulation. To test this hypothesis, we used Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) as a model system. As previously shown, treatment with high doses of probiotics can modulate behavior in Zebrafish, causing significant changes in the expression of some brain-relevant genes, such as BDNF and Tph1A. Using an ultra-deep targeted analysis, we investigated the methylation state of the BDNF and Tph1A promoter region in the brain and gut of probiotic-treated and untreated Zebrafishes. Thanks to the high resolution power of our analysis, we evaluated cell-to-cell methylation differences. At this resolution level, we found slight DNA methylation changes in probiotic-treated samples, likely related to a subgroup of brain and gut cells, and that specific DNA methylation signatures significantly correlated with specific behavioral scores.

scholarly journals The Neurobiology of Selenium: Looking Back and to the Future

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Schweizer ◽  
Simon Bohleber ◽  
Wenchao Zhao ◽  
Noelia Fradejas-Villar
Keyword(s):  
Cell Biology ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Epileptic Seizures ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Looking Back

Eighteen years ago, unexpected epileptic seizures in Selenop-knockout mice pointed to a potentially novel, possibly underestimated, and previously difficult to study role of selenium (Se) in the mammalian brain. This mouse model was the key to open the field of molecular mechanisms, i.e., to delineate the roles of selenium and individual selenoproteins in the brain, and answer specific questions like: how does Se enter the brain; which processes and which cell types are dependent on selenoproteins; and, what are the individual roles of selenoproteins in the brain? Many of these questions have been answered and much progress is being made to fill remaining gaps. Mouse and human genetics have together boosted the field tremendously, in addition to traditional biochemistry and cell biology. As always, new questions have become apparent or more pressing with solving older questions. We will briefly summarize what we know about selenoproteins in the human brain, glance over to the mouse as a useful model, and then discuss new questions and directions the field might take in the next 18 years.

scholarly journals A Guide to Emerging Technologies for Large-Scale and Whole-Brain Optical Imaging of Neuronal Activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 431-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siegfried Weisenburger ◽  
Alipasha Vaziri
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Large Area ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hybrid Approaches ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Neuroscience Community

The mammalian brain is a densely interconnected network that consists of millions to billions of neurons. Decoding how information is represented and processed by this neural circuitry requires the ability to capture and manipulate the dynamics of large populations at high speed and high resolution over a large area of the brain. Although the use of optical approaches by the neuroscience community has rapidly increased over the past two decades, most microscopy approaches are unable to record the activity of all neurons comprising a functional network across the mammalian brain at relevant temporal and spatial resolutions. In this review, we survey the recent development in optical technologies for Ca2+imaging in this regard and provide an overview of the strengths and limitations of each modality and its potential for scalability. We provide guidance from the perspective of a biological user driven by the typical biological applications and sample conditions. We also discuss the potential for future advances and synergies that could be obtained through hybrid approaches or other modalities.

Glutamic Acid and Glucose As Substrates for Mammalian Brain

1951 ◽  
Vol 97 (409) ◽  
pp. 674-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. McIlwain
Keyword(s):  
Glutamic Acid ◽  
Functional Activity ◽  
Metabolic Effects ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Brain

Effects of substances on the respiration of unstimulated portions of mammalian brain have been used in the past as aids to understanding or suggesting their actions on the brain in vivo. The present paper gives data with respect to glucose and glutamic acid, which show some of the limitations of such interpretations. It also describes the application of new experimental means of examining the metabolic effects of added substances in relation to the functional activity of the brain.

scholarly journals Hidden proteome of synaptic vesicles in the mammalian brain

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (52) ◽  
pp. 33586-33596
Author(s):  
Zacharie Taoufiq ◽  
Momchil Ninov ◽  
Alejandro Villar-Briones ◽  
Han-Ying Wang ◽  
Toshio Sasaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Vesicles ◽  
Copy Number ◽  
Synaptic Proteins ◽  
Brain Diseases ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Vesicular Transporters ◽  
Average Copy ◽  
The Brain

Current proteomic studies clarified canonical synaptic proteins that are common to many types of synapses. However, proteins of diversified functions in a subset of synapses are largely hidden because of their low abundance or structural similarities to abundant proteins. To overcome this limitation, we have developed an “ultra-definition” (UD) subcellular proteomic workflow. Using purified synaptic vesicle (SV) fraction from rat brain, we identified 1,466 proteins, three times more than reported previously. This refined proteome includes all canonical SV proteins, as well as numerous proteins of low abundance, many of which were hitherto undetected. Comparison of UD quantifications between SV and synaptosomal fractions has enabled us to distinguish SV-resident proteins from potential SV-visitor proteins. We found 134 SV residents, of which 86 are present in an average copy number per SV of less than one, including vesicular transporters of nonubiquitous neurotransmitters in the brain. We provide a fully annotated resource of all categorized SV-resident and potential SV-visitor proteins, which can be utilized to drive novel functional studies, as we characterized here Aak1 as a regulator of synaptic transmission. Moreover, proteins in the SV fraction are associated with more than 200 distinct brain diseases. Remarkably, a majority of these proteins was found in the low-abundance proteome range, highlighting its pathological significance. Our deep SV proteome will provide a fundamental resource for a variety of future investigations on the function of synapses in health and disease.

The Search for the Lost Father-Figure in Spanish American History: A Freudian View

1978 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-536
Author(s):  
Marvin Goldwert
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
American History ◽  
Spanish American ◽  
Father Figure ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Historical Thought

Sigmund Freud was more than the father of psychoanalysis; he was also one of the great classical philosophers of history. In Freud's historical thought, we have the framework for an analysis of the past which parallels the formation of neuroses in the life history of the individual. Like psychological man, historical man is the victim of events (trauma) from the past. Etched on the brain of historical man, are memories which endure through time, become part of the “archaic heritage,” and are transmitted from one generation to another. Then, like the “return of the repressed” in neurotic individuals, societies feel the afflictions of the past, which return to haunt them. That Freud stressed the killing of the primeval father by his jealous sons, an event of dubious historical veracity, should not obscure the value of his historical framework. In Freudian thought, the psychic stages of the individual unfold in the collective societies of history.

scholarly journals Enlightening the frontiers of neurogastroenterology through optogenetics

2020 ◽  
Vol 319 (3) ◽  
pp. G391-G399
Author(s):  
Anthony C. Johnson ◽  
Tijs Louwies ◽  
Casey O. Ligon ◽  
Beverley Greenwood-Van Meerveld
Keyword(s):  
Delayed Gastric Emptying ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Gi Tract ◽  
The Past ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Fundamental Research ◽  
Irritable Bowel ◽  
New Treatments ◽  
The Brain

Neurogastroenterology refers to the study of the extrinsic and intrinsic nervous system circuits controlling the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Over the past 5–10 yr there has been an explosion in novel methodologies, technologies and approaches that offer great promise to advance our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying GI function in health and disease. This review focuses on the use of optogenetics combined with electrophysiology in the field of neurogastroenterology. We discuss how these technologies and tools are currently being used to explore the brain-gut axis and debate the future research potential and limitations of these techniques. Taken together, we consider that the use of these technologies will enable researchers to answer important questions in neurogastroenterology through fundamental research. The answers to those questions will shorten the path from basic discovery to new treatments for patient populations with disorders of the brain-gut axis affecting the GI tract such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, achalasia, and delayed gastric emptying.

Histamine in the Nervous System

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 1183-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut L. Haas ◽  
Olga A. Sergeeva ◽  
Oliver Selbach
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Histaminergic Neurons ◽  
Feeding Rhythms ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Tuberomamillary Nucleus ◽  
Higher Brain Functions ◽  
The Brain

Histamine is a transmitter in the nervous system and a signaling molecule in the gut, the skin, and the immune system. Histaminergic neurons in mammalian brain are located exclusively in the tuberomamillary nucleus of the posterior hypothalamus and send their axons all over the central nervous system. Active solely during waking, they maintain wakefulness and attention. Three of the four known histamine receptors and binding to glutamate NMDA receptors serve multiple functions in the brain, particularly control of excitability and plasticity. H1 and H2 receptor-mediated actions are mostly excitatory; H3 receptors act as inhibitory auto- and heteroreceptors. Mutual interactions with other transmitter systems form a network that links basic homeostatic and higher brain functions, including sleep-wake regulation, circadian and feeding rhythms, immunity, learning, and memory in health and disease.

Fit Vs Faint: Assessing Work Causation in “Idiopathic Fall” Cases

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Lorne Direnfeld ◽  
David B. Torrey ◽  
Jim Black ◽  
LuAnn Haley ◽  
Christopher R. Brigham
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Electrical Activity ◽  
Loss Of Consciousness ◽  
Brain Electrical Activity ◽  
Medical Terminology ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Medical Causation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Current Science

Abstract When an individual falls due to a nonwork-related episode of dizziness, hits their head and sustains injury, do workers’ compensation laws consider such injuries to be compensable? Bearing in mind that each state makes its own laws, the answer depends on what caused the loss of consciousness, and the second asks specifically what happened in the fall that caused the injury? The first question speaks to medical causation, which applies scientific analysis to determine the cause of the problem. The second question addresses legal causation: Under what factual circumstances are injuries of this type potentially covered under the law? Much nuance attends this analysis. The authors discuss idiopathic falls, which in this context means “unique to the individual” as opposed to “of unknown cause,” which is the familiar medical terminology. The article presents three detailed case studies that describe falls that had their genesis in episodes of loss of consciousness, followed by analyses by lawyer or judge authors who address the issue of compensability, including three scenarios from Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania. A medical (scientific) analysis must be thorough and must determine the facts regarding the fall and what occurred: Was the fall due to a fit (eg, a seizure with loss of consciousness attributable to anormal brain electrical activity) or a faint (eg, loss of consciousness attributable to a decrease in blood flow to the brain? The evaluator should be able to fully explain the basis for the conclusions, including references to current science.

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY AS AN EVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM (TO THE THEORY OF COGNITIVE-IDEOLOGICAL MATRICES)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Konstantinov
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Evolutionary System ◽  
Consciousness Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Morphological Approach ◽  
Main Gene ◽  
Individual Consciousness ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sociological Studies

The aim of the article is to concretize the concept of political ideology in the aspect of its matrix structure and in the context of the cognitive-evolutionary approach. Based on Michael Frieden's morphological approach to the analysis of ideological consciousness, the concept of cognitive-ideological matrices is introduced, which allows us to describe the process of transition from proto-ideological to ideological concepts proper, especially at the level of individual consciousness. The identification of the ideological concept as the main “gene” of conceptual variability and inheritance made it possible to describe the main parameters of the evolution of political ideologies and associate it with changes taking place at the individual consciousness level. The described concept was tested in a series of sociological studies of youth consciousness conducted in 2015-2016 and 2018-2020. As a result of the study, it was possible to first identify the “zero level” of ideology, at which the minds of young respondents are potentially open to the influence of diverse and often mutually exclusive ideological orientations, and second, to pinpoint the changes that have occurred in the cognitive ideological matrices of Rostov-on-Don students over the past five years. This study was conducted by scientists from the southern Federal University.

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