scholarly journals The Effect of Environmental Enrichment Therapy Program for Developmental Delayed Children on Task Performance, Sensory Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Eun-Ji Jo ◽  
◽  
Kyoung-Young Park ◽  
Jeong-Sil Choi ◽  
Su-Jung Sin
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Therapy Program

scholarly journals Experience-Dependent Plasticity in Early Stations of Sensory Processing in Mature Brains: Effects of Environmental Enrichment On Dendrite Measures in Trigeminal Nuclei

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmina B Martin ◽  
Pilar Negredo ◽  
Carlos Avendaño
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Afferent Input ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Dendritic Trees ◽  
Trigeminal Nuclei ◽  
Dendritic Length ◽  
Two Populations

Abstract Nervous systems respond with structural changes to environmental changes even in adulthood. In recent years it has been shown that experience-dependent structural plasticity is not restricted to the cerebral cortex, but also occurs at subcortical and even peripheral levels. We have previously shown that two populations of trigeminal nuclei neurons, trigeminothalamic barrelette neurons of the principal nucleus (Pr5), and intersubnuclear neurons in the caudal division of the spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5C) that project to Pr5 underwent morphometric and topological changes in their dendritic trees after a prolonged total or partial loss of afferent input from the vibrissae. Here we examined whether and what structural alterations could be elicited in the dendritic trees of the same cell populations in young adult rats after being exposed for two months to an enriched environment (EE), and how these changes evolved when animals were returned to standard housing for an additional two months. Neurons were retrogradely labeled with dextran amine delivered to, respectively, the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus or Pr5. Fully labeled cells were digitally reconstructed with Neurolucida and analyzed with NeuroExplorer. EE gave rise to increases in dendritic length, number of trees and branching nodes, spatial expansion of the trees, and dendritic spines, which were less pronounced in Sp5C than in Pr5 and differed between sides. In Pr5 these parameters returned, but only partially, to control values after EE withdrawal. These results underscore a ubiquity of experience-dependent changes that should not be overlooked when interpreting neuroplasticity and developing plasticity-based therapeutic strategies.

scholarly journals Feedback Determines the Structure of Correlated Variability in Primary Visual Cortex

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian G. Bondy ◽  
Ralf Haefner ◽  
Bruce G. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Task Instruction ◽  
Sensory Coding ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
V1 Neurons ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Visual Hierarchy

The variable responses of sensory neurons tend to be weakly correlated (spike-count correlation, rsc). This is widely thought to reflect noise in shared afferents, in which case rsc can limit the reliability of sensory coding. However, it could also be due to feedback from higher-order brain regions. Currently, the relative contribution of these sources is unknown. We addressed this by recording from populations of V1 neurons in macaques performing different discrimination tasks involving the same visual input. We found that the structure of rsc(the way rsc varied with neuronal stimulus preference) changed systematically with task instruction. Therefore, even at the earliest stage in the cortical visual hierarchy, rsc structure during task performance primarily reflects feedback dynamics. Consequently, previous proposals for how rsc constrains sensory processing need not apply. Furthermore, we show that correlations between the activity of single neurons and choice depend on feedback engaged by the task.

scholarly journals Experience-dependent plasticity in early stations of sensory processing in mature brains: effects of environmental enrichment on dendrite measures in trigeminal nuclei

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmina B. Martin ◽  
Pilar Negredo ◽  
Carlos Avendaño
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Afferent Input ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Dendritic Trees ◽  
Trigeminal Nuclei ◽  
Dendritic Length ◽  
Two Populations

AbstractNervous systems respond with structural changes to environmental changes even in adulthood. In recent years, experience-dependent structural plasticity was shown not to be restricted to the cerebral cortex, as it also occurs at subcortical and even peripheral levels. We have previously shown that two populations of trigeminal nuclei neurons, trigeminothalamic barrelette neurons of the principal nucleus (Pr5), and intersubnuclear neurons in the caudal division of the spinal trigeminal nucleus (Sp5C) that project to Pr5 underwent morphometric and topological changes in their dendritic trees after a prolonged total or partial loss of afferent input from the vibrissae. Here we examined whether and what structural alterations could be elicited in the dendritic trees of the same cell populations in young adult rats after being exposed for 2 months to an enriched environment (EE), and how these changes evolved when animals were returned to standard housing for an additional 2 months. Neurons were retrogradely labeled with BDA delivered to, respectively, the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus or Pr5. Fully labeled cells were digitally reconstructed with Neurolucida and analyzed with NeuroExplorer. EE gave rise to increases in dendritic length, number of trees and branching nodes, spatial expansion of the trees, and dendritic spines, which were less pronounced in Sp5C than in Pr5 and differed between sides. In Pr5, these parameters returned, but only partially, to control values after EE withdrawal. These results underscore a ubiquity of experience-dependent changes that should not be overlooked when interpreting neuroplasticity and developing plasticity-based therapeutic strategies.

scholarly journals Evidence-Based Physical Therapy for Individuals with Rett Syndrome: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 410
Author(s):  
Marta Fonzo ◽  
Felice Sirico ◽  
Bruno Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Rett Syndrome ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Genetic Disorder ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Level Of Evidence ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Based Medicine

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development and causes severe mental and physical disability. This systematic review analyzes the most recent evidence concerning the role of physical therapy in the management of individuals with Rett syndrome. The review was carried out in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A total of 17319 studies were found in the main scientific databases. Applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 22 studies were admitted to the final phase of the review. Level of evidence of the included studies was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine—Levels of Evidence guide. Nine approaches to physical therapy for patients with Rett syndrome were identified: applied behavior analysis, conductive education, environmental enrichment, traditional physiotherapy with or without aids, hydrotherapy, treadmill, music therapy, computerized systems, and sensory-based treatment. It has been reported that patients had clinically benefited from the analysed approaches despite the fact that they did not have strong research evidence. According to the results, a multimodal individualized physical therapy program should be regularly recommended to patients with Rett syndrome in order to preserve autonomy and to improve quality of life. However, more high-quality studies are needed to confirm these findings.

scholarly journals Hippocampal Influences on Movements, Sensory, and Language Processing: A Role in Cognitive Control?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Burman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Established Role

Beyond its established role in declarative memory function, the hippocampus has been implicated in varied roles in sensory processing and cognition, particularly those requiring temporal or spatial context. Disentangling its known role in memory from other cognitive functions can be challenging, as memory is directly or indirectly involved in most conscious activities, including tasks that underlie most experimental investigations. Recent work from this lab has examined the directional influence from the hippocampus on cortical areas involved in task performance, including tasks requiring movements, sensory processing, or language judgments. The hippocampus shows preferential connectivity with relevant cortical areas, typically the region critically involved in task performance, raising the possibility that the hippocampus plays a role in cognitive control. Minimal criteria for a role in cognitive control are proposed, and hippocampal connectivity with sensorimotor cortex during a non-mnemonic motor task is shown to meet this standard. Future directions for exploration are discussed.

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