Journal of Integrative Neuroscience - Volume 17, issue 2

Authors: Khayyer, Zahra | Ngaosuvan, Leonard | Sikström, Sverker | Ghaderi, Amir Hossein

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Frontal cortex activity in the left hemisphere during depression is reduced. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that can increase frontal cortex activity. Therapy based on tDCS and positive psychology (PP) therapy was applied improving patients’ quality of life. The present study compared three conditions participants with clinical depression; (a) tDCS therapy, (b) positive psychotherapy, and (c) combined treatment. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Adult State Hope Scale and Optimism/Pessimism Scale (OPS) was used at baseline, 2 weeks, 4-weeks and 3-months follow-up. Combined condition participants showed greater reduction in depressed mood, improved hope and optimism after …4-weeks as well as during 3-months follow-up than the other conditions. The results are discussed in terms of additive or synergistic relation between tDCS and PP treatment. Future studies should (a) use larger sample-sizes, (b) include no-treatment control conditions, (c) include double-blind designs, (d) control for previous or on-going drug therapy, (d) control for previous or ongoing psychotherapy. Furthermore, future studies should aim to increase theoretical understanding by investigating whether the relation between tDCS and psychotherapy are additive or synergistic. Show more

Keywords: Case study, major depression, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG), positive psychotherapy

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170045

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 141-155, 2018

Authors: Guo, Lei | Zhang, Wei | Zhang, Jialei

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A ten-layer feed forward network is constructed in the presence of an exogenous alternating magnetic field. Specifically, our results indicate that for rate coding, the firing rate is significantly increased in the presence of an exogenous alternating magnetic field and particularly with increasing enhancement of the alternating magnetic field amplitude. For temporal coding, the interspike intervals of the spiking sequence are decreased and the distribution of the interspike intervals of the spiking sequence tends to be uniform in the presence of alternating magnetic field.

Keywords: Spiking neural network, neural coding, reduced neuron model

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170046

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 157-168, 2018

Authors: Grbatinić, Ivan | Milosevic, Nebojsa | Maric, Dusica

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine whether the dentate neurons can be translaminary neuromorphotopologically classified as ventrolateral or dorsomedial type. Adult human dentate 2D binary interneuron images are used for the purposes of the analysis. The analysis is performed on the real and the virtual neuron sample. The total of 29 parameters is used. They can be divided into the classes: neuron surface, shape, length, branching and complexity. The clustering is performed through the algorithm consisted from of the steps of predictor extraction (matrix attractor analysis/non-negative matrix factorization and cluster analysis of predictor factors, separate unifactor analysis/Student’s t …-test and MANOVA) and multivariate cluster analysis set (cluster analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis with pro/varimax rotation, Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis and feed-forward backpropagation artificial neural networks). The separate unifactor analysis extracted as significant the following predictors: the N pd (p < 0.05 ) on the natural sample and the A dt (p < 0.05 ), D o (p < 0.001 ), M s (p < 0.01 ), D wdth (p < 0.001 ), N pd (p < 0.05 ), N sd (p < 0.001 ), N t / hod (p < 0.001 ), N max (p < 0.01 ), D s (p < 0.001 ), C df ( N t / hod ) st (p < 0.05 ) on the virtual one. Considering the multidimensional analysis, except for the Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis which gave the false positive result, any other analysis proclaimed the absence of the translaminar dentate neuron classification. The dentate neurons cannot be classified onto the ventrolateral/dorsomedial neuromorphotopological subtypes. Although some differences exist they are not strong enough to carry the classification. The methods of multidimensional statistical analysis are again shown to be the best for such kind of task. Show more

Keywords: Dentate neurons, translaminar neuromorphotopological clustering/classification based upon un/supervised learning techniques, multidimensional approach

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170044

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 169-201, 2018

Authors: Ni, Xinqiang | Liao, Yingzhao | Li, Limin | Zhang, Xiaoli | Wu, Zhengzhi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Chronic stress is one of the major causes that lead to major depressive disorder (MDD), which is a prevalent mood disorder worldwide. Lots of MDD patients could not benefit from available medication due to the complex etiology of MDD. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), molecular switches of downstream genes expression, have been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of MDD. LncRNA TCONS_00019174 has been implicated in MDD risk and antidepressant effects, However, the effect of lncRNA TCONS_00019174 on antidepressant responses has not been investigated. This study is designed to determine whether altered expression of lncRNA TCONS_00019174 contributes to the …depression-like behaviors associated with chronic stress. We found that mice exposed to chronic ultra-mild stress (CUMS) displayed apparent depression-like behaviors and decreased expression of lncRNA TCONS_00019174 in hippocampus. Both changed behaviors and lncRNA TCONS_00019174 expression level were rescued by chronic treatment of imipramine (IMI). Viral-mediated lncRNA TCONS_00019174 overexpression in hippocampal neurons improved behaviors of mice exposed to CUMS. Further, we found lncRNA TCONS_00019174 overexpression upregulated phosphorylated-GSK3β (p-GSK3β ) protein and β -catenin in the hippocampus. These findings suggest that lncRNA TCONS_00019174 exerts antidepressant-like effect in mice by activating Wnt/β -catenin pathway, proposing that lncRNAs may serve as a potential therapeutic target for MDD in the clinical application. Show more

Keywords: lncRNA, depression, chronic stress mouse model, GSK3β, β-catenin pathway

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170052

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 203-215, 2018

Authors: Peng, Hong | Wang, Hong-bin | Wang, Ling | Zhou, Bing | Li, Xiao-yong | Tan, Jian

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Depression caused by genetic and environmental factors is a kind of complicated disease. Here, we find that Gsk3β is highly expressed and phosphorylated in the brain of chronic stress mouse. Inhibition of Gsk3β lead to decreased depression like symptoms which is manifested in open field test, tail-suspension test, forced-swim test and novelty suppressed feeding test. Besides, accompanied by activated Gsk3β , we find that β -catenin is attenuated, and its target genes Cyclin D1 and c-Myc are down-regulated. Meanwhile, it was also found that Gsk3β can inhibit the Erk-Creb-BDNF signaling. These results show that Gsk3β may …promote the progression of depression. Therefore, target Gsk3β may be an effective therapeutic strategy. Show more

Keywords: Gsk3β, depression, chronic stress mouse model, behavioral testing, Wnt pathway, BDNF pathway

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170050

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 217-226, 2018

Authors: Tonello, Lucio | Gashi, Bekim | Scuotto, Alessandro | Cappello, Glenda | Cocchi, Massimo | Gabrielli, Fabio | Tuszynski, Jack A.

Article Type: Brief Report

Abstract: Living organisms tend to find viable strategies under ambient conditions that optimize their search for, and utilization of, life-sustaining resources. For plants, a leading role in this process is performed by auxin, a plant hormone that drives morphological development, dynamics, and movement to optimize the absorption of light (through branches and leaves) and chemical “food” (through roots). Similarly to auxin in plants, serotonin seems to play an important role in higher animals, especially humans. Here, it is proposed that morphological and functional similarities between (i) plant leaves and the animal/human brain and (ii) plant roots and the animal/human gastro-intestinal tract have general …features in common. Plants interact with light and use it for biological energy, whereas, neurons in the central nervous system seem to interact with bio-photons and use them for proper brain function. Further, as auxin drives roots “arborescence” within the soil, similarly serotonin seems to facilitate enteric nervous system connectivity within the human gastro-intestinal tract. This auxin/serotonin parallel suggests the root-branches axis in plants may be an evolutionary precursor to the gastro-intestinal-brain axis in humans. Finally, we hypothesize that light might be an important factor, both in gastro-intestinal dynamics and brain function. Such a comparison may indicate a key role for the interaction of light and serotonin in neuronal physiology (possibly in both the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system), and according to recent work, mind and consciousness. Show more

Keywords: Gastrointestinal-brain axis, tryptophan, serotonin, auxin, light, quantum brain model, biophotons, plants

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170048

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 227-237, 2018

Authors: Cong, Lele | Kong, Xiangyi | Wang, Jing | Du, Jianshi | Xu, Zhongxin | Xu, Yanan | Zhao, Qing

Article Type: Review Article

Abstract: A meta-analysis was performed to identify empirical data assessing the effects of a single nucleotide polymorphisms of sortilin-related receptor on Alzheimer’s disease based on 14 studies involving 37941 cases and 49727 control studies. The results show an increased risk between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs641120, rs1010159) and Alzheimer’s disease susceptibility in Asian populations, single nucleotide polymorphisms rs689021 was associated with a decreased risk in Caucasians, and single nucleotide polymorphisms rs641120 was detected as a decreased risk in both populations. Given these data, we provide crucial evidence to manifest that a significant relationship exists between SORL1 polymorphisms and the susceptibility of …Alzheimer’s disease. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, single nucleotide polymorphisms, sortilin-related receptor, neurogenomics

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170051

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 239-251, 2018

Authors: Thilaga, M. | Ramasamy, Vijayalakshmi | Nadarajan, R. | Nandagopal, D.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Understanding and analyzing the dynamic interactions among the millions of spatially distributed and functionally connected regions in the human brain constituting a massively parallel communication system is one of the major challenges in computational neuroscience. Many studies in the recent past have employed graph theory to efficiently model, quantitatively analyze and understand the brain’s electrical activity. Since, the human brain is believed to broadcast information with reduced material and metabolic costs, identifying various brain regions in the shortest pathways of information dissemination becomes essential to understand the intricacies of brain functioning. This paper proposes a graph theoretic approach using the …concept of shortest communication paths between various brain regions (electrode sites) to identify the significant communication pathways of information exchange between various nodes in the functional brain networks constructed using multi-channel EEG data. A special weighted network called Shortest Path Network is constructed from the functional brain network where the edge weight is computed as the sum of frequency of occurrence of that edge in all possible shortest paths between every pair of electrodes. The weighted Shortest Path Networks thus constructed portray the information on the number of times the edges are used in information propagation during different cognitive states. This network is further analyzed by computing the influential communication paths to characterize the information dissemination among brain regions during different cognitive load conditions. The experimental results presented demonstrate the efficacy of the novel graph theoretic approach in identifying, quantifying, and comparing the significant shortest pathways of information exchange during mild and heavy cognitive load conditions. The experimental analysis also provides an element of future research to consider the biological inferences of the ability of the human brain to use reduced material and metabolic cost during instantaneous transmission of information. Show more

Keywords: EEG, functional brain networks, cognition, graph theory, shortest paths

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170049

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 253-275, 2018

Authors: He, Lichan | He, Rui | Liang, Ruihua | Li, Yi | Li, Xiaoqiang | Li, Chuqiao | Zhang, Suping

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this study, we aimed to explore protein expression profiles in the hippocampus of rats after the induction of focal ischemia injury. Forty SD male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, with ten rats per group: the control, Day 3, Day 7, and Day 14 after the ischemia injury surgery. Focal cortical ischemia was induced in thirty rats by photothrombosis of the cortical microvessels. After surgery, the induction of ischemia was confirmed by the measurement of infarct size using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. In order to identify the differentially expressed proteins between the diseased and control sides of the …hippocampus, a comparative proteome analysis was performed using isobaric tags for relative or absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) coupled with 2D LC-MS/MS analysis. We identified 4,081 proteins, 260 of which were non-redundant and showed differential expression between the three surgery groups and the control. The hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that the three surgery groups had markedly different expression patterns of these 260 proteins, including 160 upregulated and 80 downregulated proteins. A Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed 4,944 GO terms, among which myelin sheath and cell junction were the two most enriched items. In the KEGG pathway analysis, ribosome was the most abundant item. A Venn diagram showing the overlap of 25 of the differentially expressed proteins quantified from the four groups and the results from the KEGG pathway analysis suggested that Epstein–Barr virus infection was the most abundant item. In protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, a total of 223 interactive proteins were predicted and used to construct the PPI network. In conclusion, myelin sheath, cell junction, and Epstein–Barr virus infection were implicated in focal ischemia injury. Vimentin (Vim) and albumin (Alb) may be important proteins involved in focal ischemia injury. Show more

Keywords: Focal ischemia injury, iTRAQ, proteomics, rat model

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170047

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 277-292, 2018

Authors: Zhou, Hua | Tang, Yan | Yuan, Zhi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: White matter (WM) asymmetries of the human brain have been well documented using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The purpose of this study was to investigate white matter asymmetry across the whole brain in cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) patients and evaluate the relation between the factors which often represent disease’s existence and white matter asymmetry. A total of 105 nondemented elderly with cerebral SVD patients aged between 60 and 85 years were included in this study. All participants underwent T1 MPRAGE, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and DTI scanning. With tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) in DTI, this study examined the WM asymmetries …and the correlations between WM asymmetries and four distinct factors such as deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMH) score, periventricularhyperintensities (PVH) score, cerebral microbleed (CMB) number and lacune number. Our study suggests the asymmetric microstructural change in SVD patients involving the right more injured than the left. The four factors jointly affect right brain anisotropy decrease in the middle cerebellar peduncle, the cerebral peduncle, the pontine crossing tract, the corticospinal tract, the medial lemniscus, the posterior limb of internal capsule and the frontal pattern of white matter. The results of our study demonstrated the lost right white matter may be the mainly origin of dysfunction in SVD patients. This asymmetry should help to evaluate prognostic indicators of disease progression in lesion-based neuropathology. Show more

Keywords: White matter (WM) asymmetries, cerebral small vessel disease, FA asymmetry

DOI: 10.3233/JIN-170037

Citation: Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 293-307, 2018