神经生物学

For many years, scientists have developed animal models of epilepsy to study specific aspects of the human condition. Rodents are the species of choice in the vast majority of these studies. In a departure from these rodent-centric models, we here describe zebrafish (Danio rerio), a genetical ...

Here we describe a novel model system based on the transparent albino Xenopus laevis tadpole which is particularly well suited for the study of seizures and their sequelae within the intact developing brain. This system allows in vivo imaging of neuronal circuit activity with single-cell re ...

There has been an increased interest recently in various Drosophila models of human disease. The goals are to uncover the fundamental biological principles underlying causes and cures of human pathology utilizing the power of Drosophila genetics. A particularly exciting prospect is ...

Acquiring a holistic understanding of epilepsy, an intricate and often multifactorial disorder, is certain to necessitate considerable effort from a diverse and global assortment of scientists and clinicians. For most of its history, a combination of basic research with rodent mode ...

Neurogenesis persists in the adult mammalian hippocampal dentate gyrus and is influenced by epileptogenic insults. Studies of rodent mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) models indicate that status epilepticus acutely increases dentate granule cell (DGC) neurogenesis, but in ...

Theoretically, gene therapy offers an attractive alternative for the treatment of focal epilepsies, and recently, studies have established the basic viability of anti-seizure gene therapy by employing a number of diverse approaches. Using recombinant adeno-associated virus ( ...

Understanding seizure generation, the transition from interictal to ictal states, and its underlying mechanisms requires continuous electrophysiologic monitoring. Though the duration of monitoring may vary from brief experiments over minutes to months of continuous rec ...

Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures experience trauma, deafferentation due to cell loss or transection of afferent pathways, and neuronal circuitry rearrangements much like the events that can lead to acquired temporal lobe epilepsy. Organotypic hippocampal slice cult ...

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) is the illicit drug most commonly used by two vulnerable populations relevant to neurodevelopment—pregnant women and teenagers. Human longitudinal studies have linked prenatal and adolescent cannabis exposure with long-term behavioral abnor ...

Tobacco addiction is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. Despite the negative health outcomes of tobacco use and a desire to quit, there is a low success rate of maintaining abstinence. Nicotine, the main psychoactive component of tobacco smoke, is mildly rewarding and ma ...

Among the human population, 15% of drug users develop a pathological drug addiction. This figure increases substantially with nicotine, whereby more than 30% of those who try smoking develop a nicotine addiction. Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and drug-tak ...

Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely abused psychomotor stimulant. Investigating the effects of METH use on the brain has been applied in different animal models, including rats, mice, and nonhuman primates. Human abuse of METH occurs in different paradigms ranging from episodes of binge ab ...

For decades, researchers have used animal self-administration models to examine the effects drugs of abuse have on physiology and behavior. Sophisticated self-administration procedures have been developed to model many different aspects of drug addiction. The hold-down proce ...

Cocaine self-administration provides a methodology allowing researchers to study changes in distinct aspects of drug-taking behavior that model behaviors observed in drug addicts. Traditionally, self-administration schedules were designed to independently study ch ...

A discrete trials procedure involves splitting up a self-administration session so that there are multiple distinct trials and inter-trial-intervals. This schedule is well suited to be used over 24 h periods which allows insight into diurnal variability in self-administration beh ...

Locomotor activity procedures are useful for characterizing the behavioral effects of a drug, the influence of pharmacological, neurobiological, and environmental manipulations on drug sensitivity, and changes in activity following repeated administration (e.g., tole ...

Smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of disease, disability, and death in the USA and leads to more than 400,000 preventable deaths per year. Nicotine is the major alkaloid present in tobacco smoke, and many of the negative effects of smoking are attributed to nicotine. Nicotine is not only t ...

The effects of IL-2 on brain development, function, and disease are the result of IL-2’s actions in the peripheral immune system and its intrinsic actions in the central nervous system (CNS). Determining whether, and under what circumstances (e.g., development, acute injury), these different ...

Immune inflammatory processes in prenatal and perinatal stages are suggested to play crucial roles in the vulnerability to schizophrenia. Based upon this immune inflammatory hypothesis for schizophrenia, we have established animal models for this illness by subcutaneously ad ...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic and disabling anxiety disorder that occurs after a traumatic event. It is associated with an increased risk of suicide and marked deficits in social and occupational functioning. Currently, the diagnosis for PTSD is established on the bas ...