小脑:它的组件式神经元环路是如何进行运动学习和经典式条件反射活动的?

近年来积累的资料表明,脊椎动物小脑不仅参与一向公认的躯体平衡、运动协调和技巧动作的获得,而且也同神经系统的高级认知功能(cognitive function)有关;但如何把这些功能活动同小脑特有、而又规则地遍布于小脑各部分的组件式结构(modular organization)联系起来,却存在较大的分歧和研究空间.本文仅就小脑的结构特点,以及如何将它们同近年来已成为研究热点的有关运动学习(motor learning)和经典式条件反射形成机制联系起来,作一些重点介绍.     

针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症患者伴胃肠功能紊乱的临床疗效

摘要 目的：探讨针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症患者伴胃肠功能紊乱的临床疗效。方法：选取我院2020年5月到2023年5月收治的80例抑郁症伴胃肠功能紊乱患者作为研究对象,中医证型均为肝郁脾虚型,分为观察组与对照组,40例。对照组患者采取逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗,观察组在对照组基础上增加针灸治疗,对比两组患者临床疗效,分别在治疗前后应用汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）、负性认知加工偏向问卷（NCPBQ）评价抑郁症状和负性认知情况,并对比治疗前后肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、C反应蛋白（CRP）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）表达水平和胃动素（motilin,MTL）、生长抑素（SS）、胃泌素（GAS）相关血清肠胃激素表达水平,并采用世界卫生组织生活质量-100量表（WHOQOL-100）评估生活质量。结果：观察组治疗总有效率较对照组高（P＜0.05）;治疗前两组患者HAMD、NCPBQ评分对比无差异（P＞0.05）,治疗后两组患者均降低,且观察组较对照组低（P＜0.05）;治疗前两组患者TNF-α、CRP、IL-6相关炎症因子和MTL、SS、GAS相关胃肠激素水平对比无明显差异（P＞0.05）,治疗后两组患者TNF-α、CRP、IL-6、SS、GAS水平均降低,且观察组较对照组低,MTL水平升高,观察组较对照组高（P＜0.05）;两组患者治疗后生活质量相关评分均升高,且观察组较对照组高（P＜0.05）。结论：针灸联合逍遥散合半夏厚朴汤治疗肝郁脾虚型抑郁症伴胃肠功能紊乱疗效显著,可减轻患者抑郁情绪和负性认知,降低炎症反应,改善胃肠激素水平,提升患者生活质量。     

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom

The hypothesis is suggested that resource depression is one important factor behind the observed regular nest spacing of many birds of prey. It predicts that the proportion of evasive prey in the predator's diet should be reflected in the degree of regularity in its nest spacing. The idea is tested on data from 24 raptorial bird populations of 19 species. The proportion of supposed evasive prey (birds and large mammals) in the diet was positively correlated with the degree of regularity in spacing of the nests, considering all populations or species. No such significant correlation was found for the six highly territorial species, whereas the correlation was highly significant for the other 13 species. Thus, the hypothesis seems most applicable to species with widely overlapping home ranges. However, resource depression could be one reason for territoriality.     

Intracellular Zn2+ accumulation enhances suppression of synaptic activity following spreading depolarization

Spreading depolarization (SD) is a feed‐forward wave that propagates slowly throughout brain tissue and recovery from SD involves substantial metabolic demand. Presynaptic Zn²⁺ release and intracellular accumulation occurs with SD, and elevated intracellular Zn²⁺ ([Zn²⁺]_i) can impair cellular metabolism through multiple pathways. We tested here whether increased [Zn²⁺]_i could exacerbate the metabolic challenge of SD, induced by KCl, and delay recovery in acute murine hippocampal slices. [Zn²⁺]_i loading prior to SD, by transient ZnCl₂ application with the Zn²⁺ ionophore pyrithione (Zn/Pyr), delayed recovery of field excitatory post‐synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in a concentration‐dependent manner, prolonged DC shifts, and significantly increased extracellular adenosine accumulation. These effects could be due to metabolic inhibition, occurring downstream of pyruvate utilization. Prolonged [Zn²⁺]_i accumulation prior to SD was required for effects on fEPSP recovery and consistent with this, endogenous synaptic Zn²⁺ release during SD propagation did not delay recovery from SD. The effects of exogenous [Zn²⁺]_i loading were also lost in slices preconditioned with repetitive SDs, implying a rapid adaptation. Together, these results suggest that [Zn²⁺]_i loading prior to SD can provide significant additional challenge to brain tissue, and could contribute to deleterious effects of [Zn²⁺]_i accumulation in a range of brain injury models.     

A natural model of behavioral depression in postpartum adult female cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

Within the postpartum period, both mothers and infants are susceptible; but because PPD typically occurs for short durations and has moderate symptoms, there exists challenges in exploring and addressing the underlying cause of the depression. This fact highlights the need for relevant animal models. In the present study, postpartum adult female cynomolgus monkeys(Macaca fascicularis) living in breeding groups were observed for typical depressive behavior. The huddle posture behavior was utilized as an indicator of behavioral depression postpartum(BDP) as it has been established as the core depressive-like behavior in primates. Monkeys were divided into two groups: A BDP group(n=6), which were found to spend more time huddling over the first two weeks postpartum than other individuals that formed a non-depression control group(n=4). The two groups were then further analyzed for locomotive activity, stressful events, hair cortisol levels and for maternal interactive behaviors. No differences were found between the BDP and control groups in locomotive activity, in the frequencies of stressful events experienced and in hair cortisol levels. These findings suggested that the postpartum depression witnessed in the monkeys was not related to external factors other than puerperium period. Interestingly, the BDP monkeys displayed an abnormal maternal relationship consisting of increased infant grooming. Taken together, these findings suggest that the adult female cynomolgus monkeys provide a natural model of behavioral postpartum depression that holds a number of advantages over commonly used rodent systems in PPD modeling. The cynomolgus monkeys have a highly-organized social hierarchy and reproductive characteristics without seasonal restriction—similar to humans—as well as much greater homology to humans than rodents. As such, this model may provide a greater translational efficiency and research platform for systematically investigating the etiology, treatment, prevention of PPD.     

Effectiveness and specificity of a classroom-based group intervention in children and adolescents exposed to war in Lebanon

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and specificity of a classroom-based psychosocial intervention after war. All students (n=2500) of six villages in Southern Lebanon designated as most heavily exposed to war received a classroom-based intervention delivered by teachers, consisting of cognitive-behavioural and stress inoculation training strategies. A random sample of treated students (n=101) and a matched control group (n=93) were assessed one month post-war and one year later. Mental disorders and psychosocial stressors were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents - Revised with children and parents. War exposure was measured using the War Events Questionnaire. The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), separation anxiety disorder (SAD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was examined pre-war, one month post-war (pre-intervention), and one year post-war. Specificity of treatment was determined by rating teachers’ therapy diaries. The rates of disorders peaked one month post-war and decreased over one year. There was no significant effect of the intervention on the rates of MDD, SAD or PTSD. Post-war MDD, SAD and PTSD were associated with pre-war SAD and PTSD, family violence parameters, financial problems and witnessing war events. These findings have significant policy and public health implications, given current practices of delivering universal interventions immediately post-war.     

Psychedelic-inspired drug discovery using an engineered biosensor

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MEASURES OF PHENOTYPIC SELECTION ARE BIASED BY PARTIAL INBREEDING

When populations are partially inbred due to the population structure or to a mixed mating system like partial self-fertilization, some individuals will be more inbred than others. This heterogeneity among individuals in the history of inbreeding can greatly complicate the interpretation of measures of quantitative genetic variability when the traits studied exhibit inbreeding depression. Partial inbreeding can also bias measures of phenotypic selection toward the detection of strong directional and stabilizing selection. In this paper, data are presented from several inbreeding experiments conducted on two partially selfing, annual populations of the monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus that show that the means of many of the morphological and phenological traits measured were affected by inbreeding. These findings imply that estimates of heritabilities and additive genetic covariances would not reflect the potential for these populations to respond to selection. Phenotypic selection analyses conducted on naturally occurring plants, involving linear regressions of relative seed production on the traits, revealed significant directional selection on many of the same quantitative traits measured in the inbreeding studies. However, when the same selection analyses were performed on plants with known histories of inbreeding, part of the statistical relationship between relative seed number and the traits was found to be due to the mating system: inbred individuals had both lower seed production and different mean values for the traits than outcrossed individuals. It is also shown, with a hypothetical example, that partial inbreeding can bias measures of stabilizing selection toward the detection of strong stabilizing selection. Partial inbreeding therefore tends to make directional and stabilizing selection appear stronger than it is, and it may be that natural selection in the wild is actually weaker than many studies of partially inbred species suggest.     

THE EFFECTS OF SELECTION IN THE GAMETOPHYTE STAGE ON MUTATIONAL LOAD

We have studied a multilocus selection model of a plant population in which mutations to deleterious alleles occur that may affect not only the diploid sporophyte stage, but also the haploid pollen stage before zygote formation. We investigated the reduction in inbreeding depression (as measured in the sporophyte) caused by the lowering of mutant allele frequencies due to selection in the pollen. This is important for a full understanding of the role of inbreeding depression in the maintenance of outcrossing in seed plants. We also studied the theoretically expected relationship between the pollen fitnesses of different pollen donor genotypes and the fitnesses of the diploid progeny that they sire. This relationship can be compared with the results of experiments in which pollen was subjected to selection, and improved progeny quality was observed. We found that on the mutational load model there is, as expected intuitively, a positive covariance between the pollen and zygote fitnesses, but that it is likely to be small. Subjecting pollen to an episode of strong selection is usually expected to increase sporophyte fitness only slightly.