Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by a combination of re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms that are associated with stimuli linked to a traumatic event. The amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) ...

Soft bioelectronics leverages the mechanical compliance of soft materials to optimise the design of long-lasting electronic interfaces with biological tissue, for both sensing and modulation of neural activity. In the field of neuroengineering, numerous...

Pain is a debilitating and persistent symptom of osteoarthritis (OA). Previous work suggests that OA patients have large disruptions in grey matter that are distinct from other chronic pain conditions; the magnitudes of these disruptions are related to ...

ST8 alpha-N-acetyl-neuraminide alpha-2,8-sialyltransferase 3 (ST8SIA3) exists in the Golgi apparatus and belongs to the type II membrane protein. It is responsible for transferring one or multiple sialic acids to the terminal galactose of the N-linked o...

Background: Evidence exists showing an association between instrumental learning and the dorsal striatum. In this study we used voxel based morphometry (VBM) to investigate the role of the dorsal striatum in instrumental learning in the healthy ageing b...

Performance of unimanual movements is often associated with premotor (PM) and primary motor cortex (M1) activity ipsilateral to the moving hand, in addition to contralateral activity. The magnitude of this activity increases with the demand of the motor...

Recently, a considerable number of studies have suggested that sleep plays an important role in learning consolidation, although it is still controversial. In the present study, we examined consolidation-related brain activity during sleep after a visua...

Estrogen has been reported to enhance cocaine sensitization in the female rat, suggesting that brain circuits mediating the rewarding and addictive properties of cocaine are affected by the gonadal steroid. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effect of repeated cocaine administration on blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes in fully conscious female rats without and with estrogen. Rats were ovariectomized and given subcutaneous Silastic implants without (OVX) or with estradiol benzoate (OVX+EB). Upon recovery, rats were given an i.p. cocaine injection (1 mg/kg) on 7 consecutive days. Functional MRI was performed during injections on days 1 and 7. MR Images were acquired using a 4.7T/40-cm (Oxford magnet Technology, Oxford, UK) horizontal magnet interfaced to a Paravision console (Bruker Medical Instruments, MA, USA). Anatomical data sets were acquired using a fast spin echo (RARE) sequence, (TR=2.5s; TE=56ms; field of view= 3.5x3.5cm; data mat...

Introduction: The Val158Met (or known as rs4680) polymorphism within the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene results in valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution, with different dopamine release in subcortical regions, e.g. the striatum, and th...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has a slow onset, so it is challenging to distinguish brain changes in healthy elderly persons from incipient AD. One-year brain changes with a distinct frontotemporal pattern have been shown in older adults. However, it is not clear to what extent these changes may have been affected by undetected, early AD. To address this, we estimated 1-year atrophy by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 132 healthy elderly persons who had remained free of diagnosed mild cognitive impairment or AD for at least 3 years. We found significant volumetric reductions throughout the brain. The sample was further divided into low-risk groups based on clinical, biomarker, genetic, or cognitive criteria. Although sample sizes varied, significant reductions were observed in all groups, with rates and topographical distribution of atrophy comparable to that of the full sample. Volume reductions were especially pronounced in the default mode network, closely matching the previously described frontotemporal ...