High energy charged particle (HZE) radiation effects on the CNS are poorly understood. It is desirable to develop a non-invasive biomarker to evaluate the central nervous system (CNS) pathophysiological processes after HZE exposure. Previously we have s...

Check out these newsworthy studies from the March 29, 2017, issue of JNeurosci. Media interested in obtaining the full text of the studies should contact media@sfn.org.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a puzzling disease marked by arthralgia and reports of memory dysfunction. Although FMs have been dismissed as malingerers, recent fMRI data show they have heightened sensitivity to pain mediated by several brain regions (Gracely et al., 2002), and their memory function is similar to adults 20 years older (Park et al., 2001). Using fMRI, we investigated whether FMs have “old” brains, with neural recruitment patterns (bilateral frontal and more extensive activations) during a working memory (WM) task typical of older adults, rather than patterns (focused, primarily unilateral activations) typical of younger adults. FMs (n = 12) and age- and education-matched controls (n = 9) performed a verbal WM task that involved either maintaining letters in memory or reorganizing them alphabetically and then responding to a probe. We found neural activation differences for manipulation of items in WM between FMs and controls, although behavioral performance was equivalent in both WM conditions. Spec...

The olfactory system is a unique route for uptake and transport of materials to the central nervous system. The purpose of this study is to trace transport of a paramagnetic substance, manganese, in the rat olfactory system using serial magnetic resonance imaging. Sequential magnetic resonance imaging on a 1.5T MR scanner using a rat brain volume coil and 3D SPGR pulse sequence was performed at pre-injection, and 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, and 48 hour post injection of 10 microliter MnCl2 solution via polyethylene catheter into the right nasal cavity in 5 male Sprague Dawley rats under isoflurane anesthesia. Changes in signal intensity were measured by region-of-interest analysis as well as voxel-by-voxel subtraction analysis of post-pre injection images using image coregistration. Signal intensity changes of greater than 1.9 target to muscle ratio were seen progressively in the right olfactory epithelium (post injection), olfactory bulb (< 6 hrs), olfactory tubercle (<9 hrs), piriform cortex (<9 hrs), and entorhin...

Positive emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging measure neuronal activation indirectly by mapping regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with a temporal resolution of 40-70s and a spatial resolution of 5x5x5 mm. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquires images that are sensitive to both percent oxygenation of hemoglobin and rCBF, called blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast. fMRI images, with typical spatial resolution of 2x2x5 mm and temporal resolution of 1-2s are superior to PET or SPECT for assessing responses in the brain to stimulation. 18 axial, fast-spin echo, T2-weighted anatomical scans of the entire brain were acquired. Then fMRI BOLD images (same 18 axial slices, 2x2x6 mm) of the brain were acquired during bladder filling with saline until the subject signaled a full bladder then the bladder was drained. This cycle was repeated 2-7 times in seven female and one male paid volunteers. During these cycles, fMRI brain images wer...

We present a neuroanatomical study of the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) brain using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The specimen is the postmortem brain of a stranded adult harbor porpoise. Magnetic resonance images of the entire brain were acquired in the coronal plane with a 1.5 T Philips NT scanner (Philips Medical System, The Netherlands) at Emory University School of Medicine. Computer-generated 3D reconstructed images were created using the software programs VoxelView and VoxelMath programs (Vital Images, Inc.). The 3D rendered model was then digitally resectioned in orthogonal planes to produce corresponding virtual section series in the horizontal and sagittal planes. Morphometric analyses were conducted using the computer-based program Scion Image. In this poster we present both qualitative and quantitative data on various structures and features of the harbor porpoise brain. This study represents one of a very few studies of the harbor porpoise brain and provides critical data for compara...

We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine activations of the distributed neural systems for the oculomotor control in awake macaque monkeys. The monkeys (macaca fuscata) were trained to perform fixation and saccade tasks in a 1.5T or 4.7T MRI scanner. The eye positions of the animals were monitored with an infrared-sensitive CCD camera. During fMRI session, the fixation trial and saccade trial were pseudorandomly interleaved. On fixation trials, the animals must keep fixation within 1.5 degree of the central spot. On saccade trials, they were required to make saccade to one of the eight peripheral positions at the eccentricity of ten degrees (Fukushima et al, Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 2000). Standard T2*-weighted echo-planar imaging protocols (Hayashi et al. Eur. J. Neurosci. 1999) were used to obtain the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal. The time series data were analyzed with SPM99, assigning event-related contrasts for different types of trials. We found focal act...

Research in the June 8 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience describes how the ability to control emotions moves from one brain area to another as teens mature into adults, offering an opportunity to understand how disorders related to emotional control emerge.

Neuroscience research has followed two distinct paths in investigating central neural mechanisms of pain and emotion. Theories of emotion and pain processing predict an interaction between pain and emotion, such that emotional states may serve to both increase or decrease pain. Theories of emotion view emotions as interpretations of bodily states and imply neuroanotomic relations between emotion and pain in the brain. Similarly pain neuromatrix theory predicts an affective dimension of pain experience that has been defined in terms of both pain unpleasantness and secondary affect, emphasizing the role of emotion in pain experience. In the present study, painful heat stimulation was applied to the face while simultaneously conducting whole brain imaging using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In addition, personal episodes involving anger, fear, and neutral emotion were recalled during fMRI both with, and without, painful heat stimulation. The frontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and insula were sh...