It has been known that the vestibular system is concerned with feelings of dizziness or vertigo. The vestibulo-thalamic pathway has also been described previously. However, there has been no confirmative report so far regarding the pathway through the internal capsule to the cortex. We have experienced 13 patients with symptoms of dizziness and/or vertigo whose lesions are located only around the internal capsule, mainly at the posterior limb and/or the genu. It is suggestive that fibers with dizziness may pass through a part of the internal capsule, probably through some part of the posterior limb and/or the genu.
Adult ; Aged ; Basal Ganglia/*physiopathology ; Dizziness/*physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neural Pathways/physiopathology

AIMTo explore the role of femoral nerves section (FNS) on the protection of limb ischemic preconditioning (LIP) against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries.

METHODSModel of brain ischemia induced by Four-vessel occlusion was used. LIP was performed by clamping the bilateral femoral arteries for 10 min 3 times in a interval of 10 min. Rats with vertebral arteries permanently occluded were divided into sham group, cerebral ischemic group, FNS + cerebral ischemic group, LIP + cerebral ischemic group, FNS + LIP + cerebral ischemic group. The changes of neural density (ND) in the CA1 hippocampus were observed 7d after the sham operation or brain ischemia under thionin staining. The expression of c-Fos in the CA1 hippocampus was measured 6 h after the sham operation or brain ischemia under immunohistochemistry method.

RESULTSThionin staining revealed that serious neuronal damage was visualized in the CA1 hippocampus in both cerebral ischemic group and FNS + cerebral ischemic group as compared with sham group. LIP attenuated the neuronal damage of the CA1 subfield induced normally by cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, and ND in LIP + cerebral ischemic group was significantly higher than that in cerebral ischemic group (P < 0.01). But obvious neuronal damage of the CA1 subfield was found in FNS+ LIP + cerebral ischemic group, and ND was significantly decreased as compared with LIP + cerebral ischemic group (P < 0.01). These results suggested that the protection of LIP against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injuries might be cancelled by preceding section of femoral nerve. It was found that there was almost no c-Fos expression in the CA1 hippocampus in sham group. Changes of c-Fos expression in the CA1 subfield in cerebral ischemic group were similar to that in sham group. But in LIP + cerebral ischemic group, c-Fos expression in the CA1 subfield was markedly increased and the number of positive cells and optical density of c-Fos expression were significantly higher than those in sham and cerebral ischemic group. c-Fos expression in the CA1 subfield was again decreased in FNS + LIP + cerebral ischemic group, and the number of positive cells and optical density of c-Fos expression were significantly lower than those in LIP + cerebral ischemic group.

CONCLUSIONNeural pathway participated in the protective effect of LIP on brain, and increased c-Fos expression in the CA1 hippocampus by LIP after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, might be a part of neural pathway by which LIP induced brain ischemic tolerance.

Animals ; Brain Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Extremities ; blood supply ; Ischemic Preconditioning ; methods ; Male ; Neural Pathways ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo observe the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data changes of default mode network (DMN) in chronic sciatica patients in the resting network state treated by acupuncture, and to study the correlation between DMN and the consisting effects after acupuncture analgesia.

METHODSWeizhong (BL40) and Huantiao (GB30) of the patients' lower limbs were selected as the main points to acupuncture for ten times. The whole brain was scanned using fMRI. The independent component analysis (ICA) was adopted to get DMN information. The brain DMN function link was analyzed in the two groups of subjects.

RESULTSThe DMN images were obtained in all subjects after DMN fMRI data processing. The main DMN differences between the sciatica patients group and the healthy control group were demonstrated as decreased activities of DLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). After acupuncture, activities of these regions basically recovered to normal. The DMN of healthy volunteers shown by fMRI data in the RNS mainly existed in the precuneus, BA7, BA10, and ACC.

CONCLUSIONMRI images of DMN in the RNS could reflect chronic pain, which was suitable for studies on the effects after acupuncture analgesia.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Brain Mapping ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Nerve Net ; physiopathology ; Neural Pathways ; Sciatica ; physiopathology

AIMTo investigate the changes in neuronal activities of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) and the ventrolateral thalamic nucleus (VL) after unilateral 6-hydroxydopamin (6-OHDA) lesioning of the striatum in rats.

METHODSExtracellular single-unit recordings were perin normal rats and 6-OHDA lesioned rats to observe the firing rate and firing pattern occurring in PPN and VL neurons.

RESULTSThe firing rate of PPN neurones significantly increased from (8.31 +/- 0.62) Hz in normal rats to (10.70 +/- 0.85) Hz in 6-OHDA lesioned rats. The firing pattern changed towards more irregular and bursty when compared with the normal rats, with the firing rate increasing in regular pattern. The firing rate of VL neurones in normal rats and 6-OHDA lesioned rats were (6.25 +/- 0.54) Hz and (5.67 +/- 0.46)Hz respectively, whereas to normal animals. Surthere were no significant differences in these two groups. In addition, the firing pattern did not change in VL compared prisingly, the firing rate in burst pattern decreased significantly.

CONCLUSIONThese findings demonstrate that PPN neurons are overactive in 6-OHDAlesioned rats, indicating the participation of this nucleus in the pathophysiology of parkinsonism and the activities of VL neurons might be regulated by projection from PPN to VL.

Action Potentials ; physiology ; Animals ; Corpus Striatum ; physiopathology ; Male ; Neural Pathways ; injuries ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Neurons ; physiology ; Oxidopamine ; toxicity ; Parkinson Disease ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus ; physiopathology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Substantia Nigra ; injuries ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Ventral Thalamic Nuclei ; physiopathology

The thalamostriatal pathway is implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD); however, PD-related changes in the relationship between oscillatory activity in the centromedian-parafascicular complex (CM/Pf, or the Pf in rodents) and the dorsal striatum (DS) remain unclear. Therefore, we simultaneously recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in both the Pf and DS of hemiparkinsonian and control rats during epochs of rest or treadmill walking. The dopamine-lesioned rats showed increased LFP power in the beta band (12 Hz-35 Hz) in the Pf and DS during both epochs, but decreased LFP power in the delta (0.5 Hz-3 Hz) band in the Pf during rest epochs and in the DS during both epochs, compared to control rats. In addition, exaggerated low gamma (35 Hz-70 Hz) oscillations after dopamine loss were restricted to the Pf regardless of the behavioral state. Furthermore, enhanced synchronization of LFP oscillations was found between the Pf and DS after the dopamine lesion. Significant increases occurred in the mean coherence in both theta (3 Hz-7 Hz) and beta bands, and a significant increase was also noted in the phase coherence in the beta band between the Pf and DS during rest epochs. During the treadmill walking epochs, significant increases were found in both the alpha (7 Hz-12 Hz) and beta bands for two coherence measures. Collectively, dramatic changes in the relative LFP power and coherence in the thalamostriatal pathway may underlie the dysfunction of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical network circuits in PD, contributing to some of the motor and non-motor symptoms of the disease.
Animals ; Brain Waves ; physiology ; Corpus Striatum ; physiopathology ; Cortical Synchronization ; physiology ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; physiology ; Electrocorticography ; Male ; Neural Pathways ; physiopathology ; Oxidopamine ; Parkinsonian Disorders ; physiopathology ; Rats, Wistar ; Thalamic Nuclei ; physiopathology ; Walking ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo study the sympathetic skin response (SSR) to the effects of N-hexane on autonomic nerves function in patients with chronic N-hexane poisoning.

METHODSThe subjects in present study included 30 controls and 37 cases with chronic N-hexane poisoning. Also 37 patients were divided into 3 subgroups (mild, moderate and severe poisoning) according to diagnostic criteria of occupational diseases. All subjects were examined by SSR test and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test. All patients were reexamined by SSR and NCV every 1 ∼ 2 months. The differences in SSR parameters (latency, amplitude) among groups were observed. In the severe poisoning subgroup, the changes of SSR and NCV parameters (conduction velocity, amplitude) in different poisoning stages were observed.

RESULTSThere were significant differences in SSR latency of upper extremity among groups and the significant differences in SSR amplitude of upper and lower extremity among groups (P < 0.05). No significant differences in SSR parameters were found between the adjacent groups (P > 0.05). There were significant differences in SSR latency of upper extremity during different periods and the significant differences in SSR amplitude of upper and lower extremity during different periods among all groups (P < 0.05). The change of SSR parameters consistent with that in NCV. The longest SSR latency of upper extremity and the smallest SSR amplitudes of upper and lower extremity appears 1 - 2 months earlier than that of the smallest action potential amplitude.

CONCLUSIONThe damage of autonomic nerves induced by N-hexane increased with poisoning progresses. The damage of autonomic nerves corresponded with the damage of myelin sheath of large myelinated nerves, but which appeared 1 - 2 months earlier than the damage of axon of large myelinated nerves. SSR test may serve as a method to detect the damage of autonomic nerves function in patients with chronic N-hexane poisoning.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Autonomic Pathways ; physiopathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Galvanic Skin Response ; Hexanes ; poisoning ; Humans ; Male ; Neural Conduction ; Occupational Diseases ; physiopathology ; Skin ; innervation ; physiopathology ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine whether Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) would show neural abnormality of the social reward system using functional MRI (fMRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 27 ASDs and 12 typically developing controls (TDCs) participated in this study. The social reward task was developed, and all participants performed the task during fMRI scanning. RESULTS: ASDs and TDCs with a social reward learning effect were selected on the basis of behavior data. We found significant differences in brain activation between the ASDs and TDCs showing a social reward learning effect. Compared with the TDCs, the ASDs showed reduced activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right orbitofrontal cortex, right parietal lobe, and occipital lobe; however, they showed increased activity in the right parahippocampal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that there might be neural abnormality of the social reward learning system of ASDs. Although this study has several potential limitations, it presents novel findings in the different neural mechanisms of social reward learning in children with ASD and a possible useful biomarker of high-functioning ASDs.
Brain/*physiopathology ; Brain Mapping ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/*physiopathology ; Female ; Functional Neuroimaging/*methods ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Male ; Neural Pathways/*physiopathology ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Republic of Korea ; *Reward ; *Social Behavior

A number of studies have indicated that disorders of consciousness result from multifocal injuries as well as from the impaired functional and anatomical connectivity between various anterior forebrain regions. However, the specific causal mechanism linking these regions remains unclear. In this study, we used spectral dynamic causal modeling to assess how the effective connections (ECs) between various regions differ between individuals. Next, we used connectome-based predictive modeling to evaluate the performance of the ECs in predicting the clinical scores of DOC patients. We found increased ECs from the striatum to the globus pallidus as well as from the globus pallidus to the posterior cingulate cortex, and decreased ECs from the globus pallidus to the thalamus and from the medial prefrontal cortex to the striatum in DOC patients as compared to healthy controls. Prediction of the patients' outcome was effective using the negative ECs as features. In summary, the present study highlights a key role of the thalamo-basal ganglia-cortical loop in DOCs and supports the anterior forebrain mesocircuit hypothesis. Furthermore, EC could be potentially used to assess the consciousness level.
Adult ; Bayes Theorem ; Connectome ; Consciousness Disorders ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neural Pathways ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Prognosis ; Prosencephalon ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Young Adult

Recently, with application of evoked potentials technology in the test of somatic and autonomic nerves, quantitative sensory testing in the detection of small nerve fiber function, and functional magnetic resonance imaging in the detection of senior central function, the detection of neural function has become more accurate. This article reviews the progress and application of diagnostic methods about neurogenic erectile dysfunction in order to provide a reference for forensic diagnosis and research in the future.
Autonomic Nervous System/physiopathology* ; Autonomic Pathways/physiopathology* ; Erectile Dysfunction/physiopathology* ; Evoked Potentials/physiology* ; Humans ; Male ; Nervous System Diseases/complications* ; Neural Conduction ; Neurologic Examination/methods* ; Penile Erection/physiology* ; Penis/innervation* ; Sensory Thresholds

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of M(5) muscarinic receptor subtype on the locomotor sensitization induced by heroin priming, and it's effect on the FosB expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the hippocampus in the heroin sensitized rats.

METHODSLocomotor activity was measured every 10 min for 1 h after subcutaneous injection of heroin. FosB expression was assayed by immunohistochemistry, and the antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ONs) targeting M(5) muscarinic receptor was transferred with the lipofectin.

RESULTSMicroinjection of AS-ONs targeting M(5) muscarinic receptor in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) blocked the expression of behavioral sensitization induced by heroin priming in rats. Meanwhile, the expression of FosB-positive neurons in either the NAc or the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus increased in heroin-induced locomotor sensitized rats. The enhancement of FosB-positive neurons in the NAc or DG could be inhibited by microinjection of M(5) muscarinic receptor AS-ONs into the VTA before the heroin-induced locomotor sensitization was performed. In contrast, microinjection of M(5) muscarinic receptor sense oligonucleotide (S-ONs) into the VTA did not block the expression of behavioral sensitization or the expression of FosB in the NAc or DG in the heroin sensitized rats.

CONCLUSIONBlocking M(5) muscarinic receptor in the VTA inhibits the expression of heroin-induced locomotor sensitization, which is associated with the regulation of FosB expression in the NAc and hippocampus neurons. M(5) muscarinic receptor may be a useful pharmacological target for the treatment of heroin addiction.

Acetylcholine ; metabolism ; Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Heroin ; adverse effects ; Heroin Dependence ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Hippocampus ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Microinjections ; Motor Activity ; drug effects ; physiology ; Narcotics ; adverse effects ; Neural Pathways ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Nucleus Accumbens ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptor, Muscarinic M5 ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; metabolism ; Synaptic Transmission ; drug effects ; physiology ; Ventral Tegmental Area ; drug effects ; metabolism ; physiopathology