Action-Perception Coupling and Near Transfer: Listening to Melodies after Piano Practice Triggers Sequence-Specific Representations in the Auditory-Motor Network.

Understanding how perception and action are coupled in the brain has important implications for training, rehabilitation, and brain-machine interfaces. Ideomotor theory postulates that willed actions are represented through previously experienced effects and initiated by the anticipation of those effects. Previous research has accordingly found that sensory events, if previously associated with action outcomes, can induce activity in motor regions. However, it remains unclear whether the motor-related activity induced during perception of more naturalistic sequences of actions actually represents "sequence-specific" information. In the present study, nonmusicians were firstly trained to play two melodies on the piano; secondly, they performed an fMRI experiment while listening to these melodies as well as novel, untrained melodies; thirdly, multivariate pattern analysis was used to test if voxel-wise patterns of brain activity could identify trained, but not novel melodies. The results importantly show that after associative learning, a series of sensory events can trigger sequence-specific representations in both sensory and motor networks. Interestingly, also novel melodies could be classified in multiple regions, including default mode regions. A control experiment confirmed these outcomes to be training-dependent. We discuss how action-perception coupling may enable spontaneous near transfer and action simulation during action observation.

Widespread episodic thiamine deficiency in Northern Hemisphere wildlife.

Many wildlife populations are declining at rates higher than can be explained by known threats to biodiversity. Recently, thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency has emerged as a possible contributing cause. Here, thiamine status was systematically investigated in three animal classes: bivalves, ray-finned fishes, and birds. Thiamine diphosphate is required as a cofactor in at least five life-sustaining enzymes that are required for basic cellular metabolism. Analysis of different phosphorylated forms of thiamine, as well as of activities and amount of holoenzyme and apoenzyme forms of thiamine-dependent enzymes, revealed episodically occurring thiamine deficiency in all three animal classes. These biochemical effects were also linked to secondary effects on growth, condition, liver size, blood chemistry and composition, histopathology, swimming behaviour and endurance, parasite infestation, and reproduction. It is unlikely that the thiamine deficiency is caused by impaired phosphorylation within the cells. Rather, the results point towards insufficient amounts of thiamine in the food. By investigating a large geographic area, by extending the focus from lethal to sublethal thiamine deficiency, and by linking biochemical alterations to secondary effects, we demonstrate that the problem of thiamine deficiency is considerably more widespread and severe than previously reported.

DNA promoter methylation status and protein expression of interleukin-8 in human colorectal adenocarcinomas.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-8 (IL-8) also referred to as CXCL8, a member of the CXC chemokine family that attracts neutrophils and other leukocytes, has been associated with cancer. Angiogenesis is a prime regulator of tumour expansion and data support that IL-8 is a potent angiogenic factor. Epigenomic instability has been postulated to play a role for the development of multiple neoplasias including colorectal cancer (CRC). DNA methylation of cytosine residues in CpG dinucleotides leads to transcriptional silencing of associated genes. METHOD: In this study, we comparatively analysed the protein expression of IL-8 in plasma, tumour and paired normal tissue and methylation status of the IL-8 gene to evaluate its impact on CRC. RESULTS: Collectively, by using Luminex technology, we noted a significantly higher IL-8 level in cancer tissue compared to paired normal tissue and that CRC patients exhibit significantly higher plasma levels than healthy controls. Analysed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction, we detected IL-8 hypomethylation in 64% of the cancerous tissue cases but no hypomethylation was found in paired normal tissue. We noted that the CRC patients with IL-8 hypomethylation revealed a significant higher level of IL-8 protein in cancerous tissue, which tended to be associated with distant metastasis. We also observed that patients with distant metastasis showed a significantly higher plasma level of IL-8 in relation to patients without distant metastasis. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the predominance of high plasma levels of IL-8 in patients with distant metastasis in combination with the hypomethylation of the IL-8 promoter region might be a useful marker of the disease advancement.

Expression of the serine protease inhibitor serpinA3 in human colorectal adenocarcinomas.

Proteases facilitate a number of steps in cancer progression. The serine protease inhibitors (serpins) are a protein superfamily with inhibitory activity against proteases. One of these proteases, serpinA3, appears to have a multifaceted role and is associated with inflammatory reactions, Alzheimer's disease, malignant melanoma and gastric cancer. To gain insight into the potential effect of serpinA3 on colorectal cancer (CRC) we determined whether serpinA3 is altered in colorectal tissue or plasma in CRC patients. Collectively, by using ELISA we noted a significantly lower serpinA3 level in cancer tissue compared to paired normal tissue. Moreover, the tumour serpinA3 level tended to be higher in disseminated disease as compared to localised disease. No significant difference in the plasma levels of serpinA3 was noted in the patients when compared to the controls. However, plasma serpinA3 and C-reactive protein (marker of inflammation) in the CRC patients and controls were significantly positively correlated. To confirm and detect localization of serpinA3 expression, immunohistochemistry was performed. Immunohistochemistry showed heterogeneous immunoreactivity in epithelial cells in the cancer and normal tissue and extracellular staining within bands of stroma as well as in some stromal cells. A Taq Man system was used to investigate a single nucleotide polymorphism (rs4934) in the serpinA3 signal sequence gene with supposed effect on serpinA3 secretion and expression. No significant difference was observed between CRC and control subjects regarding genotype and allelic distributions, nor were associations noted between clinical characteristics and serpinA3 levels. In conclusion, an altered serpinA3 concentration in CRC tissue may be a potential biomarker in CRC progression. SerpinA3 concentrations in plasma appear to be correlated with systemic inflammation, but do not appear to be specific to CRC patients. Further studies are warranted to improve our understanding of the role of serpinA3 in CRC.