Memory retrieval improvement by Heteropterys aphrodisiaca in aging rats

Few data exists about the pharmacological properties of Heteropterys aphrodisiaca O. Mach. (Malpighiaceae), which is native to the scrubland regions of Brazil. The present study investigated the effects of oral treatment with H. aphrodisiaca extract (BST0298) on the learning and memory of young (3-6 months) and aged (21-23 months) rats, and compared the in vitro antioxidant activity of three lots collected in different years. An improvement in the number of sessions to learn the task was observed in the left/right discrimination test in aged rats treated for 45 days with 25 mg/kg (7.0 ± 0.5; p=0.005) or 50 mg/kg (7.6 ± 0.6; p=0.012) compared with control old rats (11.0 ± 1.6). On the other hand, pre-treatment did not improve the performance of scopolamine-treated mice in the passive avoidance test. The in vitro malondialdehyde test showed that all three different extracts presented similar antioxidant activity. The flavonoids astilbin, isoastilbin and neoastilbin were isolated from the extract and may contribute to the biological activity. These results suggest that repeated treatment with H. aphrodisiaca improves learning and memory, probably by a non-muscarinic mechanism.

Existem poucos dados disponíveis sobre as propriedades farmacológicas da Heteropterys aphrodisiaca O. Mach. (Malpighiaceae), nativa da região do pantanal brasileiro. O presente estudo investigou o efeito do tratamento oral com um extrato de H. aphrodisiaca (BST0298) sobre a memória e aprendizagem de ratos jovens (3-6 meses) e idosos (21-23 meses) e comparou a atividade antioxidante in vitro de três lotes, coletados em diferentes anos. Melhora quanto ao número de sessões necessárias para aprender a tarefa foi observada no teste de discriminação direita/esquerda em ratos idosos tratados por 45 dias com doses de 25 mg/kg (7,0 ± 0,5; p=0,005) e 50 mg/kg (7,6 ± 0,6; p=0,012) comparados com ratos idosos controle (11,0 ± 1,6). Por outro lado, o pré-tratamento com o extrato não melhorou o desempenho de camundongos tratados com escopolamina no teste da esquiva passiva. Em relação à avaliação da atividade antioxidante in vitro pelo teste do malonodialdeído, os três lotes analisados apresentaram atividade antioxidante semelhante. Os flavonóides astilbina, isoastilbina e neoastilbina foram isolados do extrato e podem contribuir para a atividade biológica. Estes resultados sugerem que a administração repetida de H. aphrodisiaca melhora a memória e aprendizagem provavelmente por um mecanismo não muscarínico.

Time-based prospective memory impairment in patients with thalamic stroke.

The role of the thalamus in memory is potentially very complex. However, most studies on the memory impairments of thalamic lesions have focused on retrospective memory, rarely on prospective memory. To explore the effect of thalamic lesions on event-based prospective memory (EBPM) and time-based prospective memory (TBPM), respectively, and to verify the hypothesis that the thalamus is involved in the prospective memory, EBPM and TBPM tasks were administered to 18 thalamic stroke patients and 18 age- and education-matched healthy controls. In the EBPM task, subjects were asked to perform an action whenever particular words were presented. In the TBPM task, subjects were asked to perform an action at certain times. Compared with the performance of healthy controls on EBPM and TBPM tasks (EBPM, 4.3 +/- 1.5; TBPM, 5.4 +/- 1.0), there was a significant difference in the performance of thalamic stroke patients in the TBPM tasks (2.4 +/- 1.6), but no difference was found in EBPM tasks (3.7 +/- 1.1). These results may indicate that the thalamus is involved in PM and particularly in TBPM.

Serotonin receptors contribute to the promnesic effects of P. olacoides (Marapuama).

Nootropic, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties have been shown in a standardized ethanol extract of Ptychopetalum olacoides (POEE), a medicinal plant traditionally used by the Amazonian elderly population. It has been revealed that POEE mechanisms of action include anticholinesterase effects, and involve beta-adrenergic and dopamine D(1) receptors. The purpose of this study was to verify the role of serotonin receptors in the promnesic effects of this standardized extract. The step-down task in mice and selective serotonin antagonists were used. The study reveals that POEE promnesic effects on short-term (acquisition, consolidation and retrieval) and long-term (retrieval) declarative aversive memories are increased by 5HT(2A) (but not 5HT(1A)) serotonin antagonists (spiperone and pindolol, respectively). The observed synergism between POEE and spiperone can be interpreted as the combined effects of two subeffective doses of two 5HT antagonists, or the known synergism between an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (POEE) and a 5HT antagonist. In conclusion it is suggested that 5HT(2A) serotonin receptors are relevant for the promnesic effects of this extract, adding to its multiple mechanisms of action.

Pseudo-relaxation learning algorithm for complex-valued associative memory.

HAM (Hopfield Associative Memory) and BAM (Bidirectinal Associative Memory) are representative associative memories by neural networks. The storage capacity by the Hebb rule, which is often used, is extremely low. In order to improve it, some learning methods, for example, pseudo-inverse matrix learning and gradient descent learning, have been introduced. Oh introduced pseudo-relaxation learning algorithm to HAM and BAM. In order to accelerate it, Hattori proposed quick learning. Noest proposed CAM (Complex-valued Associative Memory), which is complex-valued HAM. The storage capacity of CAM by the Hebb rule is also extremely low. Pseudo-inverse matrix learning and gradient descent learning have already been generalized to CAM. In this paper, we apply pseudo-relaxation learning algorithm to CAM in order to improve the capacity.

Event-related brain potentials during auditory and visual word recognition memory tasks.

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded during presentation of a series of words or pictures show enhanced positivity between 300 and 800 ms after presentation of repeated items. However, little attention has been directed to the characterization of this ERP recognition memory effect using auditory stimuli. The present study directly compared the ERP 'old/new effect' for words presented in the visual and auditory modalities. Nose-referenced ERPs were recorded from 30 electrode sites while participants (N=16) were engaged in visual and auditory continuous word recognition memory tasks. Spatially and temporally overlapping ERP components were identified and measured by covariance-based principal components analysis. The expected old/new effect was observed in both modalities, with a comparable time course peaking at 560 ms, but having a more anterior scalp topography for visual items. This suggests a common cognitive process (i.e. successful retrieval of information from memory) associated with separable neural generators in each modality. Despite this temporal synchronization, the old/new effect overlapped ERP components having distinct scalp topographies (N2) or peak latencies (P3) for each modality. The positive-going old/new effect was preceded by an earlier negativity peaking at 370 ms that was greater across modalities for old than new words, likely reflecting semantic processing aspects of word recognition memory. A late (beyond 900 ms), broadly-distributed negativity was also greater for old than new words, prolonged for auditory items, and may represent activity of a post-retrieval process.

Modelos cognitivos de reconstrucción de ensueños / Cognitive models of dreaming

En este trabajo se revisan los estudios más relevantes de la última década acerca de cómo se construyen los ensueños. Tras describir las características de éstos, se exponen los principales modelos de producción de ensueños (psicoanalíticos, neurobiológicos, psicofisiológicos y cognitivos). Se analizan en particular los modelos cognitivos, considerando el origen de los sueños, su composición, las diferencias de organización estructural entre los ensueños que se dan en sueño REM y los de sueño No REM, algunos de los factores que influyen en su recuerdo, las características de los ensueños del principio y del final de la noche y la evolución de éstos durante la infancia. Los datos existentes indican que la actividad mental existe a lo largo de todo el período de sueño, que sus características varían según la fase y el ciclo del sueño en que ocurran y su contenido depende del estilo cognitivo y el estado emocional del durmiente. En cuanto a cómo se construyen los ensueños, la mayoría de los investigadores opina que sólo hay un sistema de producción, responsable tanto de los ensueños de REM como de los de NREM, cuyas fuentes son la memoria episódica y la semántica y los estímulos previos al sueño. Su nivel de funcionamiento varía a lo largo del sueño así como la cantidad de recursos cognitivos disponibles para construir cada ensueño. Hay una continuidad temática en los ensueños sucesivos de distintas fases del sueño de una noche. Las diferencias cualitativas entre los ensueños de REM y los de NREM no parecen ser significativas. Estas podrían deberse ya sea a fallos en los procesos de codificación y recuperación de la información o a que el sistema de producción no dispone de la misma cantidad y tipo de recuerdos en REM que en NREM: los ensueños de REM se construyen principalmente con elementos de memoria semántica mientras que los de NREM se basan en la memoria autobiográfica (AU)

Differentiating frontal and temporal variant frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: To determine whether difficulty in the early differentiation between frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and AD may arise from a failure to discriminate between the temporal and frontal variants of FTD. METHODS: Neuropsychological profiles of patients with early dementia of Alzheimer type (DAT; n = 10), the temporal variant of FTD (tv-FTD or semantic dementia; n = 5), and the frontal variant of FTD (fv-FTD; n = 10) were compared to each other and normal controls (n = 10). Structural MRI demonstrated temporal lobe atrophy in the tv-FTD patients and frontal lobe atrophy in the fv-FTD group. RESULTS: Subjects with tv-FTD showed severe deficits in semantic memory with preservation of attention and executive function. Subjects with fv-FTD showed the reverse pattern. Attention and executive function impairment separated the fv-FTD patients from the early DAT subjects, who were densely amnesic. CONCLUSION: The double dissociation in performance on semantic memory and attention/executive function clearly separated the temporal and frontal variants of FTD and aids the early differentiation of FTD from AD. The characteristic cognitive profiles reflect the distribution of pathology within each syndrome and support the putative role of the inferolateral temporal neocortex in semantic memory, the medial temporal lobe structures of the hippocampal complex in episodic memory, and the frontal lobes in executive function.

Reports of mental imagery in retrieval from long-term memory.

Phenomenal reports were obtained immediately after participants retrieved information from long-term memory. Data were gathered for six basic forms of memory (semantic, generic perceptual, recollective, motor skill, rote skill, cognitive skill) and for three forms of memory that asked for declarative information about procedural tasks (motor-declarative, rote-declarative, cognitive-declarative). The data show consistent reports of mental imagery during retrieval of information from the generic perceptual, recollective, motor-declarative, rote-declarative, and cognitive-declarative categories; much less imagery was reported for the semantic, motor, rote, and cognitive categories. Overall, the data provide support for the theoretical framework outlined in Brewer and Pani (1983).