Between-subject variability in the influence of mental imagery on conscious perception.

Mental imagery and visual perception rely on similar neural mechanisms, but the function of this overlap remains unclear. One idea is that imagery can influence perception. Previous research has shown that imagining a stimulus prior to binocular presentation of rivalling stimuli increases the chance of perceiving the imagined stimulus. In this study we investigated how this effect interacts with bottom-up sensory input by comparing psychometric response curves for congruent and incongruent imagery in humans. A Bayesian hierarchical model was used, allowing us to simultaneously study group-level effects as well as effects for individual participants. We found strong effects of both imagery as well as its interaction with sensory evidence within individual participants. However, the direction of these effects were highly variable between individuals, leading to weak effects at the group level. This highlights the heterogeneity of conscious perception and emphasizes the need for individualized investigation of such complex cognitive processes.

The auditory startle reaction in parkinsonian disorders.

The auditory startle reaction to an unexpected loud stimulus is regarded as a brainstem reflex originating in the nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis and being distributed up the brainstem and down the spinal cord along slowly conducting pathways. Auditory startle responses (ASR) have been reported absent or reduced in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and delayed in Parkinson's disease (PD), but normal in multiple-system atrophy (MSA). For the first time we studied ASR in patients fulfilling the clinical criteria of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) (n = 8), a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cortical and subcortical depositions of Lewy bodies resulting in parkinsonism and progressive cognitive decline. For comparison, we also investigated patients with PD (n = 10), MSA (n = 7), PSP (n = 10), and age-matched healthy controls (n = 10). ASR were elicited by binaural high-intensity auditory stimuli. Surface electromyographic activity was simultaneously recorded from facial, upper, and lower extremity muscles. For each muscle, we assessed response probability and measured latency, amplitude, duration, and habituation rate. Patients with DLB had fewer and abnormally delayed ASR of low amplitude and short duration in extremity muscles compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, we confirm and extend previous findings of abnormal ASR in PSP and PD, and also demonstrate exaggerated ASR in extremity muscles of MSA patients. The different patterns of ASR abnormalities may reflect distinct types of brainstem dysfunction in DLB.

Subcellular compartmentation of the diterpene carnosic acid and its derivatives in the leaves of rosemary.

The potent antioxidant properties of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) extracts have been attributed to its major diterpene, carnosic acid. Carnosic acid has received considerable attention in food science and biomedicine, but little is known about its function in the plant in vivo. We recently found that highly oxidized diterpenes increase in rosemary plants exposed to drought and high light stress as a result of the antioxidant activity of carnosic acid (S. Munné-Bosch, K. Schwarz, L. Alegre [1999] Plant Physiol 121: 1047-1052). To elucidate the significance of the antioxidant function of carnosic acid in vivo we measured the relative amounts of carnosic acid and its metabolites in different compartments of rosemary leaves. Subcellular localization studies show that carnosic acid protects chloroplasts from oxidative stress in vivo by following a highly regulated compartmentation of oxidation products. Carnosic acid scavenges free radicals within the chloroplasts, giving rise to diterpene alcohols, mainly isorosmanol. This oxidation product is O-methylated within the chloroplasts, and the resulting form, 11,12-di-O-methylisorosmanol, is transferred to the plasma membrane. This appears to represent a mechanism of a way out for free radicals from chloroplasts. Carnosic acid also undergoes direct O-methylation within the chloroplasts, and its derived product, 12-O-methylcarnosic acid, accumulates in the plasma membrane. O-methylated diterpenes do not display antioxidant activity, but they may influence the stability of the plasma membrane. This study shows the relevance of the compartmentation of carnosic acid metabolism to the protection of rosemary plants from oxidative stress in vivo.

Cytotoxicity against human leukemic cell lines, and the activity on the expression of resistance genes of flavonoids from Platanus orientalis.

The cytotoxic activity of three flavonoids, belonging to the kaempherol series, was evaluated against 15 human leukemic cell lines. Flavonoids bearing acyl substituants, 2 and 3, were found to be the most active compounds. A further compound, 1, was examined for its ability to modulate the expression of MDR-1 and GST-pi resistance genes and compounds 2 and 3 for their effect on the uptake of [3H]-thymidine as a marker of DNA synthesis.

Response of abietane diterpenes to stress in Rosmarinus officinalis L.: new insights into the function of diterpenes in plants.

Abietane diterpenes were measured in field-grown rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) plants throughout the year. Carnosic acid and carnosol, which were present in high amounts (5 and 1 mg/gDW respectively) in rosemary leaves, decreased by ca. 50% during the Mediterranean summer in response to low precipitation, high radiation and high temperature. In contrast, the highly oxidised diterpenes rosmanol, isorosmanol and dimethyl isorosmanol, which are formed from carnosic acid by enzymatic dehydrogenation and the action of activated oxygen, increased in response to such environmental constraints. Collectively, these data support the contention that abietane diterpenes from R. officinalis function as antioxidants that protect biological membranes from oxidative stress. This is especially important during the Mediterranean summer when there is low precipitation, high light and high temperature.

Hypothalamic substance P release. Attenuated angiotensin responses in mRen2(27) transgenic rats.

Increases in arterial pressure and paraventricular nucleus vasopressin release in response to intracerebroventricular injections of angiotensin peptides are blunted in mRen2(27) renin transgenic [TG(+)] rats. Intraventricular injections of tachykinin peptides mimic several of the actions of angiotensin peptides, and angiotensin peptides evoke substance P release from hypothalamic brain slices. The present study assessed whether diminished substance P release occurs in response to angiotensin peptides in TG(+) rats. Systolic blood pressure at 8 to 12 weeks of age averaged 197 +/- 4 mm Hg (n = 20; P < .05) in TG(+) rats compared with 123 +/- 4 mm Hg in normotensive control [TG(-)] rats (n = 18). Body weight was lower in hypertensive than in normotensive rats (305 +/- 14 versus 344 +/- 13 g, respectively; P < .05). Brain slices from hypothalamus were perfused at 37 degrees C with oxygenated Krebs' bicarbonate buffer. Substance P was measured before (basal) and during perfusion with either Krebs' buffer (control) or 2 mumol/L angiotensin-(1-7) or angiotensin II. Basal substance P release was 92 +/- 10 pg/g wet tissue in TG(+) and 98 +/- 12 pg/g in TG(-) rats (P > .05). Angiotensin-(1-7) and angiotensin II significantly increased substance P release from hypothalamus of TG(-) rats (82% and 70% above control: P < .05) but not TG(+) rats. These studies further support the hypothesis that the cardiovascular effects of angiotensin peptides are mediated in part by substance P and that this relationship is blunted in a hypertensive model that results from excess tissue production of angiotensins.

Antitumor and antiproliferative effects of a fucan extracted from ascophyllum nodosum against a non-small-cell bronchopulmonary carcinoma line.

Fucans, sulfated polysaccharides extracted from brown seaweeds, have been shown to be endowed with inhibitory effects cell growth in various experimental models. We studied both the antiproliferative and antitumor properties of a fucoidan extract (HF) obtained from the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum on a cell line derived from a non-small-cell human bronchopulmonary carcinoma (NSCLC-N6), this type of carcinoma is particularly chemo-resistant. HF exerts in vitro a reversible antiproliferative activity with a block observed in the G1 phase the cell cycle. Studies performed with the NSCLC-bearing nude mice show antitumor activity at subtoxic doses. These preliminary results indicate that HF exhibits inhibitory effect both in vitro and in vivo and is very potent antitumor agent in cancer therapy.