Subpopulations of neurons in the perirhinal cortex enable both modality-specific and modality-invariant recognition of objects.

The perirhinal cortex (PER) supports multimodal object recognition, but how multimodal information of objects is integrated within the PER remains unknown. Here, we recorded single units within the PER while rats performed a PER-dependent multimodal object-recognition task. In this task, audiovisual cues were presented simultaneously (multimodally) or separately (unimodally). We identified 2 types of object-selective neurons in the PER: crossmodal cells, showing constant firing patterns for an object irrespective of its modality, and unimodal cells, showing a preference for a specific modality. Unimodal cells further dissociated unimodal and multimodal versions of the object by modulating their firing rates according to the modality condition. A population-decoding analysis confirmed that the PER could perform both modality-invariant and modality-specific object decoding-the former for recognizing an object as the same in various conditions and the latter for remembering modality-specific experiences of the same object.

Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Idebenone Attenuate LPS-Induced Systemic Inflammatory Diseases by Suppressing NF-κB Activation.

Inflammation is a natural protective process through which the immune system responds to injury, infection, or irritation. However, hyperinflammation or long-term inflammatory responses can cause various inflammatory diseases. Although idebenone was initially developed for the treatment of cognitive impairment and dementia, it is currently used to treat various diseases. However, its anti-inflammatory effects and regulatory functions in inflammatory diseases are yet to be elucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of idebenone in cecal ligation puncture-induced sepsis and lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic inflammation. Murine models of cecal ligation puncture-induced sepsis and lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic inflammation were generated, followed by treatment with various concentrations of idebenone. Additionally, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages were treated with idebenone to elucidate its anti-inflammatory effects at the cellular level. Idebenone treatment significantly improved survival rate, protected against tissue damage, and decreased the expression of inflammatory enzymes and cytokines in mice models of sepsis and systemic inflammation. Additionally, idebenone treatment suppressed inflammatory responses in macrophages, inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway, reduced reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, and normalized the activities of antioxidant enzyme. Idebenone possesses potential therapeutic application as a novel anti-inflammatory agent in systemic inflammatory diseases and sepsis.

The Effect of the Mixed Extract of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai on the Improvement of Degenerative Osteoarthritis through Inflammation Inhibition in the Monosodium Iodoacetate-Induced Mouse Model.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and, due to the lack of fundamental treatment, the main objective is to alleviate pain and prevent cartilage damage. Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai are herbal plants known for their excellent anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this study is to confirm the potential of a mixture extract of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai as a functional raw material for improving osteoarthritis through anti-inflammatory effects in macrophages and MIA-induced arthritis experimental animals. In macrophages inflamed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), treatment of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture inhibits NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activities, thereby inhibiting inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), inflammatory factors PGE2, MMP-2, and MMP-9, and nitric oxide (NO) was reduced. In addition, in an animal model of arthritis induced by MIA (monosodium iodoacetate), administration of Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture reduced blood levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, inflammatory factors prostaglandin E2(PGE2), matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2), and NO. Through these anti-inflammatory effects, MIA-induced pain reduction (recovery of clinical index, increase in weight bearing, and increase in area and width of the foot), recovery of meniscus damage, loss of cartilage tissue or inflammatory cells in tissue infiltration reduction, and recovery of the proteglycan layer were confirmed. Therefore, it is considered that Kalopanax pictus Nakai and Achyranthes japonica Nakai mixture has the potential as a functional raw material that promotes joint health.

Assessments of dentate gyrus function: discoveries and debates.

There has been considerable speculation regarding the function of the dentate gyrus (DG) - a subregion of the mammalian hippocampus - in learning and memory. In this Perspective article, we compare leading theories of DG function. We note that these theories all critically rely on the generation of distinct patterns of activity in the region to signal differences between experiences and to reduce interference between memories. However, these theories are divided by the roles they attribute to the DG during learning and recall and by the contributions they ascribe to specific inputs or cell types within the DG. These differences influence the information that the DG is thought to impart to downstream structures. We work towards a holistic view of the role of DG in learning and memory by first developing three critical questions to foster a dialogue between the leading theories. We then evaluate the extent to which previous studies address our questions, highlight remaining areas of conflict, and suggest future experiments to bridge these theories.

Significance of visual scene-based learning in the hippocampal systems across mammalian species.

The hippocampus and its associated cortical regions in the medial temporal lobe play essential roles when animals form a cognitive map and use it to achieve their goals. As the nature of map-making involves sampling different local views of the environment and putting them together in a spatially cohesive way, visual scenes are essential ingredients in the formative process of cognitive maps. Visual scenes also serve as important cues during information retrieval from the cognitive map. Research in humans has shown that there are regions in the brain that selectively process scenes and that the hippocampus is involved in scene-based memory tasks. The neurophysiological correlates of scene-based information processing in the hippocampus have been reported as "spatial view cells" in nonhuman primates. Like primates, it is widely accepted that rodents also use visual scenes in their background for spatial navigation and other kinds of problems. However, in rodents, it is not until recently that researchers examined the neural correlates of the hippocampus from the perspective of visual scene-based information processing. With the advent of virtual reality (VR) systems, it has been demonstrated that place cells in the hippocampus exhibit remarkably similar firing correlates in the VR environment compared with that of the real-world environment. Despite some limitations, the new trend of studying hippocampal functions in a visually controlled environment has the potential to allow investigation of the input-output relationships of network functions and experimental testing of traditional computational predictions more rigorously by providing well-defined visual stimuli. As scenes are essential for navigation and episodic memory in humans, further investigation of the rodents' hippocampal systems in scene-based tasks will provide a critical functional link across different mammalian species.

Subtle visual change in a virtual environment induces heterogeneous remapping systematically in CA1, but not CA3.

Environmental change may lead to new memories or modify old ones, but the underlying neural mechanisms are largely unclear. We recorded hippocampal place cells simultaneously from CA1 and CA3 in a virtual reality environment. Compared with CA1, place cells in CA3 are more tolerant of individual landmark changes but undergo orthogonal changes to code distinctively different environments. As visual noise (virtual fog) is introduced to a visually enriched environment, place cells in CA1 split into two subpopulations: in one, place cells maintain their field locations while changing their firing rates to reflect sensory changes; in the other, place cells exhibit global remapping in response to the contextual change. In contrast, place cells in CA3 exhibit mainly rate remapping under the same conditions. Our results suggest that CA1 may simultaneously represent heterogeneous maps of the same environment when subtle visual noise induces both sensory and contextual changes.

Potential Effect of Enzymatic Porcine Placental Hydrolysate (EPPH) to Improve Alcoholic Liver Disease (ALD) by Promoting Lipolysis in the Liver.

Alcoholic liver disease is associated with the production of highly reactive free radicals by ethanol and its metabolites. Free radicals not only induce liver oxidation and damage tissues, but also stimulate an inflammatory response in hepatocytes, leading to severe liver disease. In order to improve alcoholic liver disease, enzymatic porcine placenta hydrolysate was studied by exploring various materials. Enzymatic porcine placenta hydrolysate (EPPH) contains various amino acids, peptides, and proteins, and is used as a useful substance in the body. In this study, changes were confirmed in indicators related to the antioxidant efficacy of EPPH in vitro and in vivo. EPPH inhibits an EtOH-induced decrease in superoxide dismutase and catalase activity through inhibition of free radicals without endogenous cytotoxicity. EPPH has been observed to have a partial effect on common liver function factors such as liver weight, ALT, AST, ALP, and GGT. In addition, EPPH affected changes in fat regulators and inflammatory cytokines in blood biochemical assays. It was confirmed that EPPH was involved in fat metabolism in hepatocytes by regulating PPARα in an alcoholic liver disease animal model. Therefore, EPPH strongly modulates Bcl-2 and BAX involved in apoptosis, thereby exhibiting cytochrome P450 (CYP)-inhibitory effects in alcoholic liver disease cells. As a result, this study confirmed that EPPH is a substance that can help liver health by improving liver disease in an alcoholic liver disease animal model.

The Interaction of Cue Type and Its Associated Behavioral Response Dissociates the Neural Activity between the Perirhinal and Postrhinal Cortices.

The perirhinal cortex (PER) and postrhinal cortex (POR) in the medial temporal lobe are commonly described as two distinct systems that process nonspatial and spatial information, respectively. Recent findings suggest that the two regions exhibit functional overlap when processing stimulus information, especially when associative responses are required in goal-directed behavior. However, we lack the neural correlates of this. In the current study, we recorded spiking activities for single units of the PER and POR as rats were required to choose a response associated with the identity of a visual object or scene stimulus. We found that similar proportions of cells fired selectively for either scene or object between the two regions. In the PER and POR, response-selective neurons showed higher contrast for different responses than stimulus-selective cells did for stimuli. More cells fired selectively for specific choice response in the POR than in the PER. The differential firing patterns of the PER and POR were best explained when the stimulus and response components were considered together: Stimulus-selective cells were modulated more by the response in the POR than in the PER, whereas response-selective cells in the PER were modulated more by object information than by scenes. Our results suggest that in a goal-directed memory task, the information processing in the PER and POR may be dynamically modulated not only by input stimulus information but also by the associated choice behavior and stimulus-response interaction.

Subicular neurons represent multiple variables of a hippocampal-dependent task by using theta rhythm.

The subiculum is positioned at a critical juncture at the interface of the hippocampus with the rest of the brain. However, the exact roles of the subiculum in most hippocampal-dependent memory tasks remain largely unknown. One obstacle to make comparisons of neural firing patterns between the subiculum and hippocampus is the broad firing fields of the subicular cells. Here, we used spiking phases in relation to theta rhythm to parse the broad firing field of a subicular neuron into multiple subfields to find the unique functional contribution of the subiculum while male rats performed a hippocampal-dependent visual scene memory task. Some of the broad firing fields of the subicular neurons were successfully divided into multiple subfields similar to those in the CA1 by using the theta phase precession cycle. The new paradigm significantly improved the detection of task-relevant information in subicular cells without affecting the information content represented by CA1 cells. Notably, we found that multiple fields of a single subicular neuron, unlike those in the CA1, carried heterogeneous task-related information such as visual context and choice response. Our findings suggest that the subicular cells integrate multiple task-related factors by using theta rhythm to associate environmental context with action.

The fasciola cinereum subregion of the hippocampus is important for the acquisition of visual contextual memory.

The fasciola cinereum (FC) is a subregion of the hippocampus that has received relatively little attention compared with other hippocampal subregions with respect to anatomical characteristics and functional significance. Here, we show that the FC exhibits clear anatomical borders with the distalmost region of the CA1. Principal neurons in the FC resemble the granule cells in the dentate gyrus (DG). However, adult neurogenesis was not found unlike in the DG. The FC receives inputs mostly from the lateral entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex while projecting exclusively to the crest of the DG within the hippocampus. Neurotoxic lesions in the FC using colchicine impaired the acquisition, but not retrieval, of visual contextual memory in rats. FC lesions also impaired place recognition and object-in-place memory. As the rat performed the contextual memory task on the T-maze, place cells in the FC exhibited robust place fields and were indiscriminable from those in CA1 with respect to the basic firing properties. However, place cells in the FC fired only transiently in their place fields on the maze compared with those in CA1. Our findings suggest that the episodic firing patterns of the place cells in the FC may play critical roles in learning a novel contextual environment by facilitating temoporally structured contextual pattern separation in the DG of the hippocampus.

Antimicrobial Activity and Action Mechanisms of Arg-Rich Short Analog Peptides Designed from the C-Terminal Loop Region of American Oyster Defensin (AOD).

American oyster defensin (AOD) was previously purified from acidified gill extract of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica. AOD is composed of 38 amino acids with three disulfide bonds and exhibits strong antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria as well as significant activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Here, to develop promising peptides into antibiotic candidates, we designed five arginine-rich analogs (A0, A1, A2, A3, and A4), predicted their loop and extended strand/random structures-including nine amino acids and a disulfide bond derived from the C-terminus of AOD-and described their antimicrobial and cytotoxic effects, as well as their modes of action. In our experimental results, the A3 and A4 analogs exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against all test organisms-including four Gram-positive bacteria, six Gram-negative bacteria, and Candida albicans-without cell toxicity. A sequence of experiments, including a membrane permeabilization assay, DNA binding study, and DNA polymerization inhibition test, indicated that the two analogs (A3 and A4) possibly did not act directly on the bacterial membrane but instead interacted with intracellular components such as DNA or DNA amplification reactions. AOD analogs also showed strong bacterial inhibition activity in the plasma environment. In addition, analog-treated microbial cells clearly exhibited membrane disruption, damage, and leakage of cytoplasmic contents. Collectively, our results suggest that two analogs, A3 and A4, have potent antimicrobial activity via DNA interaction and have the potential for development into novel antimicrobial agents.

Intestinal anti-inflammatory activity of Ulva ohnoi oil in DSS-induced experimental mouse model.

This study was conducted to examine the physiological activity of Ulva ohnoi, some of which may be used for food or natural products but could disturbing coastal ecosystems due to large scale green-tide, to check values of U. ohnoi oil through experimental results. U. ohnoi oil was extracted from bulk of Ulva biomass to confirm its antioxidant and antibacterial activity, and the efficacy of U. ohnoi oil in the state of inflammation was confirmed through animal experiments. To confirm the anti-inflammatory effect, a mouse model induced with DSS was used. As a result of measuring NO using plasma after induction of inflammation, the amount of NO produced in the U. ohnoi oil group was decreased compared to the control group. Expression of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß was decreased compared to the control group. As a result of observing H&E staining, lower crypt loss and inflammatory cell infiltration were found in the U. ohnoi oil group compared to the control group. Consequently, U. ohnoi oil appears to have great anti-inflammatory properties.

Differential encoding of place value between the dorsal and intermediate hippocampus.

It is widely held that the hippocampus provides a cognitive map in which event-related information, such as an object, location, and their significance, is organized. However, how an organism's motivational experience is coded in the hippocampus is mostly unknown. Here, we investigated whether dorsal and intermediate regions of the hippocampus are differentially involved in representing changes in the motivational significance of a place. Rats were run in tasks in which various rewards with different degrees of palatability were associated with the same locations while single units were simultaneously recorded along the dorsoventral axis of the hippocampus. Place cells in the intermediate hippocampus remapped immediately after motivational significance decreased and shifted their fields dynamically toward high-value locations. In contrast, place cells in the dorsal hippocampus were mostly unresponsive to the same manipulations. Our findings suggest that the motivational significance of place is uniquely coded in the intermediate hippocampus in goal-directed tasks.

Goal-directed interaction of stimulus and task demand in the parahippocampal region.

The hippocampus and parahippocampal region are essential for representing episodic memories involving various spatial locations and objects, and for using those memories for future adaptive behavior. The "dual-stream model" was initially formulated based on anatomical characteristics of the medial temporal lobe, dividing the parahippocampal region into two streams that separately process and relay spatial and nonspatial information to the hippocampus. Despite its significance, the dual-stream model in its original form cannot explain recent experimental results, and many researchers have recognized the need for a modification of the model. Here, we argue that dividing the parahippocampal region into spatial and nonspatial streams a priori may be too simplistic, particularly in light of ambiguous situations in which a sensory cue alone (e.g., visual scene) may not allow such a definitive categorization. Upon reviewing evidence, including our own, that reveals the importance of goal-directed behavioral responses in determining the relative involvement of the parahippocampal processing streams, we propose the Goal-directed Interaction of Stimulus and Task-demand (GIST) model. In the GIST model, input stimuli such as visual scenes and objects are first processed by both the postrhinal and perirhinal cortices-the postrhinal cortex more heavily involved with visual scenes and perirhinal cortex with objects-with relatively little dependence on behavioral task demand. However, once perceptual ambiguities are resolved and the scenes and objects are identified and recognized, the information is then processed through the medial or lateral entorhinal cortex, depending on whether it is used to fulfill navigational or non-navigational goals, respectively. As complex sensory stimuli are utilized for both navigational and non-navigational purposes in an intermixed fashion in naturalistic settings, the hippocampus may be required to then put together these experiences into a coherent map to allow flexible cognitive operations for adaptive behavior to occur.

Impairment of Pattern Separation of Ambiguous Scenes by Single Units in the CA3 in the Absence of the Dentate Gyrus.

Theoretical models and experimental evidence have suggested that connections from the dentate gyrus (DG) to CA3 play important roles in representing orthogonal information (i.e., pattern separation) in the hippocampus. However, the effects of eliminating the DG on neural firing patterns in the CA3 have rarely been tested in a goal-directed memory task that requires both the DG and CA3. In this study, selective lesions in the DG were made using colchicine in male Long-Evans rats, and single units from the CA3 were recorded as the rats performed visual scene memory tasks. The original scenes used in training were altered during testing by blurring to varying degrees or by using visual masks, resulting in maximal recruitment of the DG-CA3 circuits. Compared with controls, the performance of rats with DG lesions was particularly impaired when blurred scenes were used in the task. In addition, the firing rate modulation associated with visual scenes in these rats was significantly reduced in the single units recorded from the CA3 when ambiguous scenes were presented, largely because DG-deprived CA3 cells did not show stepwise, categorical rate changes across varying degrees of scene ambiguity compared with controls. These findings suggest that the DG plays key roles not only during the acquisition of scene memories but also during retrieval when modified visual scenes are processed in conjunction with the CA3 by making the CA3 network respond orthogonally to ambiguous scenes.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Despite the behavioral evidence supporting the role of the dentate gyrus in pattern separation in the hippocampus, the underlying neural mechanisms are largely unknown. By recording single units from the CA3 in DG-lesioned rats performing a visual scene memory task, we report that the scene-related modulation of neural firing was significantly reduced in the DG-lesion rats compared with controls, especially when the original scene stimuli were ambiguously altered. Our findings suggest that the dentate gyrus plays an essential role during memory retrieval and performs a critical computation to make categorical rate modulation occur in the CA3 between different scenes, especially when ambiguity is present in the environment.

Rhythmic Pruning of Perceptual Noise for Object Representation in the Hippocampus and Perirhinal Cortex in Rats.

Neurons in the temporal cortex signal object familiarity by modulating their spiking activity as the object is repeatedly experienced. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this "repetition effect" and its functional significance remain unknown. We investigated this process in a goal-directed object recognition task in which rats were required to recognize familiar and novel objects. Single-unit spiking activity and local field potential were recorded from the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex (PER) as rats performed the task. Repetition effects were detected in both the hippocampus and PER. However, phase-locking to the theta rhythm was strengthened with object repetitions in the hippocampus but not in the PER, whereas stronger phase-locking was observed with gamma rhythm in the PER but not in the hippocampus. Our findings suggest that the repetition effect occurs in sync with different rhythmic oscillations across different regions and may underlie neural "pruning" of noise that facilitates object recognition.

Remembering rewarding futures: A simulation-selection model of the hippocampus.

Despite tremendous progress, the neural circuit dynamics underlying hippocampal mnemonic processing remain poorly understood. We propose a new model for hippocampal function-the simulation-selection model-based on recent experimental findings and neuroecological considerations. Under this model, the mammalian hippocampus evolved to simulate and evaluate arbitrary navigation sequences. Specifically, we suggest that CA3 simulates unexperienced navigation sequences in addition to remembering experienced ones, and CA1 selects from among these CA3-generated sequences, reinforcing those that are likely to maximize reward during offline idling states. High-value sequences reinforced in CA1 may allow flexible navigation toward a potential rewarding location during subsequent navigation. We argue that the simulation-selection functions of the hippocampus have evolved in mammals mostly because of the unique navigational needs of land mammals. Our model may account for why the mammalian hippocampus has evolved not only to remember, but also to imagine episodes, and how this might be implemented in its neural circuits.

Neural Firing Patterns Are More Schematic and Less Sensitive to Changes in Background Visual Scenes in the Subiculum than in the Hippocampus.

Literature suggests that the hippocampus is central to processing visual scenes to remember contextual information, but the roles of its downstream structure, subiculum, remain unknown. Here, single units were recorded simultaneously in the dorsal CA1 and subiculum while male rats made spatial choices using visual scenes as cues in a T-maze. The firing fields of subicular neurons were schematically organized following the task structure, largely divided into pre-choice and post-choice epochs, whereas those of CA1 cells were more punctate and bound to specific locations. When the rats were tested with highly familiar scenes, neurons in the CA1 and subiculum were indistinguishable in coding the task-related information (e.g., scene, choice) through rate remapping. However, when the familiar scenes were blurred parametrically, the neurons in the CA1 responded sensitively to the novelty in task demand and changed its representations parametrically following the physical changes of the stimuli, whereas these functional characteristics were absent in the subiculum. These results suggest that the unique function of the hippocampus is to acquire contextual representations in association with discrete positions in space, especially when facing new and ambiguous scenes, whereas the subiculum may translate the position-bound visual contextual information of the hippocampus into schematic codes once learning is established.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Although the potential functional significance has been recognized for decades for the subiculum, its exact roles in a goal-directed memory task still remain elusive. In the current study, we present experimental evidence that may indicate that the neural population in the subiculum could translate the location-bound spatial representations of the hippocampus into more schematic representations of task demands. Our findings also imply that the visual scene-based codes conveyed by the hippocampus and subiculum may be identical in a well learned task, whereas the hippocampus may be more specialized in representing altered visual scenes than the subiculum.

Role of the hippocampal CA1 region in incremental value learning.

It is generally believed that the hippocampus plays a crucial role in declarative memory-remembering facts and events-but not in gradual stimulus-response association or incremental value learning. Based on the finding that CA1 conveys strong value signals during dynamic foraging, we investigated the possibility that the hippocampus contributes to incremental value learning. Specifically, we examined effects of inactivating different subregions of the dorsal hippocampus on behavioral performance of mice performing a dynamic foraging task in a modified T-maze. A reinforcement learning model-based analysis indicated that inactivation of CA1, but not dentate gyrus, CA3, or CA2, impaired trial-by-trial updating of chosen value without affecting value-dependent action selection. As a result, it took longer for CA1-inactivated mice to bias their choices toward the higher-reward-probability target after changes in reward probability. Our results indicate, contrary to the traditional view, that the hippocampus, especially CA1, might contribute to incremental value learning under certain circumstances.

Elucidation of the anti-hyperammonemic mechanism of Lactobacillus amylovorus JBD401 by comparative genomic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent experimental evidence showed that lactobacilli could be used as potential therapeutic agents for hyperammonemia. However, lack of understanding on how lactobacilli reduce blood ammonia levels limits application of lactobacilli to treat hyperammonemia. RESULTS: We report the finished and annotated genome sequence of L. amylovorus JBD401 (GenBank accession no. CP012389). L. amylovorus JBD401 reducing blood ammonia levels dramatically was identified by high-throughput screening of several thousand probiotic strains both within and across Lactobacillus species in vitro. Administration of L. amylovorus JBD401 to hyperammonemia-induced mice reduced the blood ammonia levels of the mice to the normal range. Genome sequencing showed that L. amylovorus JBD401 had a circular chromosome of 1,946,267 bp with an average GC content of 38.13%. Comparative analysis of the L. amylovorus JBD401 genome with L. acidophilus and L. amylovorus strains showed that L. amylovorus JBD401 possessed genes for ammonia assimilation into various amino acids and polyamines Interestingly, the genome of L. amylovorus JBD401 contained unusually large number of various pseudogenes suggesting an active stage of evolution. CONCLUSIONS: L. amylovorus JBD401 has genes for assimilation of free ammonia into various amino acids and polyamines which results in removal of free ammonia in intestinal lumen to reduce the blood ammonia levels in the host. This work explains the mechanism of how probiotics reduce blood ammonia levels.