Association of Prosocial Behavior Between Mothers and Their Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Mediating Role of Maternal Parenting.

The relationship between maternal parenting and the prosocial behavior of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was tested cross-sectionally (Study 1) and longitudinally (Study 2). In Study 1, maternal prosocial behavior was moderately associated with child behavior, and maternal positive parenting completely mediated this relationship. In Study 2, we found that the association between guidance (T1) and maternal prosocial behavior (T2) was significant, as were the longitudinal and mutual associations between high control and child prosocial behavior. However, a mediating effect of any component of parenting was not found in the longitudinal data. These results suggest an important role for maternal parenting in the development of prosocial behavior in children with ASD.

Improved symptoms following bumetanide treatment in children aged 3-6 years with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

With the current limited drug therapy for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we herein report a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to investigate the efficacy, safety, and potential neural mechanism of bumetanide in children with ASD aged 3-6 years old. A total of 120 children were enrolled into the study and randomly assigned to either 0.5 mg bumetanide or placebo. In the final sample, 119 children received at least one dose of bumetanide (59 children) or placebo (60 children) were included in the final analysis. The primary outcome was a reduction in the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score, and the secondary outcomes were the Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI) -Global Improvement (CGI-I) score at 3 months and the change from baseline to 3-month in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to measure γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate neurotransmitter concentrations in the insular cortex (IC) before and after the treatment. As compared with the placebo, bumetanide treatment was significantly better in reducing the severity. No patient withdrew from the trial due to adverse events. The superiority of bumetanide to placebo in reducing insular GABA, measured using MRS, was demonstrated. The clinical improvement was associated with a decrease in insular GABA in the bumetanide group. In conclusion, this trial in a large group of young children with predominantly moderate and severe ASD demonstrated that bumetanide is safe and effective in improving the core symptoms of ASD. However, the clinical significance remains uncertain, and future multi-center clinical trials are required to replicate these findings and confirm the clinical significance using a variety of outcome measures.

Reconsolidation of a post-ingestive nutrient memory requires mTOR in the central amygdala.

The central control of feeding behavior and metabolic homeostasis has been proposed to involve a form of post-ingestive nutrient learning independent of the gustatory value of food. However, after such learning, it is unknown which brain regions or circuits are activated to retrieve the stored memory and whether this memory undergoes reconsolidation that depends on protein synthesis after its reactivation through retrieval. In the present study, using a conditioned-flavor-preference paradigm by associating flavors with intra-gastric infusion of glucose to minimize the evaluation of the taste of food, we show that retrieval of the post-ingestive nutrient-conditioned flavor memory stimulates multiple brain regions in mice, including the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). Moreover, memory retrieval activated the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) in the CeA, while site-specific or systemic inhibition of mTORC1 immediately after retrieval prevented the subsequent expression of the post-ingestive nutrient-associated flavor memory, leading to a long-lasting suppression of reinstatement. Taken together, our findings suggest that the reconsolidation process of a post-ingestive nutrient memory modulates food preferences.

Different strategies, distinguished cooperation efficiency, and brain synchronization for couples: An fNIRS-based hyperscanning study.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals may employ different strategies when cooperating with others. For example, when two participants are asked to press buttons simultaneously, they may press the buttons as quickly as possible (immediate response strategy) or press them in a delayed pattern (delayed response strategy). Despite recognition of interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) as a fundamental neural mechanism of cooperation, it remains unclear how various strategies influence cooperative behavior and its neural activities. METHODS: To address this issue, 43 married couples were recruited to complete a button-press cooperative task, during which IBS was recorded by functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning. RESULTS: Behavioral results showed that couples who adopted a delayed response strategy performed better than those who adopted an immediate response strategy and those without any obvious strategy, and a new measure (cooperation coefficient) was used to index the level of cooperation. In addition, stronger IBS in the right frontal cortex was observed in the delayed response condition. The greater couples' perceived parenting stress, the more likely they were to perform well in tasks and the stronger their brain synchronization, since they tended to choose the delayed response strategy. CONCLUSION: The delayed response strategy may better unify dyad partners' response modes, trigger synchronized psychological processes, and enable their brains to become synchronized. The study extends understanding of cooperation by comparing the contributions of different strategies underlying cooperative behavior with corresponding neural evidence.

Symptom improvement in children with autism spectrum disorder following bumetanide administration is associated with decreased GABA/glutamate ratios.

Bumetanide has been reported to alter synaptic excitation-inhibition (E-I) balance by potentiating the action of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), thereby attenuating the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in animal models. However, clinical evidence of its efficacy in young patients with ASD is limited. This was investigated in the present clinical trial of 83 patients, randomised to the bumetanide group (bumetanide treatment, 0.5 mg twice daily) or the control group (no bumetanide treatment). Primary [Children Autism Rating Scale (CARS)], secondary [Clinical Global Impressions (CGI)], and exploratory [inhibitory (γ-aminobutyric acid, GABA) and excitatory (glutamate, Glx) neurotransmitter concentrations measured in the insular cortex (IC) and visual cortex (VC) by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)] outcome measures were evaluated at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up. Side effects were monitored throughout the treatment course. Compared with the control group, the bumetanide group showed significant reduction in symptom severity, as indicated by both total CARS score and number of items assigned a score ≥ 3. The improvement in clinical symptoms was confirmed by CGI. GABA/Glx ratio in both the IC and VC decreased more rapidly over the 3-month period in the bumetanide group than that in the control group. This decrease in the IC was associated with the symptom improvement in the bumetanide group. Our study confirmed the clinical efficacy of bumetanide on alleviating the core symptoms of ASD in young children and it is the first demonstration that the improvement is associated with reduction in GABA/Glx ratios. This study suggests that the GABA/Glx ratio measured by MRS may provide a neuroimaging biomarker for assessing treatment efficacy for bumetanide.

Correction: Symptom improvement in children with autism spectrum disorder following bumetanide administration is associated with decreased GABA/glutamate ratios.

An important detail was omitted in the Method of the original Article, I.E, The CARS and other evaluations were conducted 'blind' to condition (Bumetanide or no treatment) by experienced clinicians. This has now been updated in the HTML and PDF versions of this Article.

Long-Term NMDAR Antagonism Correlates Weight Loss With Less Eating.

Memantine hydrochloride is an uncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist for treatment of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. Several studies have shown that memantine can significantly correct the binge-like eating behavior in human and animal models. People with overeating behavior are more likely to be obese. Therefore, we suppose that memantine would be a good candidate for the treatment of obesity. In this study, memantine was shown to increase weight loss in obese mice induced by high fat diet. Memantine was shown to decrease food intake without inducing abdominal discomfort and anxiety, suggesting that this compound would be a good candidate drug for obesity control.

Methyleugenol Potentiates Central Amygdala GABAergic Inhibition and Reduces Anxiety.

The central amygdala (CeA) plays a critical role in the expression of emotional behaviors, including pathologic anxiety disorders. The present study demonstrated that GABAergic inhibition in CeA was significantly increased by methyleugenol (ME), a natural constituent isolated from the essential oils of several plants. The electrophysiologic recordings showed that ME increased both tonic and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic GABAergic currents in CeA slices, especially the tonic currents, while the miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents were not affected. In the fear-induced anxiety animal model, both intraperitoneal injection or CeA-specific infusion of ME reduced the anxiety-like behaviors in mice, likely by facilitating the activation of A-type GABA receptors (GABAARs). These results reveal that GABAAR in the CeA can be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of anxiety and that ME is capable of enhancing the GABAergic inhibition in CeA neurons for the inhibition of neuronal excitability.

Methyleugenol counteracts anorexigenic signals in association with GABAergic inhibition in the central amygdala.

Feeding can be inhibited by satiety, sickness, or food unpalatability. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) has been considered the key region for processing multiple anorexigenic signals, although the detailed cellular and molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here we identify that methyleugenol (ME), a novel agonist of A type ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs), significantly counteracts the anorexigenic effects caused by satiety or sickness in association with GABAergic inhibition in the CeA. Electrophysiologically, ME enhanced GABAergic transmission and repressed neuronal excitability of the CeA. Behaviorally, ME increased feeding but not affect locomotor activity and basal anxiety in naïve mice. Notably, both systemic and CeA-specific delivery of ME significantly rescued satiety- or sickness-induced inhibition of feeding. The effects of ME were mainly dependent on the GABAARs in the CeA. Indeed, viral-mediated, the CeA region-specific genetic knockdown of the γ2 subunit of GABAARs largely abolished the above pharmacological effects, while its re-expression in a subpopulation of GABAergic neurons in the CeA, that produce protein kinase C-δ (PKC-δ), recovered the effects of ME on anorexigenic signals. Taken together, these results reveal a novel molecular mechanism for counter-anorexigenic signals dependent on GABAergic inhibition in the CeA, suggesting the possibility of ME as a leading compound for anorexia treatment.

Quercetin Reduces Cortical GABAergic Transmission and Alleviates MK-801-Induced Hyperactivity.

An imbalance between neuronal excitation and inhibition represents a core feature in multiple neuropsychiatry disorders, necessitating the development of novel strategies to calibrate the excitatory-inhibitory balance of therapeutics. Here we identify a natural compound quercetin that reduces prefrontal cortical GABAergic transmission and alleviates the hyperactivity induced by glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist MK-801. Quercetin markedly reduced the GABA-activated currents in a noncompetitive manner in cultured cortical neurons, and moderately inhibited spontaneous and electrically-evoked GABAergic inhibitory postsynaptic current in mouse prefrontal cortical slices. Notably, systemic and prefrontal-specific delivery of quercetin reduced basal locomotor activity in addition to alleviated the MK-801-induced hyperactivity. The effects of quercetin were not exclusively dependent on α5-subunit-containing A type GABA receptors (GABAARs), as viral-mediated, region-specific genetic knockdown of the α5-subunit in prefrontal cortex improved the MK-801-evoked psychotic symptom but reserved the pharmacological responsivity to quercetin. Both interventions together completely normalized the locomotor activity. Together, quercetin as a negative allosteric GABAAR modulator exerted antipsychotic activity, facilitating further therapeutic development for the excitatory-inhibitory imbalance disorders.

Curcumol allosterically modulates GABA(A) receptors in a manner distinct from benzodiazepines.

Inhibitory A type γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs) play a pivotal role in orchestrating various brain functions and represent an important molecular target in neurological and psychiatric diseases, necessitating the need for the discovery and development of novel modulators. Here, we show that a natural compound curcumol, acts as an allosteric enhancer of GABAARs in a manner distinct from benzodiazepines. Curcumol markedly facilitated GABA-activated currents and shifted the GABA concentration-response curve to the left in cultured hippocampal neurons. When co-applied with the classical benzodiazepine diazepam, curcumol further potentiated GABA-induced currents. In contrast, in the presence of a saturating concentration of menthol, a positive modulator for GABAAR, curcumol failed to further enhance GABA-induced currents, suggesting shared mechanisms underlying these two agents on GABAARs. Moreover, the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil did not alter the enhancement of GABA response by curcumol and menthol, but abolished that by DZP. Finally, mutations at the ß2 or γ2 subunit predominantly eliminated modulation of recombinant GABAARs by curcumol and menthol, or diazepam, respectively. Curcumol may therefore exert its actions on GABAARs at sites distinct from benzodiazepine sites. These findings shed light on the future development of new therapeutics drugs targeting GABAARs.

ASIC1a regulates insular long-term depression and is required for the extinction of conditioned taste aversion.

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) has been shown to play important roles in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Here we identify a crucial role for ASIC1a in long-term depression (LTD) at mouse insular synapses. Genetic ablation and pharmacological inhibition of ASIC1a reduced the induction probability of LTD without affecting that of long-term potentiation in the insular cortex. The disruption of ASIC1a also attenuated the extinction of established taste aversion memory without altering the initial associative taste learning or its long-term retention. Extinction of taste aversive memory led to the reduced insular synaptic efficacy, which precluded further LTD induction. The impaired LTD and extinction learning in ASIC1a null mice were restored by virus-mediated expression of wild-type ASIC1a, but not its ion-impermeable mutant, in the insular cortices. Our data demonstrate the involvement of an ASIC1a-mediated insular synaptic depression mechanism in extinction learning, which raises the possibility of targeting ASIC1a to manage adaptive behaviours.

SUMO-specific protease 1 protects neurons from apoptotic death during transient brain ischemia/reperfusion.

SUMO-specific protease 1 (SENP1) deconjugates SUMO from modified proteins. Although post-ischemic activation of SUMO conjugation was suggested to be neuroprotective against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, the function of SENP1 in this process remained unclear. Here we show that transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice followed by 6, 12 and 24 h reperfusion significantly enhanced SENP1 levels in the affected brain area, independent of transcription. Consistent with the increase in SENP1, the levels of SUMO1-conjugated proteins were decreased by I/R in cortical neurons of control littermate mice, but unchanged in that of animals with conditional ablation of SENP1 gene from adult principal neurons, the SENP1flox/flox:CamKIIα-Cre (SENP1 cKO) mice. The SENP1 cKO mice exhibited a significant increase in infarct volume in the cerebral cortex and more severe motor impairment in response to I/R as compared with the control littermates. Cortical neurons from I/R-injured SENP1 cKO mice became more apoptotic than that from control littermates, as indicated by both TUNEL staining and caspase-3 activation. Overexpression of SENP1 in somatosensory cortices of adult wild-type (WT) mice suppressed I/R-induced neuronal apoptosis. We conclude that SENP1 plays a neuroprotective role in I/R injury by inhibiting apoptosis through decreasing SUMO1 conjugation. These findings reveal a novel mechanism of neuroprotection by protein desumoylation, which may help develop new therapies for mitigating brain injury associated with ischemic stroke.

Acid-sensing ion channel 1a contributes to hippocampal LTP inducibility through multiple mechanisms.

The exact roles of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) in synaptic plasticity remain elusive. Here, we address the contribution of ASIC1a to five forms of synaptic plasticity in the mouse hippocampus using an in vitro multi-electrode array recording system. We found that genetic deletion or pharmacological blockade of ASIC1a greatly reduced, but did not fully abolish, the probability of long-term potentiation (LTP) induction by either single or repeated high frequency stimulation or theta burst stimulation in the CA1 region. However, these treatments did not affect hippocampal long-term depression induced by low frequency electrical stimulation or (RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine. We also show that ASIC1a exerts its action in hippocampal LTP through multiple mechanisms that include but are not limited to augmentation of NMDA receptor function. Taken together, these results reveal new insights into the role of ASIC1a in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and the underlying mechanisms. This unbiased study also demonstrates a novel and objective way to assay synaptic plasticity mechanisms in the brain.

A behavioral defect of temporal association memory in mice that partly lack dopamine reuptake transporter.

Temporal association memory, like working memory, is a type of episodic memory in which temporally discontinuous elements are associated. However, the mechanisms that govern this association remain incompletely understood. Here, we identify a crucial role of dopaminergic action in temporal association memory. We used hemizygote hyperdopaminergic mutant mice with reduced dopamine transporter (DAT) expression, referred to as DAT(+/-) mice. We found that mice with this modest dopamine imbalance exhibited significantly impaired trace fear conditioning, which necessitates the association of temporally discontinuous elements, and intact delay auditory fear conditioning, which does not. Moreover, the DAT(+/-) mice displayed substantial impairments in non-matching-to-place spatial working-memory tasks. Interestingly, these temporal association and working memory deficits could be mimicked by a low dose of the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol. The shared phenotypes resulting from either the genetic reduction of DAT or the pharmacological inhibition of the D2 receptor collectively indicate that temporal association memory necessitates precise regulation of dopaminergic signaling. The particular defect in temporal association memory due to partial lack of DAT provides mechanistic insights on the understanding of cognitive impairments in multiple neurodevelopmental disorders.

Electrophysiological characterization of methyleugenol: a novel agonist of GABA(A) receptors.

Methyleugenol (ME) is a natural constituent isolated from many plant essential oils having multiple biological effects including anticonvulsant and anesthetic activities, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we identify ME as a novel agonist of ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. At lower concentrations (∼30 µM), ME significantly sensitized GABA-induced, but not glutamate- or glycine-induced, currents in cultured hippocampal neurons, indicative of a preferentially modulatory role of this compound for A type GABA receptors (GABAARs). In addition, ME at higher concentrations (≥100 µM) induced a concentration-dependent, Cl(-)-permeable current in hippocampal neurons, which was inhibited by a GABAAR channel blocker, picrotoxin, and a competitive GABAAR antagonist, bicuculline, but not a specific glycine receptor inhibitor, strychnine. Moreover, ME activated a similar current mediated by recombinant α1-ß2-γ2 or α5-ß2-γ2 GABAARs in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells. Consequently, ME produced a strong inhibition of synaptically driven neuronal excitation in hippocampal neurons. Together, these results suggest that ME represents a novel agonist of GABAARs, shedding additional light on future development of new therapeutics targeting GABAARs. The present study also adds GABAAR activation to the list of molecular targets of ME that probably account for its biological activities.

Curcumol from Rhizoma Curcumae suppresses epileptic seizure by facilitation of GABA(A) receptors.

Rhizoma Curcumae is a common Chinese dietary spice used in South Asia and China for thousands of years. As the main extract, Rhizoma Curcumae oil has attracted a great interest due to its newly raised therapeutic activities including its pharmacological effects upon central nervous system such as neuroprotection, cognitive enhancement, and anti-seizure efficacy; however the molecular mechanisms and the target identification remain to be established. Here we characterize an inhibitory effect of curcumol, a major bioactive component of Rhizoma Curcumae oil, on the excitability of hippocampal neurons in culture, the basal locomotor activity of freely moving animals, and the chemically induced seizure activity in vivo. Electrophysiological recording showed that acute application of curcumol significantly facilitated the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-activated current in cultured mouse hippocampal neurons and in human embryonic kidney cells expressing α1- or α5-containing A type GABA (GABAA) receptors in a concentration-dependent manner. Measurement of tonic and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic GABAergic currents in hippocampal slices indicated that curcumol enhanced both forms of inhibition. In both pentylenetetrazole and kainate seizure models, curcumol suppressed epileptic activity in mice by prolonging the latency to clonic and tonic seizures and reducing the mortality as well as the susceptibility to seizure, presumably by facilitating the activation of GABAA receptors. Taken together, our results identified curcumol as a novel anti-seizure agent which inhibited neuronal excitability through enhancing GABAergic inhibition.

Understanding the mechanisms of cognitive impairments in developmental coordination disorder.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), a neurodevelopmental disability in which a child's motor coordination difficulties significantly interfere with activities of daily life or academic achievement, together with additional symptoms of diseases with childhood sensorimotor impairments, increases the risk of many cognitive problems. This exhibits the dynamic interplay between sensorimotor and cognition systems. However, the brain structures and pathways involved have remained unknown over the past decades. Here, we review developments in recent years that elucidate the neural mechanisms involved in the sensorimotor-cognitive difficulties. First, we briefly address the clinical and epidemiological discoveries in DCD as well as its comorbidities. Subsequently, we group the growing evidence including our findings that support the notion that sensorimotor manipulation indeed affects the cognition development at systematic, circuitry, cellular, and molecular levels. This corresponds to changes in diverse brain regions, synaptic plasticity, and neurotransmitter and receptor activity during development under these effects. Finally, we address the treatment potentials of task-oriented sensorimotor enhancement, as a new therapeutic strategy for cognitive rehabilitation, based on our current understanding of the neurobiology of cognitive-sensorimotor interaction.

Maternal obesity caused by overnutrition exposure leads to reversal learning deficits and striatal disturbance in rats.

Maternal obesity caused by overnutrition during pregnancy increases susceptibility to metabolic risks in adulthood, such as obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes; however, whether and how it affects the cognitive system associated with the brain remains elusive. Here, we report that pregnant obesity induced by exposure to excessive high fatty or highly palatable food specifically impaired reversal learning, a kind of adaptive behavior, while leaving serum metabolic metrics intact in the offspring of rats, suggesting a much earlier functional and structural defects possibly occurred in the central nervous system than in the metabolic system in the offspring born in unfavorable intrauterine nutritional environment. Mechanically, we found that above mentioned cognitive inflexibility might be associated with significant striatal disturbance including impaired dopamine homeostasis and disrupted leptin signaling in the adult offspring. These collective data add a novel perspective of understanding the adverse postnatal sequelae in central nervous system induced by developmental programming and the related molecular mechanism through which priming of risk for developmental disorders may occur during early life.

Environmental risk factor assessment: a multilevel analysis of childhood asthma in China.

BACKGROUND: Rapid changes in socioeconomic environment and their diverse patterns in China raise a question: how socio-environmental factors affect childhood asthma in China. We performed a multilevel analysis based on a 2005 national survey to understand the association between environmental factors and asthma, and to provide insights on developing prevention strategies. METHODS: A multi-center, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2018 school-aged children chosen from eight Chinese cities. Children of 6-13 years old were chosen randomly from schools of 39 centers in 8 cities. The multilevel analysis was made to assess both individual-level and city-level risk factors. The effect of gross domestic product (GDP) was further investigated by analysis of the factors. RESULTS: Analysis of city-level environmental factors showed that GDP [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.88], particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM10) (adjusted OR=1.37), and average humidity (adjusted OR=1.33) were strong risk factors. Further analysis of the factors decomposed GDP into two major factors, the first represented by urban construction, energy consumption, nitrogen dioxide concentration, and the second represented by health-system coverage. This suggested that the negative effects of GDP outweighed its positive effects on asthma. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of childhood asthma varies significantly in the eight Chinese cities. Socioenvironmental factors such as GDP, PM10 and average humidity are strong risk factors controlling individual attributes, suggesting that balance is needed between public health and economic development in China.