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1.
eNeuro ; 11(4)2024 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38519128

RESUMO

As the global elderly population grows, age-related cognitive decline is becoming an increasingly significant healthcare issue, often leading to various neuropsychiatric disorders. Among the many molecular players involved in memory, AMPA-type glutamate receptors are known to regulate learning and memory, but how their dynamics change with age and affect memory decline is not well understood. Here, we examined the in vivo properties of the AMPA-type glutamate receptor GLR-1 in the AVA interneuron of the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system during physiological aging. We found that both total and membrane-bound GLR-1 receptor levels decrease with age in wild-type worms, regardless of their location along the axon. Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, we also demonstrated that a reduction in GLR-1 abundance correlates with decreased local, synaptic GLR-1 receptor dynamics. Importantly, we found that reduced GLR-1 levels strongly correlate with the age-related decline in short-term associative memory. Genetic manipulation of GLR-1 stability, by either deleting msi-1 or expressing a ubiquitination-defective GLR-1 (4KR) variant, prevented this age-related reduction in receptor abundance and improved the short-term memory performance in older animals, which reached performance levels similar to those of young animals. Overall, our data indicate that AMPA-type glutamate receptor abundance and dynamics are key factors in maintaining memory function and that changes in these parameters are linked to age-dependent short-term memory decline.


Assuntos
Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans , Animais , Ácido alfa-Amino-3-hidroxi-5-metil-4-isoxazol Propiônico , Caenorhabditis elegans/fisiologia , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Memória de Curto Prazo , Mutação , Receptores de AMPA , Receptores de Glutamato/genética , Receptores de Glutamato/metabolismo
2.
Transl Psychiatry ; 14(1): 32, 2024 Jan 18.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38238325

RESUMO

Soldiers may be exposed to traumatic stress during combat deployment and thus are at risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Genetic and epigenetic evidence suggests that PTSD is linked to forming stress-related memories. In the current study, we investigated post-deployment associations of PTSD symptoms with differential DNA methylation in a sample of Burundian soldiers returning from the African Union Mission in Somalia's war zone. We used a matched longitudinal study design to explore epigenetic changes associated with PTSD symptoms in N = 191 participants. PTSD symptoms and saliva samples were collected at 1-3 (t1) and 9-14 months (t2) after the return of the soldiers to their home base. Individuals with either worsening or improving PTSD symptoms were matched for age, stressful, traumatic and self-perpetrated events prior to the post-assessment, traumatic and violent experiences between the post- and the follow-up assessment, and violence experienced during childhood. A mixed model analysis was conducted to identify top nominally significantly differentially methylated genes, which were then used to perform a gene enrichment analysis. The linoleic acid metabolism pathway was significantly associated with post-deployment PTSD symptoms, after accounting for multiple comparisons. Linoleic acid has been linked to memory and immune related processes in previous research. Our findings suggest that differential methylation of linoleic acid pathway genes is associated with PTSD and thus may merit closer inspection as a possible mediator of resilience.


Assuntos
Militares , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos , Humanos , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/genética , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/diagnóstico , Ácido Linoleico , Estudos Longitudinais , Metilação de DNA
3.
Nat Commun ; 14(1): 5694, 2023 09 14.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37709747

RESUMO

Episodic memory, the ability to consciously recollect information and its context, varies substantially among individuals. While prior fMRI studies have identified certain brain regions linked to successful memory encoding at a group level, their role in explaining individual memory differences remains largely unexplored. Here, we analyze fMRI data of 1,498 adults participating in a picture encoding task in a single MRI scanner. We find that individual differences in responsivity of the hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex account for individual variability in episodic memory performance. While these regions also emerge in our group-level analysis, other regions, predominantly within the lateral occipital cortex, are related to successful memory encoding but not to individual memory variation. Furthermore, our network-based approach reveals a link between the responsivity of nine functional connectivity networks and individual memory variability. Our work provides insights into the neurofunctional correlates of individual differences in visual episodic memory performance.


Assuntos
Memória Episódica , Adulto , Humanos , Individualidade , Cognição , Rememoração Mental
4.
Mol Neurobiol ; 60(2): 820-835, 2023 Feb.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36378468

RESUMO

Musashi RNA-binding proteins (MSIs) retain a pivotal role in stem cell maintenance, tumorigenesis, and nervous system development. Recently, we showed in C. elegans that Musashi (MSI-1) actively promotes forgetting upon associative learning via a 3'UTR-dependent translational expression of the Arp2/3 actin branching complex. Here, we investigated the evolutionary conserved role of MSI proteins and the effect of their pharmacological inhibition on memory. Expression of human Musashi 1 (MSI1) and Musashi 2 (MSI2) under the endogenous Musashi promoter fully rescued the phenotype of msi-1(lf) worms. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of human MSI1 and MSI2 activity using (-)- gossypol resulted in improved memory retention, without causing locomotor, chemotactic, or learning deficits. No drug effect was observed in msi-1(lf) treated worms. Using Western blotting and confocal microscopy, we found no changes in MSI-1 protein abundance following (-)- gossypol treatment, suggesting that Musashi gene expression remains unaltered and that the compound exerts its inhibitory effect post-translationally. Additionally, (-)- gossypol suppressed the previously seen rescue of the msi-1(lf) phenotype in worms expressing human MSI1 specifically in the AVA neuron, indicating that (-)- gossypol can regulate the Musashi pathway in a memory-related neuronal circuit in worms. Finally, treating aged worms with (-)- gossypol reversed physiological age-dependent memory decline. Taken together, our findings indicate that pharmacological inhibition of Musashi might represent a promising approach for memory modulation.


Assuntos
Caenorhabditis elegans , Gossipol , Idoso , Animais , Humanos , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Gossipol/farmacologia , Gossipol/metabolismo , Transtornos da Memória/tratamento farmacológico , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Neurônios/metabolismo , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/metabolismo , Células-Tronco/metabolismo
5.
PLoS Genet ; 18(10): e1010420, 2022 10.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36223338

RESUMO

The Musashi family of RNA-binding proteins controls several biological processes including stem cell maintenance, cell division and neural function. Previously, we demonstrated that the C. elegans Musashi ortholog, msi-1, regulates forgetting via translational repression of the Arp2/3 actin-branching complex. However, the mechanisms controlling MSI-1 activity during the regulation of forgetting are currently unknown. Here we investigated the effects of protein phosphorylation on MSI-1 activity. We showed that MSI-1 function is likely controlled by alterations of its activity rather than its expression levels. Furthermore, we found that MSI-1 is phosphorylated and using mass spectrometry we identified MSI-1 phosphorylation at three residues (T18, S19 and S34). CRISPR-based manipulations of MSI-1 phosphorylation sites revealed that phosphorylation is necessary for MSI-1 function in both short- and long-term aversive olfactory associative memory. Thus, our study provides insight into the mechanisms regulating memory-related MSI-1 activity and may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic approaches.


Assuntos
Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans , Caenorhabditis elegans , Complexo 2-3 de Proteínas Relacionadas à Actina/metabolismo , Actinas/metabolismo , Animais , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/metabolismo , Fosforilação , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA/metabolismo
6.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 119(41): e2204900119, 2022 10 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36191198

RESUMO

Emotional information is better remembered than neutral information. Extensive evidence indicates that the amygdala and its interactions with other cerebral regions play an important role in the memory-enhancing effect of emotional arousal. While the cerebellum has been found to be involved in fear conditioning, its role in emotional enhancement of episodic memory is less clear. To address this issue, we used a whole-brain functional MRI approach in 1,418 healthy participants. First, we identified clusters significantly activated during enhanced memory encoding of negative and positive emotional pictures. In addition to the well-known emotional memory-related cerebral regions, we identified a cluster in the cerebellum. We then used dynamic causal modeling and identified several cerebellar connections with increased connection strength corresponding to enhanced emotional memory, including one to a cluster covering the amygdala and hippocampus, and bidirectional connections with a cluster covering the anterior cingulate cortex. The present findings indicate that the cerebellum is an integral part of a network involved in emotional enhancement of episodic memory.


Assuntos
Nível de Alerta , Emoções , Tonsila do Cerebelo , Mapeamento Encefálico , Cerebelo , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Rememoração Mental
7.
Ann Intern Med ; 175(11): 1560-1571, 2022 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36252247

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: To what extent the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures influenced mental health in the general population is still unclear. PURPOSE: To assess the trajectory of mental health symptoms during the first year of the pandemic and examine dose-response relations with characteristics of the pandemic and its containment. DATA SOURCES: Relevant articles were identified from the living evidence database of the COVID-19 Open Access Project, which indexes COVID-19-related publications from MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase via Ovid, and PsycInfo. Preprint publications were not considered. STUDY SELECTION: Longitudinal studies that reported data on the general population's mental health using validated scales and that were published before 31 March 2021 were eligible. DATA EXTRACTION: An international crowd of 109 trained reviewers screened references and extracted study characteristics, participant characteristics, and symptom scores at each timepoint. Data were also included for the following country-specific variables: days since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the stringency of governmental containment measures, and the cumulative numbers of cases and deaths. DATA SYNTHESIS: In a total of 43 studies (331 628 participants), changes in symptoms of psychological distress, sleep disturbances, and mental well-being varied substantially across studies. On average, depression and anxiety symptoms worsened in the first 2 months of the pandemic (standardized mean difference at 60 days, -0.39 [95% credible interval, -0.76 to -0.03]); thereafter, the trajectories were heterogeneous. There was a linear association of worsening depression and anxiety with increasing numbers of reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and increasing stringency in governmental measures. Gender, age, country, deprivation, inequalities, risk of bias, and study design did not modify these associations. LIMITATIONS: The certainty of the evidence was low because of the high risk of bias in included studies and the large amount of heterogeneity. Stringency measures and surges in cases were strongly correlated and changed over time. The observed associations should not be interpreted as causal relationships. CONCLUSION: Although an initial increase in average symptoms of depression and anxiety and an association between higher numbers of reported cases and more stringent measures were found, changes in mental health symptoms varied substantially across studies after the first 2 months of the pandemic. This suggests that different populations responded differently to the psychological stress generated by the pandemic and its containment measures. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Swiss National Science Foundation. (PROSPERO: CRD42020180049).


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Humanos , Ansiedade/epidemiologia , Ansiedade/psicologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Depressão/psicologia , Saúde Mental , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2
8.
Front Behav Neurosci ; 16: 891831, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36035017

RESUMO

Introduction: The aim of the present study was (1) to validate the method of guilt-induction by means of a written auto-biographical essay and (2) to test whether experimental pain is apt to alleviate the mental burden of guilt, a concept receiving support from both empirical research and clinical observation. Methods: Three independent groups of healthy male participants were recruited. Group allocation was not randomized but within group pain/sham administration was counterbalanced over the two test-days. Groups were tested in the following consecutive order: Group A: guilt induction, heat-pain/sham, N = 59; Group B: guilt induction, cold-pressure-pain/sham, N = 43; Group C: emotionally neutral induction, heat-pain/sham, N = 39. Guilt was induced on both test-days in group A and B before pain/sham administration. Visual analog scale (VAS) guilt ratings immediately after pain/sham stimulation served as the primary outcome. In a control group C the identical heat-pain experiment was performed like in group A but a neutral emotional state was induced. Results: A consistently strong overall effect of guilt-induction (heat-pain: p < 0.001, effect size r = 0.71; CPT-pain p < 0.001, r = 0.67) was found when compared to the control-condition (p = 0.25, r = 0.08). As expected, heat- and cold-pressure-stimuli were highly painful in all groups (p < 0.0001, r = 0.89). However, previous research supporting the hypothesis that pain is apt to reduce guilt was not replicated. Conclusion: Although guilt-induction was highly effective on both test-days no impact of pain on behavioral guilt-ratings in healthy individuals could be identified. Guilt induction per se did not depend on the order of testing. The result questions previous experimental work on the impact of pain on moral emotions.

9.
Front Aging Neurosci ; 13: 682474, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34211390

RESUMO

Background: Various working memory (WM) trainings have been tested, but differences in experimental designs, the lack of theoretical background, and the need of identifying task-related processes such as filtering efficiency limit conclusions about their comparative efficacy. Objectives: In this study, we compared the efficacy of a model-based WM training with (MB+) and without (MB) distractor inhibition on improving WM capacity to a dual n-back and active control condition. Methods: This randomized clinical trial included 123 healthy elderly adults (78 women, 45 men; aged 64.1 ± 8.3 years). All groups underwent 12 40-min training sessions over 3 weeks and four cognitive testing sessions. The first two sessions served as double baseline to account for practice effects. Primary outcome was WM capacity post-training measured by complex span tasks. Near and far transfer was assessed by simple span, n-back, visuospatial and verbal learning, processing speed, and reasoning tasks. Results: Due to preliminary termination (COVID-19), 93 subjects completed the post-training and 60 subjects the follow-up session. On a whole group level, practice effects occurred from prebaseline to baseline in WM capacity (b = 4.85, t (103) = 4.01, p < 0.001, r = 0.37). Linear mixed-effects models revealed a difference in WM capacity post-training between MB+ and MB (b = -9.62, t (82) = -2.52, p = 0.014, r = 0.27) and a trend difference between MB+ and dual n-back (b = -7.59, t (82) = -1.87, p = 0.065, r = 0.20) and control training (b = -7.08, t (82) = -1.86, p = 0.067, r = 0.20). Univariate analyses showed an increase between pre- and post-training for WM capacity within MB+ (t (22) = -3.34, p < 0.05) only. There was no difference between groups pre- and post-training regarding near and far transfer. Univariate analyses showed improved visuospatial learning within MB+ (t (21) = -3.8, p < 0.05), improved processing speed (t (23) = 2.19, p< 0.05) and n-back performance (t (23) = 2.12, p < 0.05) in MB, and improved n-back performance (t (25) = 3.83, p < 0.001) in the dual n-back training. Interpretation: A model-based WM training including filtering efficacy may be a promising approach to increase WM capacity and needs further investigation in randomized controlled studies.

10.
J Anxiety Disord ; 82: 102442, 2021 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34246153

RESUMO

Although in vivo exposure therapy is highly effective in the treatment of specific phobias, only a minority of patients seeks therapy. Exposure to virtual objects has been shown to be better tolerated, equally efficacious, but the technology has not been made widely accessible yet. We developed an augmented reality (AR) application (app) to reduce fear of spiders and performed a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of our app (six 30-min sessions at home over a two-week period) with no intervention. Primary outcome was subjective fear, measured by a Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) in a Behavioural Approach Test (BAT) in a real-life spider situation at six weeks follow-up. Between Oct 7, 2019, and Dec 6, 2019, 66 individuals were enrolled and randomized. The intervention led to significantly lower subjective fear in the BAT compared to the control group (intervention group, baseline: 7.12 [SD 2.03] follow-up: 5.03 [SD 2.19] vs. control group, baseline: 7.06 [SD 2.34], follow-up 6.24 [SD 2.21]; adjusted group difference -1.24, 95 % CI -2.17 to -0.31; Cohen's d = 0.57, p = 0.010). The repeated use of the AR app reduces subjective fear in a real-life spider situation, providing a low-threshold and low-cost treatment for fear of spiders.


Assuntos
Realidade Aumentada , Aplicativos Móveis , Aranhas , Animais , Medo , Humanos , Smartphone
11.
Behav Brain Res ; 408: 113285, 2021 06 25.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33819531

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Recognition memory is an essential ability for functioning in everyday life. Establishing robust brain networks linked to recognition memory performance can help to understand the neural basis of recognition memory itself and the interindividual differences in recognition memory performance. METHODS: We analysed behavioural and whole-brain fMRI data from 1'410 healthy young adults during the testing phase of a picture-recognition task. Using independent component analysis (ICA), we decomposed the fMRI contrast for previously seen vs. new (old-new) pictures into networks of brain activity. This was done in two independent samples (training sample: N = 645, replication sample: N = 665). Next, we investigated the relationship between the identified brain networks and interindividual differences in recognition memory performance by conducting a prediction analysis. We estimated the prediction accuracy in a third independent sample (test sample: N = 100). RESULTS: We identified 12 robust and replicable brain networks using two independent samples. Based on the activity of those networks we could successfully estimate interindividual differences in recognition memory performance with high accuracy in a third independent sample (r = 0.5, p = 1.29 × 10-07). CONCLUSION: Given the robustness of the ICA decomposition as well as the high prediction estimate, the identified brain networks may be considered as potential biomarkers of recognition memory performance in healthy young adults and can be further investigated in the context of health and disease.


Assuntos
Mapeamento Encefálico , Encéfalo/fisiologia , Rede Nervosa/fisiologia , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos/fisiologia , Reconhecimento Psicológico/fisiologia , Adulto , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Feminino , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Rede Nervosa/diagnóstico por imagem , Adulto Jovem
12.
NPJ Digit Med ; 4(1): 16, 2021 Feb 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33558625

RESUMO

Smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) applications (apps) might help to counter low utilization rates of available treatments for fear of heights. Demonstration of effectiveness in real-life situations of such apps is crucial, but lacking so far. Objective of this study was to develop a stand-alone, smartphone-based VR exposure app-Easy Heights-and to test its effectiveness in a real-life situation. We performed a single-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial. We recruited 70 participants with fear of heights, aged 18-60 years. Primary outcome was performance in a real-life Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) on a lookout tower after a single 1-h app use (phase 1) and after additional repeated (6 × 30 min) app use at home (phase 2). After phase 2, but not phase 1, participants in the Easy Heights condition showed significantly higher BAT scores compared to participants in the control condition (Cohen's d = 1.3, p = 0.0001). Repeated use of our stand-alone, smartphone-based VR exposure app reduces avoidance behavior and fear, providing a low-threshold treatment for fear of heights.

13.
Transl Psychiatry ; 11(1): 6, 2021 01 05.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33414435

RESUMO

Alcohol-associated memories and craving play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder (AUD). As treatment options are limited in AUD, novel treatment strategies focus on the manipulation of alcohol-associated memories. The stress hormone cortisol affects various memory processes, and first clinical studies have shown that it inhibits the retrieval of disorder-specific memories and enhances extinction memory. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a single oral administration of cortisol on craving in patients with AUD during repeated in vivo exposure to alcohol pictures and the preferred alcoholic drink. In a double-blind, block-randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over design, 46 patients with AUD were treated with two sessions of in vivo exposure to alcohol. Cortisol (20 mg) or placebo was orally administered 1 h before each test day. Craving, stress, and cortisol were repeatedly measured during exposure sessions. Results show, that cortisol administration had distinct effects on craving depending on the severity of AUD and test day. While cortisol administration significantly enhanced craving during exposure on the first test day in patients with less severe AUD, it reduced craving in patients with more severe AUD. Independent of the cortisol administration, repeated in vivo exposure reduced craving from test day 1 to test day 2. In conclusion, adding cortisol to in vivo exposure might be a promising approach for reducing the strength of alcohol-associated memories and might promote the consolidation of extinction memory in patients with severe AUD. However, the differential effect of cortisol on craving depending on AUD severity cannot be conclusively explained and highlights the need for future studies elucidating the underlying mechanism.


Assuntos
Alcoolismo , Hidrocortisona , Alcoolismo/tratamento farmacológico , Fissura , Método Duplo-Cego , Humanos , Memória
14.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 117(35): 21667-21672, 2020 09 01.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32817534

RESUMO

Extensive pharmacologic, genetic, and epigenetic research has linked the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to memory processes, and to risk and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the present study we investigated the epigenetic pattern of 12 genes involved in the regulation of GR signaling in two African populations of heavily traumatized individuals: Survivors of the rebel war in northern Uganda (n = 463) and survivors of the Rwandan genocide (n = 350). The strongest link between regional methylation and PTSD risk and symptoms was observed for NTRK2, which encodes the transmembrane receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B, binds the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and has been shown to play an important role in memory formation. NTRK2 methylation was not related to trauma load, suggesting that methylation differences preexisted the trauma. Because NTRK2 methylation differences were predominantly associated with memory-related PTSD symptoms, and because they seem to precede traumatic events, we next investigated the relationship between NTRK2 methylation and memory in a sample of nontraumatized individuals (n = 568). We found that NTRK2 methylation was negatively associated with recognition memory performance. Furthermore, fMRI analyses revealed NTRK2 methylation-dependent differences in brain network activity related to recognition memory. The present study demonstrates that NTRK2 is epigenetically linked to memory functions in nontraumatized subjects and to PTSD risk and symptoms in traumatized populations.


Assuntos
Glicoproteínas de Membrana/genética , Receptor trkB/genética , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/genética , Adulto , Idoso , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Metilação de DNA/genética , Epigênese Genética/genética , Feminino , Glucocorticoides/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Glicoproteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Memória/fisiologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único/genética , Receptor trkB/metabolismo , Receptores de Glucocorticoides/metabolismo , Fatores de Risco , Ruanda/epidemiologia , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/metabolismo , Sobreviventes , Uganda/epidemiologia
15.
Transl Psychiatry ; 10(1): 217, 2020 07 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32632143

RESUMO

The neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM-1) has been implicated in several brain-related biological processes, including neuronal migration, axonal branching, fasciculation, and synaptogenesis, with a pivotal role in synaptic plasticity. Here, we investigated the evolutionary conserved role of NCAM-1 in learning and memory. First, we investigated sustained changes in ncam-1 expression following aversive olfactory conditioning in C. elegans using molecular genetic methods. Furthermore, we examined the link between epigenetic signatures of the NCAM1 gene and memory in two human samples of healthy individuals (N = 568 and N = 319) and in two samples of traumatized individuals (N = 350 and N = 463). We found that olfactory conditioning in C. elegans induced ncam-1 expression and that loss of ncam-1 function selectively impaired associative long-term memory, without causing acquisition, sensory, or short-term memory deficits. Reintroduction of the C. elegans or human NCAM1 fully rescued memory impairment, suggesting a conserved role of NCAM1 for memory. In parallel, DNA methylation of the NCAM1 promoter in two independent healthy Swiss cohorts was associated with memory performance. In two independent Sub-Saharan populations of conflict zone survivors who had faced severe trauma, DNA methylation at an alternative promoter of the NCAM1 gene was associated with traumatic memories. Our results support a role of NCAM1 in associative memory in nematodes and humans, and might, ultimately, be helpful in elucidating diagnostic markers or suggest novel therapy targets for memory-related disorders, like PTSD.


Assuntos
Caenorhabditis elegans , Molécula L1 de Adesão de Célula Nervosa , Animais , Antígeno CD56 , Condicionamento Psicológico , Humanos , Aprendizagem , Moléculas de Adesão de Célula Nervosa/genética , Plasticidade Neuronal , Ácidos Siálicos
16.
J Cogn Neurosci ; 32(6): 1117-1129, 2020 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32013687

RESUMO

The amygdala is critically involved in emotional processing, including fear responses, and shows hyperactivity in anxiety disorders. Previous research in healthy participants has indicated that amygdala activity is down-regulated by cognitively demanding tasks that engage the PFC. It is unknown, however, if such an acute down-regulation of amygdala activity might correlate with reduced fear in anxious participants. In an fMRI study of 43 participants (11 men) with fear of snakes, we found reduced amygdala activity when visual stimuli were processed under high cognitive load, irrespective of whether the stimuli were of neutral or phobic content. Furthermore, dynamic causal modeling revealed that this general reduction in amygdala activity was partially mediated by a load-dependent increase in dorsolateral PFC activity. Importantly, high cognitive load also resulted in an acute decrease in perceived phobic fear while viewing the fearful stimuli. In conclusion, our data indicate that a cognitively demanding task results in a top-down regulation of amygdala activity and an acute reduction of fear in phobic participants. These findings may inspire the development of novel psychological intervention approaches aimed at reducing fear in anxiety disorders.


Assuntos
Tonsila do Cerebelo/fisiopatologia , Memória de Curto Prazo/fisiologia , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos/fisiologia , Transtornos Fóbicos/fisiopatologia , Córtex Pré-Frontal/fisiopatologia , Desempenho Psicomotor/fisiologia , Adulto , Tonsila do Cerebelo/diagnóstico por imagem , Feminino , Neuroimagem Funcional , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Transtornos Fóbicos/diagnóstico por imagem , Transtornos Fóbicos/terapia , Córtex Pré-Frontal/diagnóstico por imagem , Adulto Jovem
17.
Mol Psychiatry ; 25(11): 3053-3065, 2020 11.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30279459

RESUMO

The hippocampus is a heterogeneous structure, comprising histologically distinguishable subfields. These subfields are differentially involved in memory consolidation, spatial navigation and pattern separation, complex functions often impaired in individuals with brain disorders characterized by reduced hippocampal volume, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia. Given the structural and functional heterogeneity of the hippocampal formation, we sought to characterize the subfields' genetic architecture. T1-weighted brain scans (n = 21,297, 16 cohorts) were processed with the hippocampal subfields algorithm in FreeSurfer v6.0. We ran a genome-wide association analysis on each subfield, co-varying for whole hippocampal volume. We further calculated the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability of 12 subfields, as well as their genetic correlation with each other, with other structural brain features and with AD and schizophrenia. All outcome measures were corrected for age, sex and intracranial volume. We found 15 unique genome-wide significant loci across six subfields, of which eight had not been previously linked to the hippocampus. Top SNPs were mapped to genes associated with neuronal differentiation, locomotor behaviour, schizophrenia and AD. The volumes of all the subfields were estimated to be heritable (h2 from 0.14 to 0.27, all p < 1 × 10-16) and clustered together based on their genetic correlations compared with other structural brain features. There was also evidence of genetic overlap of subicular subfield volumes with schizophrenia. We conclude that hippocampal subfields have partly distinct genetic determinants associated with specific biological processes and traits. Taking into account this specificity may increase our understanding of hippocampal neurobiology and associated pathologies.


Assuntos
Doença de Alzheimer/genética , Doença de Alzheimer/patologia , Hipocampo/anatomia & histologia , Hipocampo/patologia , Neuroimagem , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único/genética , Esquizofrenia/genética , Esquizofrenia/patologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Doença de Alzheimer/diagnóstico por imagem , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla , Hipocampo/diagnóstico por imagem , Hipocampo/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Esquizofrenia/diagnóstico por imagem , Adulto Jovem
19.
Cereb Cortex Commun ; 1(1): tgaa032, 2020.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34296105

RESUMO

Only a small proportion of what we see can later be recalled. Up to date it is unknown how far differences in visual exploration during encoding affect the strength of episodic memories. Here, we identified individual gaze characteristics by analyzing eye tracking data in a picture encoding task performed by 967 healthy subjects during fMRI. We found a positive correlation between fixation frequency during visual exploration and subsequent free recall performance. Brain imaging results showed a positive correlation of fixation frequency with activations in regions related to vision and memory, including the medial temporal lobe. To investigate if higher fixation frequency is causally linked to better memory, we experimentally manipulated visual exploration patterns in an independent population of 64 subjects. Doubling the number of fixations within a given exploration time increased subsequent free recall performance by 19%. Our findings provide evidence for a causal relationship between fixation frequency and episodic memory for visual information.

20.
Nat Neurosci ; 22(10): 1617-1623, 2019 10.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31551603

RESUMO

Common risk factors for psychiatric and other brain disorders are likely to converge on biological pathways influencing the development and maintenance of brain structure and function across life. Using structural MRI data from 45,615 individuals aged 3-96 years, we demonstrate distinct patterns of apparent brain aging in several brain disorders and reveal genetic pleiotropy between apparent brain aging in healthy individuals and common brain disorders.


Assuntos
Envelhecimento/genética , Envelhecimento/patologia , Encefalopatias/diagnóstico por imagem , Encefalopatias/genética , Encéfalo/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Algoritmos , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla , Humanos , Lactente , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Transtornos Mentais/diagnóstico por imagem , Transtornos Mentais/genética , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Esquizofrenia/genética , Esquizofrenia/patologia , Caracteres Sexuais , Adulto Jovem
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