Enhanced neural synchrony associated with long-term ballroom dance training.

Long-term dance training offers numerous benefits, including improvements in physical health, posture, body coordination, and mental health and well-being. Since dance is an art form of body-to-body communication, professional dancers may share feelings and thoughts on dance with their partners, owing to their shared training experiences. Considering this perspective, one may expect that professional dancers would demonstrate pronounced neural similarities when viewing dancing videos, which could be associated with their training duration. To test these hypotheses, we collected functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while presenting ballroom dancing and neutral video clips with long durations (∼100 s each) to 41 professional ballroom dancers (19 pairs of dance partners) and 39 age- and sex-matched nondancers. Our findings revealed that dancers exhibited broader and stronger neural similarities across the whole brain when watching dancing video clips, as compared to the control group. These increased neural similarities could be interpreted in at least two distinct ways. First, neural similarities in certain brain regions within the motor control circuit (i.e., frontal cortical-basal ganglia-thalamic circuit) were significantly correlated with dance-related information (e.g., dance partners' cooperation duration), which reinforced the impact of long-term dance training on neural synchronization. Second, neural similarities in other brain regions (e.g., memory-related brain regions) were significantly correlated with subjects' impression of the viewed videos (i.e., whether they have watched before, familiarity, and liking), which may not necessarily be directly linked to long-term dance training. Altogether, our study provided solid evidence for synchronized neural mechanisms in professional dancers due to long-term dance training.

Selective and replicable neuroimaging-based indicators of pain discriminability.

Neural indicators of pain discriminability have far-reaching theoretical and clinical implications but have been largely overlooked previously. Here, to directly identify the neural basis of pain discriminability, we apply signal detection theory to three EEG (Datasets 1-3, total N = 366) and two fMRI (Datasets 4-5, total N = 399) datasets where participants receive transient stimuli of four sensory modalities (pain, touch, audition, and vision) and two intensities (high and low) and report perceptual ratings. Datasets 1 and 4 are used for exploration and others for validation. We find that most pain-evoked EEG and fMRI brain responses robustly encode pain discriminability, which is well replicated in validation datasets. The neural indicators are also pain selective since they cannot track tactile, auditory, or visual discriminability, even though perceptual ratings and sensory discriminability are well matched between modalities. Overall, we provide compelling evidence that pain-evoked brain responses can serve as replicable and selective neural indicators of pain discriminability.

Atropine 0.01% eye drops slow myopia progression: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

AIM: To evaluate the effects of atropine 0.01% on slowing myopia progression. METHODS: We searched for relevant studies in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wan Fang Data in Chinese. A supplementary search was conducted in OpenGrey (System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe), the ISRCTN registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) from the dates of inception to June 30, 2018. RESULTS: Seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a total of 1079 subjects were included (505 in the atropine 0.01% group and 574 in the control group). The results showed that the atropine 0.01% group exhibited significantly greater control of axial growth than the control group [MD=-0.12, 95%CI (-0.19, -0.06)]. There was also a statistically significant difference between the atropine 0.01% and control groups in the changes in axial length [MD=-0.14, 95%CI (-0.25, -0.03)], but the quality of evidence was low. There were no significant differences between the atropine 0.01% and control groups in the overall effect with respect to diopter value, change in diopter, distance vision and intraocular pressure [MD=0.08, 95%CI (-0.27, 0.42); MD=0.09, 95%CI (-0.17, 0.36); MD= -0.01, 95%CI (-0.02, 0.00); MD=0.08, 95%CI (-0.56,0.40)]. The sensitivity analysis showed that the conclusion of the Meta-analysis is relatively stable. With respect to adverse events, there were significant differences between the atropine 0.01% and control groups [OR=0.26, 95%CI (0.11, 0.61)]. CONCLUSION: Based on the available evidence, atropine 0.01% eye drops offer benefits in controlling axial growth and safety without causing significant differences in diopter values, distance vision and intraocular pressure.

Stationary Treatment Compared with Individualized Chinese Medicine for Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Microvascular Complications: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), including diabatic retinopathy (DR), diabetic kidney disease (DKD), diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) are the leading causes of visual loss, end-stage renal disease or amputation, while the current therapies are still unsatisfactory. Chinese medicine (CM) has been widely used for treating diabetic mellitus. However, most of the previous studies focused on the single complication. The role of CM treatment in T2DM patients with 2 or multiple microvascular complications is not clear. OBJECTIVE: To appraise the curative effect of CM in T2DM patients with 2 or multiple microvascular complications, and to compare the effects of stationary treatment and individualized treatment in T2DM patients with microvascular complications. METHODS: This trial will be an 8-center, randomized, controlled study with 8 parallel groups. A total of 432 patients will be randomized to 8 groups: DR study group (32 cases) and a corresponding control group (32 cases), DR+DKD study group (64 cases) and a corresponding control group (64 cases), DR+DPN study group (64 cases) and a corresponding control group (64 cases), DR+DKD+DPN study group (56 cases) and a corresponding control group (56 cases). The control group will receive stationary treatment, and the study group will receive individualized treatment based on CM syndrome differentiation in addition to stationary treatment. The study duration will be 50 weeks, comprising a 2-week run-in period, 24 weeks of intervention, and 24 weeks of follow-up. The outcomes will assess efficacy of treatment, improvement in CM symptoms, safety assessments, adherence to the treatment, and adverse events. CONCLUSION: This study will provide evidence of evidence-based medicine for CM treatment in two or multiple microvascular complications caused by T2DM. (Registration No. ChiCTR-IPR-15007072).

Extraction (DSX) from Erigeron breviscapus modulates outward potassium currents in rat retinal ganglion cells.

AIM: To investigate the effect of DSX, an active component extracted from Erigeron breviscapus, on the voltage-gated outward K(+) channel currents in rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) by using electrophysiological method, and to explore the possible mechanisms of DSX on optic nerve protection. METHODS: Outward K(+) currents were recorded by using whole-cell patch-clamp techniques on acutely isolated rat RGCs. Outward K(+) currents were induced by a series of depolarizing voltage pulses from a holding potential of -70 mV to +20 mV in an increment of 10 mV. RESULTS: Extracellular application of DSX voltage-dependently suppressed both the steady-state and peak current amplitudes of outward K(+) currents in rat RGCs. Furthermore, DSX reversibly and dose-dependently inhibited the amplitudes of outward K(+) currents of the cells. At +20 mV membrane potential DSX at the concentrations of 0.02 g/L and 0.05 g/L showed no significant effects on the currents. In contrast, DSX at higher concentrations (0.1 g/L, 0.2 g/L and 0.5 g/L) significantly suppressed the current amplitudes. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that DSX reversibly and dose-dependently suppress outward K(+) channel currents in rat RGCs, which may be one of the possible mechanisms underlying Erigeron breviscapus prevents vision loss and RGC damage caused by glaucoma.

Protective effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide on retinal ganglion cells in vitro.

AIM: To observe the effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in vitro. METHODS: Retinal cells of neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were collected 1 to 3 days after birth, and co-cultured with different concentrations of LBP for 24 hours. Absorbance values (OD) were recorded using MTT assay for calculating survival rates. RESULTS: All the test groups had protective effects on RGCs. The group with 10mg/mL concentration of LBP had the most significantly difference of OD value compared with that in control group (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: LBP can increase the survival rate and promote the growth of mixed cultured rat RGCs.

Effect on multifocal electroretinogram in persistently elevated intraocular pressure by erigeron breviscapus extract.

AIM: To observe the effect on multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) in persistently elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) by erigeron breviscapus extract (also named Dengzhanhua in Chinese) in rat models. METHODS: The rat models with persistently elevated IOP were established by the method of Akira. Then, erigeron breviscapus extract was given for one month to observe the effect on mfERG in persistently elevated IOP in rats. RESULTS: As elevated IOP went on, the mfERG changes were mainly in weaken of reaction density with progressive development. After intervention of erigeron breviscapus extract, the total peak latency of P1 wave had recovered to some extent and the difference was significant when compared with control group (P<0.05); the total response density and P1 wave response density in second circle had risen noticeably, which had significant differences than those of control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Erigeron breviscapus extract can improve the impaired visual function of persistently elevated IOP in rats, suggesting that this extract is the effective part of erigeron breviscapus for optic neuroprotection.