فهرست مطالب
Basic and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Spring 2010
- تاریخ انتشار: 1389/06/01
- تعداد عناوین: 10
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Page 5Addiction” is a multifaceted complicated disorder with many interrelated causes, as well as environmental and genetic features. Several hereditary variables that have an effect on these features might work in together to influence vulnerability and the extent of being an addict. Molecular re-sequencing of the latest and formerly researched genes holds a crucial place with regards to the breakthrough of hereditary alternates of possible interest. This report presents a brief review of this complicated disorder through genotyping and phenotyping aspects, and examines their correlation in creating and driving this disease.
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Page 17IntroductionEven today there is no effective drug therapy to prevent neuronal loss after brain stroke. In the present study we studied the effect of mitochondrial KATP channel regulators on neuronal ultrastructure after ischemia reperfusion in the rat.Materials and MethodsRats temporarily subjected to four vessels occlusion for 15 minutes followed by 24 hours reperfusion with or without K-ATP channel regulators.ResultsNeuronal ultrastructure significantly improved in K-ATP channel opener (diazoxide) treated ischemia-reperfusion group compared with control group.DiscussionOur results showed that dizoxide treatment after ischemia reperfusion leads to better preservation of cortical neurons in rat.
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Page 21IntroductionIn an oddball experiment, the context in which novel stimuli are presented affects characteristics of novelty P3, i.e. as long as there is a difficult task in which the difference between standard and target stimuli is small, recurrent presentation of a highly discrepant stimulus can lead to P300 highly similar to novelty P3. Effect of stimulus properties on P300 has also been previously examined and it has been shown that it plays a significant role in P300 topography, its amplitude and latency.Here we have examined the effect of surface color of objects of high color-diagnosticity in a visual oddball paradigm.MethodsIn two separate conditions, we used pictures of fruits as target and novel stimuli. In condition one, novel stimuli were pictures of fruits in their canonical colors. In the second condition, novel stimuli were the same photo filtered to have a different non-canonical color. P300 was compared among these conditions.ResultsBoth target P3 and novelty P3 were detected in the two conditions but no significant difference was evident between conditions.DiscussionThis result suggests that comparing to shape information; color cue does not play a significant role in detecting context novelty.
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Page 39IntroductionAloe Vera extract is used as an anti-inflammatory and anti-bradikinin agent in laboratory animals. The aim of this survey was to evaluate the ant-nociceptive effect of A. Vera aqueous extract in fructose-fed male rats.MethodsForty-five Wistar-Albino male rats were equally and randomly divided into five groups including sham operated and four test groups. Sham operated group consumed tap water and the test groups consumed fructoseenriched water. Test groups 2, 3 and 4 additionally received, 0, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg of A. Vera extract, respectively, whereas the other test group received distilled water daily. Tail flick reaction time, serum glucose and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were measured. The results were analyzed by SPSS software using ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results were expressed as mean ± SD. Statistical differences were considered significant at p<0.05.ResultsThe results showed that tail flick reaction time significantly increased in test group 3 which received 200 mg/kg A. Vera extract comparing with that of sham operated group. However, OGTT and serum glucose value were significantly increased in all fructose-fed male rats comparing with those of sham operated group.DiscussionThese results indicated that A. Vera aqueous extract can affect tail flick reaction time in fructose-fed male rats. Further studies are required to show the exact mechanism of anti-nociceptive effect of A. Vera extract.
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Page 44IntroductionAlthough decision-making processes have become a principal target of study among addiction researchers, few researches are published according to effects of different treatment methods on the cognitive processes underlying decision making up to now. Utilizing cognitive modeling method, in this paper we examine the effects of Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) on cognitive processes underlying decision-making disorders in heroin-abusers.MethodsFor this purpose, for the first time, we use the balloon analog risk task (BART) to assess the decision-making ability of heroin-abusers before and after treatment and compare it to the non heroin-dependent subjects.ResultsResults demonstrate that heroin-abusers show more risky behavior than other groups. But, there is no difference between the performance of heroin-abusers after 6 months of MMT and control group. Modeling subjects’ behavior in BART reveals that poor performance in heroin-abusers is due to reward-dependency and insensitivity to evaluation.DiscussionResults show that 6 months of MMT decreases reward-dependency and increases sensitivity to evaluation.
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Page 49IntroductionPeripheral nerve injury is a common disorder and leads to permanent neurological defects. Schwann cells have been shown to have nerve repair after being transplanted in peripheral nerve injury. The aim of this study was to determine the beneficial effect of allograft Schwann cells on electrophysiological outcome after transection of the sciatic nerve in rats.MethodsTwenty adult male Wistar rats (200-250 g) were used in this study and left sciatic nerve was cut 10 mm in all of them and randomly divided into two groups. Then, the experimental (n=10) and control (n=10) groups received silicon tube with Schwann cells and silicon tube without Schwann cells respectively. Electrophysiological studies were performed 8 weeks after transplantation.ResultsElectrophysiological study in experimental animals showed that amplitude of nerve action potential is higher and latency is less as compared to the control group (p<0.05).DiscussionThe combination of different strategies such as silicon tube and Schwann transplantation has a more effective role in nerve repair.
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Page 57IntroductionEpilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder in which patients experience spontaneous recurrent seizures. Although the most commonly recommended therapy is drug treatment, some patients do not achieve adequate control of their seizures on existing drugs. New medications with novel mechanisms of action are needed to help those patients whose seizures are resistant to currently-available drugs. Therefore, the anti-convulsant effect of a high dose of quercetin was evaluated in amygdala kindling model in male rats.MethodsRats were divided into sham-operated group, quercetintreated SH, kindled, and quercetin-treated kindled rats. Quercetin was administered i.p. one day before amygdale kindling for 3 weeks (40 mg/kg/day). The parameters seizure stage, AD duration, the latency to the onset of stage 4, and the duration of stage 5 were analyzed.ResultsThe results showed that quercetin pretreatment causes a lower seizure intensity in treated kindled rats (p<0.05-0.01), a lower after-discharge duration (p<0.05-0.01), and a higher latency to stage IV (p<0.05) as compared to untreated kindled ones.DiscussionTo conclude, chronic administration of quercetin inhibits amygdala electrical kindling and more studies are warranted to clarify its underlying mechanisms.
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Page 62Methamphetamine has rapidly become more prominent in Iran, which is now second most common drug behind heroin. Moreover, initiation of methamphetamine abuse is a major cause of failure of opioid treatment programs such as Methadone maintenance treatment. This calls for development of more effective treatment methods for methamphetamine addiction, and especially development of techniques for evaluating of their effectiveness in a laboratory and controlled settings. Measuring the reinforcing efficacy of a drug during the course of a treatment can provide such an evaluation, which is typically based on self-administration procedures. This article is aimed to summarize and discuss self-administration procedures that are commonly used in human research, and especially the particular value of these procedures in studying methamphetamine addiction. We also present a self-administration procedure for assessment of reinforcing efficacy of methamphetamine.