3-N-butylphthalide is an ettectwe drug for acute iscemlc stroke. However, its effects on cnromc cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal injury remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study li- gated bilateral carotid art...3-N-butylphthalide is an ettectwe drug for acute iscemlc stroke. However, its effects on cnromc cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal injury remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study li- gated bilateral carotid arteries in 15-month-old rats to simulate chronic cerebral ischemia in aged humans. Aged rats were then intragastrically administered 3-n-butylphthalide. 3-N-butylphtha- lide administration improved the neuronal morphology in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats with chronic cerebral ischemia, increased choline acetyltransferase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde and amyloid beta levels, and greatly improved cognitive function. These findings suggest that 3-n-butylphthalide alleviates oxidative stress caused by chronic cerebral ischemia, improves cholinergic function, and inhibits amyloid beta accumulation, thereby im- proving cerebral neuronal injury and cognitive deficits.展开更多
Our previous ifndings have demonstrated that acupuncture at the Taixi (KI3) acupoint in healthy youths can activate neurons in cognitive-related cerebral cortex. Here, we investigated whether acupuncture at this acu...Our previous ifndings have demonstrated that acupuncture at the Taixi (KI3) acupoint in healthy youths can activate neurons in cognitive-related cerebral cortex. Here, we investigated whether acupuncture at this acupoint in elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment can also activate neurons in these regions. Resting state and task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that the pinprick senstation of acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint differed signiifcantly between elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment and healthy elderly controls. Results showed that 20 brain regions were activated in both groups of participants, including the bi-lateral anterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann areas [BA] 32, 24), left medial frontal cortex (BA 9, 10, 11), left cuneus (BA 19), left middle frontal gyrus (BA 11), left lingual gyrus (BA 18), right medial frontal gyrus (BA 11), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47), left superior frontal gyrus (BA11), right cuneus (BA 19, 18), right superior temporal gyrus (BA 38), left subcallosal gyrus (BA 47), bilateral precuneus (BA 19), right medial frontal gyrus (BA 10), right superior frontal (BA 11), left cingulate gyrus (BA 32), left precentral gyrus (BA 6), and right fusiform gyrus (BA 19). These results suggest that acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint in elderly patients with mild cogni-tive impairment can also activate some brain regions.展开更多
The Kinect-based virtual reality system for the Xbox 360 enables users to control and interact with the game console without the need to touch a game controller, and provides rehabilitation training for stroke patient...The Kinect-based virtual reality system for the Xbox 360 enables users to control and interact with the game console without the need to touch a game controller, and provides rehabilitation training for stroke patients with lower limb dysfunctions. However, the underlying mechanism remains un- clear. In this study, 18 healthy subjects and five patients after subacute stroke were included. The five patients were scanned using functional MRI prior to training, 3 weeks after training and at a 12-week follow-up, and then compared with healthy subjects. The FugI-Meyer Assessment and Wolf Motor Function Test scores of the hemiplegic upper limbs of stroke patients were significantly increased 3 weeks after training and at the 12-week follow-up. Functional MRI results showed that contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex was activated after Kinect-based virtual reality training in the stroke patients compared with the healthy subjects. Contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex, the bilateral supplementary motor area and the ipsilateral cerebellum were also activated during hand-clenching in all 18 healthy subjects. Our findings indicate that Kinect-based virtual reality training could promote the recovery of upper limb motor function in subacute stroke patients, and brain reorganization by Kinect-based virtual reality training may be linked to the contralateral sen- sorimotor cortex.展开更多
Depression is closely linked to the morphology and functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions; however, its topological structure throughout the whole brain remains unclear. We col- lected resting-state functi...Depression is closely linked to the morphology and functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions; however, its topological structure throughout the whole brain remains unclear. We col- lected resting-state functional MRI data from 36 first-onset unmedicated depression patients and 27 healthy controls. The resting-state functional connectivity was constructed using the Auto- mated Anatomical Labeling template with a partial correlation method. The metrics calculation and statistical analysis were performed using complex network theory. The results showed that both depressive patients and healthy controls presented typical small-world attributes. Compared with healthy controls, characteristic path length was significantly shorter in depressive patients, suggesting development toward randomization. Patients with depression showed apparently abnormal node attributes at key areas in cortical-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuits. In addition, right hippocampus and right thalamus were closely linked with the severity of depression. We se- lected 270 local attributes as the classification features and their P values were regarded as criteria for statistically significant differences. An artificial neural network algorithm was applied for classification research. The results showed that brain network metrics could be used as an effec- tive feature in machine learning research, which brings about a reasonable application prospect for brain network metrics. The present study also highlighted a significant positive correlation between the importance of the attributes and the intergroup differences; that is, the more sig- nificant the differences in node attributes, the stronger their contribution to the classification. Experimental findings indicate that statistical significance is an effective quantitative indicator of the selection of brain network metrics and can assist the clinical diagnosis of depression.展开更多
基金supported by Innovation Team Project of Hubei Province 2011 Plans,No.2011JH-2013CXTT06Momentous Scientific Research Funds of Hubei Provincial Education Ministry,No.D20102101Cultivating Funds of Country’s Projects of Hubei University of Medicine,No.2013GPY03
文摘3-N-butylphthalide is an ettectwe drug for acute iscemlc stroke. However, its effects on cnromc cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal injury remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study li- gated bilateral carotid arteries in 15-month-old rats to simulate chronic cerebral ischemia in aged humans. Aged rats were then intragastrically administered 3-n-butylphthalide. 3-N-butylphtha- lide administration improved the neuronal morphology in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats with chronic cerebral ischemia, increased choline acetyltransferase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde and amyloid beta levels, and greatly improved cognitive function. These findings suggest that 3-n-butylphthalide alleviates oxidative stress caused by chronic cerebral ischemia, improves cholinergic function, and inhibits amyloid beta accumulation, thereby im- proving cerebral neuronal injury and cognitive deficits.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81173354the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,No.10451810101005862+1 种基金a grant from Guangdong Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine,No.20111032,20132019the Science and Technology Plan Project of Baoan District,Shenzhen City,No.200902159
文摘Our previous ifndings have demonstrated that acupuncture at the Taixi (KI3) acupoint in healthy youths can activate neurons in cognitive-related cerebral cortex. Here, we investigated whether acupuncture at this acupoint in elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment can also activate neurons in these regions. Resting state and task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that the pinprick senstation of acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint differed signiifcantly between elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment and healthy elderly controls. Results showed that 20 brain regions were activated in both groups of participants, including the bi-lateral anterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann areas [BA] 32, 24), left medial frontal cortex (BA 9, 10, 11), left cuneus (BA 19), left middle frontal gyrus (BA 11), left lingual gyrus (BA 18), right medial frontal gyrus (BA 11), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47), left superior frontal gyrus (BA11), right cuneus (BA 19, 18), right superior temporal gyrus (BA 38), left subcallosal gyrus (BA 47), bilateral precuneus (BA 19), right medial frontal gyrus (BA 10), right superior frontal (BA 11), left cingulate gyrus (BA 32), left precentral gyrus (BA 6), and right fusiform gyrus (BA 19). These results suggest that acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint in elderly patients with mild cogni-tive impairment can also activate some brain regions.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundationof China,No.30973165
文摘The Kinect-based virtual reality system for the Xbox 360 enables users to control and interact with the game console without the need to touch a game controller, and provides rehabilitation training for stroke patients with lower limb dysfunctions. However, the underlying mechanism remains un- clear. In this study, 18 healthy subjects and five patients after subacute stroke were included. The five patients were scanned using functional MRI prior to training, 3 weeks after training and at a 12-week follow-up, and then compared with healthy subjects. The FugI-Meyer Assessment and Wolf Motor Function Test scores of the hemiplegic upper limbs of stroke patients were significantly increased 3 weeks after training and at the 12-week follow-up. Functional MRI results showed that contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex was activated after Kinect-based virtual reality training in the stroke patients compared with the healthy subjects. Contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex, the bilateral supplementary motor area and the ipsilateral cerebellum were also activated during hand-clenching in all 18 healthy subjects. Our findings indicate that Kinect-based virtual reality training could promote the recovery of upper limb motor function in subacute stroke patients, and brain reorganization by Kinect-based virtual reality training may be linked to the contralateral sen- sorimotor cortex.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.61070077,61170136,61373101,81171290the Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi Province in China,No.2010011020-2,2011011015-4+3 种基金Programs for Science and Technology Social Development of Shanxi Province,No.20130313012-2Science and Technology Projects by Shanxi Provincial Ed-ucation Ministry,No.20121003Youth Fund by Taiyuan University of Technology,No.2012L014Youth Team Fund by Taiyuan University of Technology,No.2013T047
文摘Depression is closely linked to the morphology and functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions; however, its topological structure throughout the whole brain remains unclear. We col- lected resting-state functional MRI data from 36 first-onset unmedicated depression patients and 27 healthy controls. The resting-state functional connectivity was constructed using the Auto- mated Anatomical Labeling template with a partial correlation method. The metrics calculation and statistical analysis were performed using complex network theory. The results showed that both depressive patients and healthy controls presented typical small-world attributes. Compared with healthy controls, characteristic path length was significantly shorter in depressive patients, suggesting development toward randomization. Patients with depression showed apparently abnormal node attributes at key areas in cortical-striatal-pallidal-thalamic circuits. In addition, right hippocampus and right thalamus were closely linked with the severity of depression. We se- lected 270 local attributes as the classification features and their P values were regarded as criteria for statistically significant differences. An artificial neural network algorithm was applied for classification research. The results showed that brain network metrics could be used as an effec- tive feature in machine learning research, which brings about a reasonable application prospect for brain network metrics. The present study also highlighted a significant positive correlation between the importance of the attributes and the intergroup differences; that is, the more sig- nificant the differences in node attributes, the stronger their contribution to the classification. Experimental findings indicate that statistical significance is an effective quantitative indicator of the selection of brain network metrics and can assist the clinical diagnosis of depression.