Next Issue
Volume 4, June
Previous Issue
Volume 3, December
 
 

NeuroSci, Volume 4, Issue 1 (March 2023) – 8 articles

  • Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list.
  • You may sign up for e-mail alerts to receive table of contents of newly released issues.
  • PDF is the official format for papers published in both, html and pdf forms. To view the papers in pdf format, click on the "PDF Full-text" link, and use the free Adobe Reader to open them.
Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
14 pages, 316 KiB  
Review
Focus or Neglect on Cognitive Impairment Following the History of Multiple Sclerosis
by Ugo Nocentini
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 65-78; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010008 - 15 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2272
Abstract
Cognitive disorders are now considered an integral part of the picture of multiple sclerosis. If we trace the history of the accounts of this disease, from the early descriptions by Jean-Martin Charcot, the first to provide systematic characteristics of multiple sclerosis, to present-day [...] Read more.
Cognitive disorders are now considered an integral part of the picture of multiple sclerosis. If we trace the history of the accounts of this disease, from the early descriptions by Jean-Martin Charcot, the first to provide systematic characteristics of multiple sclerosis, to present-day accounts, reports of cognitive disturbances have demonstrated an alternating trend. Cognitive disturbances were identified in the beginning, quite clearly for the times. Then, for a long time, they were considered infrequent or attributed to other factors. Finally, since the 1980s, cognitive disturbances have been the subject of increasingly in-depth studies, and are currently assumed to be a very important consequence of multiple sclerosis. In this work, the history of the description of cognitive disorders of multiple sclerosis will be retraced by analyzing the possible reasons for the differences in attention they have received over time. It emerged from the analysis that, as in the case of other pathologies, various factors have influenced how cognitive disorders have been taken into consideration. Some of these factors are inherent to the very nature of the cognitive impairments present in multiple sclerosis; others are linked to historical periods, or to the different ways of approaching the analysis of the phenomena caused by a disease. The reflections made on these topics should, among other things, increase our awareness of how scientific investigation is invariably placed in the historical context in which it is carried out. Full article
11 pages, 1489 KiB  
Article
Intraoperative Fluorescein Sodium in Pediatric Neurosurgery: A Preliminary Case Series from a Singapore Children’s Hospital
by Audrey J. L. Tan, Min Li Tey, Wan Tew Seow, David C. Y. Low, Kenneth T. E. Chang, Lee Ping Ng, Wen Shen Looi, Ru Xin Wong, Enrica E. K. Tan and Sharon Y. Y. Low
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 54-64; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010007 - 13 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2391
Abstract
(1) Background: Fluorescein sodium (Na-Fl) has been described as a safe and useful neurosurgical adjunct in adult neurooncology. However, its use has yet to be fully established in children. We designed a study to investigate the use of intraoperative Na-Fl in pediatric brain [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Fluorescein sodium (Na-Fl) has been described as a safe and useful neurosurgical adjunct in adult neurooncology. However, its use has yet to be fully established in children. We designed a study to investigate the use of intraoperative Na-Fl in pediatric brain tumor surgery. (2) Methods: This is a single-institution study for pediatric brain tumor patients managed by the Neurosurgical Service, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Inclusion criteria consists of patients undergoing surgery for suspected brain tumors from 3 to 19 years old. A predefined intravenous dose of 2 mg/kg of 10% Na-Fl is administered per patient. Following craniotomy, surgery is performed under alternating white light and YELLOW-560 nm filter illumination. (3) Results: A total of 21 patients with suspected brain tumours were included. Median age was 12.1 years old. For three patients (14.3%), there was no significant Na-Fl fluorescence detected and their final histologies reported a cavernoma and two radiation-induced high grade gliomas. The remaining patients (85.7%) had adequate intraoperative fluorescence for their lesions. No adverse side effects were encountered with the use of Na-Fl. (4) Conclusions: Preliminary findings demonstrate the safe and efficacious use of intraoperative Na-Fl for brain tumors as a neurosurgical adjunct in our pediatric patients. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 1977 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Neuroprotective Action of Japanese Sake Yeast on Dementia Type of Alzheimer Disease in Rats: Behavioral and Neurobiochemical Assessment
by Motahareh Haghipanah, Fatemeh Ghalami, Maryam Saadat, Saeid Abbasi-Maleki, Reza Hossein Gholizadeh Salmani, Thomas Budde and Nasrollah Moradikor
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 45-53; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010006 - 19 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3287
Abstract
Dementia involves several factors, and it is required to administer an agent with several efficiencies for its treatment. Sake is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and improves the serum concentration of BDNF. This study aimed to evaluate the neuroprotective action of [...] Read more.
Dementia involves several factors, and it is required to administer an agent with several efficiencies for its treatment. Sake is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and improves the serum concentration of BDNF. This study aimed to evaluate the neuroprotective action of Japanese sake yeast on dementia of the Alzheimer disease type in rats by behavioral evaluation and neurobiochemical assessment. The rats were grouped as non-Alzheimer rats (control rats) and Alzheimer rats administrated with 0 (AD), 10 (10-AD), 20 (20-AD), 30 (30-AD), and 40 mg/kg (40-AD) of sake. Anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors, the concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), malondialdehyde (MDA), and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were evaluated. The expressions of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 were assessed. The results showed that Alzheimer disease caused anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors (p = 0.000), decreased the concentrations of BDNF (p = 0.000) and FRAP (p = 0.000), increased the concentration of MDA (p = 0.000), and increased the expressions of IL-1β (p = 0.000), TNF-α (p = 0.000), and IL-6 (p = 0.000). The results showed that oral gavage of sake in higher doses decreased anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors (p = 0.000), increased the concentrations of BDNF (p = 0.000) and FRAP (p = 0.000), and reduced the concentration of MDA (p = 0.000) and the expressions of IL-1β (p = 0.000), TNF-α (p = 0.000), and IL-6 (p = 0.000). In sum, Japanese sake yeast can have roles in treating dementia of the Alzheimer disease type, but its mechanisms must be assessed in future studies. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

2 pages, 149 KiB  
Editorial
Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of NeuroSci in 2022
by NeuroSci Editorial Office
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 43-44; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010005 - 18 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1174
Abstract
High-quality academic publishing is built on rigorous peer review [...] Full article
12 pages, 1611 KiB  
Opinion
Neural Stimulation of Brain Organoids with Dynamic Patterns: A Sentiomics Approach Directed to Regenerative Neuromedicine
by Alfredo Pereira, Jr., José Wagner Garcia and Alysson Muotri
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 31-42; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010004 - 16 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4672
Abstract
The new science called Sentiomics aims to identify the dynamic patterns that endow living systems with the capacity to feel and become conscious. One of the most promising fields of investigation in Sentiomics is the development and ‘education’ of human brain organoids to [...] Read more.
The new science called Sentiomics aims to identify the dynamic patterns that endow living systems with the capacity to feel and become conscious. One of the most promising fields of investigation in Sentiomics is the development and ‘education’ of human brain organoids to become sentient and useful for the promotion of human health in the (also new) field of Regenerative Neuromedicine. Here, we discuss the type of informational-rich input necessary to make a brain organoid sentient in experimental settings. Combining this research with the ecological preoccupation of preserving ways of sentience in the Amazon Rainforest, we also envisage the development of a new generation of biosensors to capture dynamic patterns from the forest, and use them in the ‘education’ of brain organoids to afford them a ‘mental health’ quality that is likely to be important in future advances in ‘post-humanist’ procedures in regenerative medicine. This study is closely related to the psychophysical approach to human mental health therapy, in which we have proposed the use of dynamic patterns in electric and magnetic brain stimulation protocols, addressing electrochemical waves in neuro-astroglial networks. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2321 KiB  
Article
A Deep Learning Model for Preoperative Differentiation of Glioblastoma, Brain Metastasis, and Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: An External Validation Study
by Leonardo Tariciotti, Davide Ferlito, Valerio M. Caccavella, Andrea Di Cristofori, Giorgio Fiore, Luigi G. Remore, Martina Giordano, Giulia Remoli, Giulio Bertani, Stefano Borsa, Mauro Pluderi, Paolo Remida, Gianpaolo Basso, Carlo Giussani, Marco Locatelli and Giorgio Carrabba
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 18-30; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010003 - 31 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2207
Abstract
(1) Background: Neuroimaging differentiation of glioblastoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and solitary brain metastasis (BM) represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in neurosurgical practice, expanding the burden of care and exposing patients to additional risks related to further invasive procedures and [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Neuroimaging differentiation of glioblastoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and solitary brain metastasis (BM) represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in neurosurgical practice, expanding the burden of care and exposing patients to additional risks related to further invasive procedures and treatment delays. In addition, atypical cases and overlapping features have not been entirely addressed by modern diagnostic research. The aim of this study was to validate a previously designed and internally validated ResNet101 deep learning model to differentiate glioblastomas, PCNSLs and BMs. (2) Methods: We enrolled 126 patients (glioblastoma: n = 64; PCNSL: n = 27; BM: n = 35) with preoperative T1Gd-MRI scans and histopathological confirmation. Each lesion was segmented, and all regions of interest were exported in a DICOM dataset. A pre-trained ResNet101 deep neural network model implemented in a previous work on 121 patients was externally validated on the current cohort to differentiate glioblastomas, PCNSLs and BMs on T1Gd-MRI scans. (3) Results: The model achieved optimal classification performance in distinguishing PCNSLs (AUC: 0.73; 95%CI: 0.62–0.85), glioblastomas (AUC: 0.78; 95%CI: 0.71–0.87) and moderate to low ability in differentiating BMs (AUC: 0.63; 95%CI: 0.52–0.76). The performance of expert neuro-radiologists on conventional plus advanced MR imaging, assessed by retrospectively reviewing the diagnostic reports of the selected cohort of patients, was found superior in accuracy for BMs (89.69%) and not inferior for PCNSL (82.90%) and glioblastomas (84.09%). (4) Conclusions: We investigated whether the previously published deep learning model was generalizable to an external population recruited at a different institution—this validation confirmed the consistency of the model and laid the groundwork for future clinical applications in brain tumour classification. This artificial intelligence-based model might represent a valuable educational resource and, if largely replicated on prospective data, help physicians differentiate glioblastomas, PCNSL and solitary BMs, especially in settings with limited resources. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 562 KiB  
Review
The Role of Foveal Cortex in Discriminating Peripheral Stimuli: The Sketchpad Hypothesis
by Carolina Maria Oletto, Giulio Contemori, Marco Bertamini and Luca Battaglini
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 9-17; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010002 - 23 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2821
Abstract
Foveal (central) and peripheral vision are strongly interconnected to provide an integrated experience of the world around us. Recently, it has been suggested that there is a feedback mechanism that links foveal and peripheral vision. This peripheral-to-foveal feedback differs from other feedback mechanisms [...] Read more.
Foveal (central) and peripheral vision are strongly interconnected to provide an integrated experience of the world around us. Recently, it has been suggested that there is a feedback mechanism that links foveal and peripheral vision. This peripheral-to-foveal feedback differs from other feedback mechanisms in that during visual processing a novel representation of a stimulus is formed in a different cortical region than that of the feedforward representation. The functional role of foveal feedback is not yet completely understood, but some evidence from neuroimaging studies suggests a link with peripheral shape processing. Behavioural and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies show impairment in peripheral shape discrimination when the foveal retinotopic cortex is disrupted post stimulus presentation. This review aims to link these findings to the visual sketchpad hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, foveal retinotopic cortex stores task-relevant information to aid identification of peripherally presented objects. We discuss how the characteristics of foveal feedback support this hypothesis and rule out other possible explanations. We also discuss the possibility that the foveal feedback may be independent of the sensory modality of the stimulation. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 1787 KiB  
Project Report
Lithium Prevents Telomere Shortening in Cortical Neurons in Amyloid-Beta Induced Toxicity
by Rafael M. Themoteo, Vanessa J. R. De Paula, Nicole K. R. Rocha, Helena Brentani and Orestes V. Forlenza
NeuroSci 2023, 4(1), 1-8; https://doi.org/10.3390/neurosci4010001 - 23 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2109
Abstract
Background: There is consistent evidence of the potential benefits of lithium attenuating mechanisms of neurodegeneration, including those related to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and facilitating neurotrophic and protective responses, including maintenance of telomere length. The aim was to investigate the protective [...] Read more.
Background: There is consistent evidence of the potential benefits of lithium attenuating mechanisms of neurodegeneration, including those related to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and facilitating neurotrophic and protective responses, including maintenance of telomere length. The aim was to investigate the protective effect of the pre-treatment with lithium on amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced toxicity and telomere length in neurons. Methods: Cortical neurons were treated with lithium chloride at therapeutic and subtherapeutic concentrations (2 mM, 0.2 mM and 0.02 mM) for seven days. Amyloid toxicity was induced 24 h before the end of lithium treatment. Results: Lithium resulted in 120% (2 mM), 180% (0.2 mM) and 140% (0.02 mM) increments in telomere length as compared to untreated controls. Incubation with Aβ1-42 was associated with significant reductions in MTT uptake (33%) and telomere length (83%) as compared to controls. Conclusions: Lithium prevented loss of culture viability and telomere shortening in neuronal cultures challenged with Aβ fibrils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Brain Development and Disease)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Previous Issue
Next Issue
Back to TopTop