Opioid analgesics are essential in the management of severe and chronic pain; however, their prolonged use is limited by the onset of analgesic tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH). Recent studies increasingly implicate both synaptic funct...
Synaptic plasticity has been considered a key mechanism underlying many brain functions including learning, memory, and drug addiction. An increase or decrease in synaptic activity of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid rec...
The fragile X syndrome (FXS) is an X-chromosome-linked neurodevelopmental disorder with severe intellectual disability caused by inactivation of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene and subsequent loss of the fragile X mental retardation pr...
Recent evidence has supported the hypothesis that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multi-step disease, as the onset of symptoms occurs after sequential exposure to a defined number of risk factors. Despite the lack of precise identification o...
Studies of brain network connectivity improved understanding on brain changes and adaptation in response to different pathologies. Synaptic plasticity, the ability of neurons to modify their connections, is involved in brain network remodeling follow...
N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptors (NMDARs) are ionotropic glutamate-gated receptors. NMDARs are tetramers composed by several homologous subunits of GluN1-, GluN2-, or GluN3-type, leading to the existence in the central nervous system of a high variety...
Emerging evidence indicates that synaptic plasticity is significantly involved in the pathophysiology and treatment of perinatal depression. Animal models have demonstrated the effects of overstimulated or weakened synapses in various circuits of the...
Neuregulins (NRGs) are a family of epidermal growth factor-related proteins, acting on tyrosine kinase receptors of the ErbB family. NRGs play an essential role in the development of the nervous system, since they orchestrate vital functions such as...
Protein homeostasis (proteostasis) is crucial to the maintenance of neuronal integrity and function. As the contact sites between neurons, synapses rely heavily on precisely regulated protein-protein interactions to support synaptic transmission and...
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) include diverse neuropathologies characterized by abnormal brain development leading to impaired cognition, communication and social skills. A common feature of NDDs is defective synaptic plasticity, but the underl...
Major depressive disorder remains a leading cause of disability, and decades of monoamine-centered pharmacology have yielded delayed and often incomplete relief. Rapid-acting antidepressants reshaped the field by linking swift symptom improvement to...
Depression is a psychiatric disorder that presents with a persistent depressed mood as the main clinical feature and is accompanied by cognitive impairment. Changes in neuroplasticity and neurogenesis greatly affect depression. Without genetic change...
Background: Terahertz (THz) waves, lying between millimeter waves and infrared light, may interact with biomolecules due to their unique energy characteristics. However, whether THz waves are neurally regulated remains controversial, and the underlyi...
In multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammation alters synaptic transmission and plasticity, negatively influencing the disease course. In the present study, we aimed to explore the influence of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β on peculiar features o...
The 22q11 deletion syndrome (DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome in humans and gives a high probability of developing psychiatric disorders. Synaptic and neuronal malfunctions appear to be at the core of the symptoms presented by patients....
Synaptic plasticity, the experience-induced change in connections between neurons, underlies learning and memory in the brain. Most of our understanding of synaptic plasticity derives from in vitro experiments with precisely repeated stimulus pattern...
Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a transcriptional regulator that is highly abundant in the brain. It binds to methylated genomic DNA to regulate a range of physiological functions implicated in neuronal development and adult synaptic plastici...
Neurodegenerative diseases are distinguished by synaptic dysfunction and chronic neuroinflammation, which accelerate neuronal loss and impair network resilience. Synaptic plasticity, that is, the ability to adapt to changes, is progressively lost. Th...
The molecular pathways underlying the induction and maintenance of long-term synaptic plasticity have been extensively investigated revealing various mechanisms by which neurons control their synaptic strength. The dynamic nature of neuronal connecti...
Arsenic-containing hydrocarbons (AsHCs) are common in marine organisms. However, there is little research on their effects on the central nervous system’s advanced activities, such as cognition. Bidirectional synaptic plasticity dynamically reg...
The circadian clock controls various physiological processes, including synaptic function and neuronal activity, affecting the functioning of the entire organism. Light is an important external factor regulating the day–night cycle. This study...
Anti-inflammatory cytokines are known to exert neuroprotective action ameliorating aberrant neuronal network activity associated with inflammatory responses. Yet, it is still not fully understood if anti-inflammatory cytokines play a significant role...
The regulator of G-protein signaling 14 (RGS14) is a multifunctional signaling protein that regulates post synaptic plasticity in neurons. RGS14 is expressed in the brain regions essential for learning, memory, emotion, and stimulus-induced behaviors...
Memristors have been considered to be more efficient than traditional Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) devices in implementing artificial synapses, which are fundamental yet very critical components of neurons as well as neural networks...
Astrocytes are pivotal for synaptic transmission and may also play a role in the induction and expression of synaptic plasticity, including endocannabinoid-mediated long-term depression (eCB-LTD). In the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), eCB signaling pla...
Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are a class of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with a unique mechanism of activation, prompted by a proteolytic cleavage in their N-terminal domain that uncovers a tethered ligand, which binds and stimulates th...
Neuronal connections through specialized junctions, known as synapses, create circuits that underlie brain function. Synaptic plasticity, i.e., structural and functional changes to synapses, occurs in response to neuronal activity and is a critical r...
In the past 40 years, scientific research has shown how Whole Body Vibration concept represents a strong stimulus for the whole organism. Low (<30 Hz), medium (30–80 Hz), and high (>80 Hz) frequency vibrations can have both positive and n...
This work presents a memristive device based on a composite of Scindapsus aureus (SA) and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), which exhibits excellent resistive switching characteristics and supports multiple forms of synaptic plasticity such as paired-puls...
Cumulative animal and human studies have consistently demonstrated that two major cortical regions in the brain, namely the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insular cortex (IC), play critical roles in pain perception and chronic pain. Neuronal syn...
This experiment was conducted to study the effects of Cyfluthrin (Cy) exposure on neurobehaviour, hippocampal tissue and synaptic plasticity in Wistar rats. First, it was found that high-dose Cy exposure could cause nerve injury, resulting in symptom...
Inflammation of the central nervous system can be triggered by endogenous and exogenous stimuli such as local or systemic infection, trauma, and stroke. In addition to neurodegeneration and cell death, alterations in physiological brain functions are...
The hippocampal formation, particularly the CA2 subregion, is critical for social memory formation and memory processing, relying on synaptic plasticity—a fundamental mechanism by which synapses strengthen. Given the role of the ubiquitin&ndash...
Synaptic plasticity impairment and behavioral deficits constitute classical pathological hallmarks in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Emerging evidence suggests these synaptic dysfunctions may stem from metabolic dysregulation, particular...
Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition resulting from injury or dysfunction of the nervous system, characterized by hyperalgesia, allodynia, and persistent alterations in sensory perception. Neuroligins, a family of postsynaptic adhesion proteins es...
(1) Background: The increasing environmental concentration of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) may pose a risk of human exposure and health threats. Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure to PS-NPs poses a threat to neural synaptic plastic...
Dopamine (DA) is a key neurotransmitter involved in multiple physiological functions including motor control, modulation of affective and emotional states, reward mechanisms, reinforcement of behavior, and selected higher cognitive functions. Dysfunc...
Depression is a prevalent, complex, and highly debilitating disease. The full comprehension of this disease is still a global challenge. Indeed, relapse, recurrency, and therapeutic resistance are serious challenges in the fight against depression. N...
In this paper, we propose a complex neuro-memristive synapse that exhibits the physiological acts of synaptic potentiation and depression of the human-brain. Specifically, the proposed neuromorphic synapse efficiently imitates the synaptic plasticity...
Accumulating evidence underscores exercise as a straightforward and cost-effective lifestyle intervention capable of mitigating the risk and slowing the emergence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the intricate cellular and...
Although sex differences in the brain are prevalent, the knowledge about mechanisms underlying sex-related effects on normal and pathological brain functioning is rather poor. It is known that female and male brains differ in size and connectivity. M...
Prenatal ethanol exposure (PNEE) is a leading cause of neurodevelopmental impairments, yet treatments for individuals with PNEE are limited. Importantly, postnatal supplementation with the essential nutrient choline can attenuate some adverse effects...
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders occur when a mother drinks during pregnancy and can greatly influence synaptic plasticity and cognition in the offspring. In this study we determined whether there are periods during brain development that are more su...
The synaptic cleft has been vastly investigated in the last decades, leading to a novel and fascinating model of the functional and structural modifications linked to synaptic transmission and brain processing. The classic neurocentric model encompas...
The efficacy of stigmasterol (STG) has not been previously evaluated in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) models. Mice exposed to single prolonged stress with foot shock (SPS + FS) received oral STG (25 or 50 mg/kg) for 14 days. Serum corticoster...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex psychiatric illness, with synaptic plasticity playing a key role in its pathology. Our study aims to investigate the molecular basis of MDD by analyzing synaptic plasticity-related gene expression at the s...
Perioperative delirium is an acute disturbance of attention and awareness that arises when surgical stress interacts with limited brain reserve. Synaptic dysfunction provides a plausible connection between genetic susceptibility, neuroimmune response...
Previous clinical and basic studies have shown that migraine is associated with cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression. It severely affects the quality of life. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups: IS group, IS+M...
The role that thyroid hormone deficiency plays in depression and synaptic plasticity in adults has only begun to be elucidated. This paper analyzes the possible link between depression and hypothyroidism in cognitive function alterations, using Wista...
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most common type of focal epilepsy, affects learning and memory; these effects are thought to emerge from changes in synaptic plasticity. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a widely used antiepileptic drug that is also associate...
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