Insula to ventral striatal projections mediate compulsive eating produced by intermittent access to palatable food

Compulsive eating characterizes many binge-related eating disorders, yet its neurobiological basis is poorly understood. The insular cortex subserves visceral-emotional functions, including taste processing, and is implicated in drug craving and relapse. Here, via optoinhibition, we implicate projections from the anterior insular cortex to the nucleus accumbens as modulating highly compulsive-like food self-administration behaviors that result from intermittent access to a palatable, high-sucrose diet. We identified compulsive-like eating behavior in female rats through progressive ratio schedule self-administration and punishment-resistant responding, food reward tolerance and escalation of intake through 24-h energy intake and fixed-ratio operant self-administration sessions, and withdrawal-like irritability through the bottle brush test. We also identified an endocrine profile of heightened GLP-1 and PP but lower ghrelin that differentiated rats with the most compulsive-like eating behavior. Measures of compulsive eating severity also directly correlated to leptin, body weight and adiposity. Collectively, this novel model of compulsive-like eating symptoms demonstrates adaptations in insula-ventral striatal circuitry and metabolic regulatory hormones that warrant further study

Effects of Er:YAG laser on bacteria associated with titanium surfaces and cellular response in vitro

This in vitro study examined (a) the anti-bacterial efficacy of a pulsed erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG) laser applied to Streptococcus sanguinis or Porphyromonas gingivalis adhered to either polished or microstructured titanium implant surfaces, (b) the response of osteoblast-like cells and (c) adhesion of oral bacteria to titanium surfaces after laser irradiation. Thereto, (a) bacteria adhered to titanium disks were irradiated with a pulsed Er:YAG laser (λ = 2,940 nm) at two different power settings: a lower mode (12.74 J/cm2 calculated energy density) and a higher mode (63.69 J/cm2). (b) After laser irradiation with both settings of sterile titanium, disks were seeded with 104 MG-63 cells/cm2. Adhesion and proliferation were determined after 1, 4, and 24 h by fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. (c) Bacterial adhesion was also studied on irradiated (test) and non-irradiated (control) surfaces. Adhered P. gingivalis were effectively killed, even at the lower laser setting, independent of the material's surface. S. sanguinis cells adhered were effectively killed only at the higher setting of 63.69 J/cm2. Laser irradiation of titanium surfaces had no significant effects on (b) adhesion or proliferation of osteoblast-like MG-63 cells or (c) adhesion of both oral bacterial species in comparison to untreated surfaces. An effective decontamination of polished and rough titanium implant surfaces with a Er:YAG laser could only be achieved with a fluence of 63.69 J/cm2. Even though this setting may lead to certain surface alterations, no significant adverse effect on subsequent colonization and proliferation of MG-63 cells or increased bacterial adhesion was found in comparison to untreated control surfaces

Presurgical localization of language regions and their networks

MEG language-evoked fields (LEFs) are reliably used for detecting the dominant hemisphere of language processing. This laterality measure is based on the accurate localization of Broca’s and Wernicke’s activated areas during language processing. There are several tasks ranging from semantic decision-making, verb generation, and picture naming to auditory word presentation that have been used with success. These tasks can be expressive (where Broca’s activity is strongly activated) or receptive (where Wernicke’s is strongly activated). In the general population, most right-handed individuals are left hemispheric dominant for language. Patients requiring surgical resection will have language mapping performed, so the surgeon can be aware that there may be displacement of either or both Broca’s and Wernicke’s language processing areas near the planned resection site. Since epilepsy may disrupt only Broca’s or only Wernicke’s networks, it is wise to map both expressive and receptive language processing. The use of MEG neuroimaging techniques is needed to reliably predict altered language networks in patients and to provide definitive identification of language eloquent cortices for localization and lateralization necessary for clinical care