Evidence for the existence of homolateral and contralateral projections from the substantia nigra to the subthalamic nucleus in the rat

Hemichorea/ballism is a rare neurological disorder but the crucial involvement of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in its pathophysiology is appreciated since decades. The idiopathic Parkinson’s disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder but the key role of the STN in the pathophysiological origin of the parkinsonian state became only recently evident. The STN was believed to exert an inhibitory, probably – GABA-mediated, effect on its projection nuclei, and this belief is one of the major reasons to overlook the involvement of the STN in the parkinsonian pathophysiology. It is now firmly established that the STN projection neurons are glutamatergic, excitatory, and heavily innervate by widely branching axons of the substantia nigra (SN), the internal pallidal segment (GPI), followed by the external pallidal segment (GPE) and the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPN)

The perisylvian language network and language analytical abilities

Aiming at exploring the brain’s structural organisation underlying successful second language learning, we investigate the anatomy of the perisylvian language network in a group of healthy adults, consisting of participants with high and average language analytical abilities. Utilising deterministic tractography, six tracts per participant (left and right long direct segment, left and right indirect anterior segment and left and right indirect posterior segment) were virtually dissected and measurements pertaining to their microstructural organisation were collected. Our results obtained by means of linear discriminant analysis pointed to mean diffusivity (MD) values of three tracts (right anterior, left long and left anterior segments) as best discriminating between the two groups. By far the highest coefficient was obtained for the MD values of the right anterior segment, pointing to the role of the right white matter fronto-parietal connectivity for superior language learning abilities. The results imply the importance of attentional processes and reasoning abilities for successful L2 acquisition, and support previous findings concerning right-hemispheric involvement in language learning.Theoretical and Experimental Linguistic

The visual cortex and visual cognition in Huntington's disease: An overview of current literature

Neuro Imaging Researc

Trading Methods and Family Strategies of Genoese People. Almería, XVIII century

Artículo de la sección: EstudiosEnfatizar la importancia de la documentación notarial para el estudio de un grupo social parece una valoración innecesaria. Este estudio pretende, a partir fundamentalmente de los protocolos notariales como núcleo de la investigación y del Catastro de Ensenada, complementados con otras fuentes, libros de Contadurías e Hipotecas de la sección de hacienda del Archivo Histórico Provincial de Almería, documentos de hidalguía y matrícula de extranjeros del Archivo Municipal de Almería, acercarse al flujo de mercaderes genoveses que, durante el siglo XVIII, se avecinda en la ciudad de Almería. La investigación se centra en los mecanismos que cuatro familias genovesas, domiciliadas en la ciudad de Almería durante el Setecientos: Schiafino-Aste, Schiafino- Schiafino, Schiafino-Ansaldo e Iluminatti-Marín, desarrollaron para conseguir la intervención en la administración local y la creación de unas prácticas mercantiles que, desde la ciudad de Almería y su jurisdicción, se extenderían hacia las villas del interior de la provincia y hacia una importante ramificación a lo largo de las costas del levante peninsular y de Andalucía occidental. No olvidaremos las relaciones que el grupo ligur almeriense mantuvo durante el siglo con su Génova natal, que cristalizaron en la creación de una compañía mercantil desarrollada en base a los intereses económicos de familias genovesas de Santa María de Camogli y de la ciudad de Almería. El análisis es un acercamiento, más que hacia aspectos económicos y al mundo del comercio, a la relación que se establece entre la formación de las familias y la creación de estrategias mercantiles que les llevará a la intervención en los mercados.To emphasize the notarial documentation for the study of a social group it seems to be an unnecessary valuation. This research expects basically, from the notarial protocols as the essence of the research work and from the Catastro of Ensenada, completed with other sources, Accountancy books and Mortgages of the section of finance from the Almerías 's Provincial Historical Record Office, nobility documents, and registration of foreigners from the Almería"s Town Record Office, to approach to the flow of Genoese merchants who, during the 18th century, comes near the town of Almería. The investigation is centred in the processes that four Genoese families established in the town of Almería during the Seven hundred, Schiafino-Aste, Shiafino-Shiafino,Shiafino-Ansaldo and Iluminatti-Marin, developped to get the participation in the local administration and the establishment of some trading methods which, from the city of Almería and its jurisdiction, would be spread over the inner small towns of the province and towards an important branch along the levant peninsular coasts and the west of Andalucía. We must not forget the relationship that the almeriense ligur group kept up during the century with its home town Genoa, crystallizing in the establishment of a trading company developped on tha basis of economical interests of Genoese families from Santa Maria of Camogli and the city of Almería. The analysis is a approach, more than to economical aspects and the business world, to the relationship that it is set up between the formation of the families and the establishment of trading strategies that will take them to the participation in the markets.Departamento de Historia Moderna y de América, Universidad de Granad

Lumbar spinal cord explants from neonatal rat display age-related decrease of outgrowth in culture

Lumbar spinal cord explants, harvested from neonatal rat pups aged between postnatal day 0 (P0) and P7, were cultured for a period of 48 h in the chemically defined medium R12 [17] (Romijn, H.J., van-Huijen, F., Wolters, P.S., Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 8 (1984) 301–334), embedded in a collagen matrix. The outgrowth into the surrounding matrix was quantified. Age-matched cortical explants were used as controls. Despite adaptations of the culture protocol, outgrowth remained variable. Statistical analysis demonstrated a clear relation between the age of the explant (at the time of explantation) and the number of neurites in the corona surrounding the explant. The number of outgrowing neurites decreased sharply with age. The average number of neurites per explant obeyed to the expression log(N)= −0.652 A+17 (N: the number of neurites per explant; A: the age expressed in gestational days; A ε [G23–G30]; G23 signifying gestational day 23, or P0). The observed age-related decrease of outgrowth could not be explained by progressive myelination of the spinal cord white matter, nor by the absence of trophic support from muscle, but may be related to a progressive inability of the spinal neurites to interact with collagen