The Brain-Like Enteric Nervous System

Understanding the autonomic supply at the gastrointestinal tract is one of the significant challenges for science. Its complex network of neurons exists on a broad evolutionary scale, from Hydra to mammals, and in a higher number than those found in the vertebrate spinal cord. Inside the gastrointestinal tract, enteric neurons regulate several functions with intrinsic processes and communicate with the other complex known as the microbiome. Outside the gastrointestinal tract, the enteric neurons project to the brain stem and spinal cord via the gut–brain axis. Furthermore, this enteric system has close functional relationships with the immune system for a rapid response to unhealthy food. The present chapter focuses on the structure, function, and pathologies of the enteric nervous system

Cuidado maternal: madres eficientes e ineficientes

The bond between mother and offspring is a fundamental aspect of individual development. The mother is the one who provides care and seeks infant survival. The quality of such care will depend largely on the state of physical health and an environment with greater opportunity to meet basic needs and a low stress. This topic has been studied from many perspectives, such as psychological, medical and social. Recently described some neurobiological processes motherhood as they are; the impact of motheroffspring relationship both in the nervous system of the infant and mother. In raising this relationship affect all its development from its fetal stage to adulthood. In this paper we explore what today is known in the literature about the mother-infant in the development of a healthy individual and the link between a poor relationship and alterations in the development of progeny or even no offspring survival.El vínculo entre la madre y su descendencia es un aspecto fundamental del desarrollo del individuo. La madre es la que brinda cuidados y procura la supervivencia del infante. La calidad de dicha atención dependerá en gran medida del estado de salud física y de un ambiente propicio con mayor oportunidad de cubrir las necesidades básicas, así como un bajo nivel de estrés. Este tema ha sido estudiado desde muchas perspectivas, como la psicológica, médica y social. Recientemente se han descrito algunos procesos neurobiológicos de la maternidad, como son; el impacto de la relación madre-cría tanto en el sistema nervioso del infante como de la madre. En la cría esta relación afectará todo su desarrollo, desde su etapa fetal, hasta la adultez. En este trabajo exploramos lo que hasta hoy se conoce en la literatura acerca de del vínculo madre-cría en el desarrollo de un individuo sano y la correspondencia de un vínculo deficiente con alteraciones en el desarrollo de la progenie o incluso la no supervivencia

Multiunit Recording of Cerebellar Cortex in Autistic Male Rats during Social Interaction in Enriched Environments

Autism in humans is a lifelong behavioral disorder that typically manifests in early infancy, primarily affecting boys. It arises from neurodevelopmental changes that significantly impact social behavior, with the cerebellum being one of the principal affected regions. In this study, we investigated the cerebellum in an autism animal model, recording the multiunit activity of cerebellar vermis lobules 6 and 7 (L6 and L7) in male rats with autism-like behavior induced by postnatal valproate treatment. Two groups were formed: control (Ctrl) and experimental (VPA) males, which were further divided based on their living conditions into standard (Std) or enriched environments (EE). Social arenas were used for recording purposes. Both groups and lobules showed increased multiunit amplitude during social interaction (SI) and vertical exploration (VE), with higher amplitudes observed in VPA males. Interestingly, the EE significantly reduced the amplitude during SI, suggesting that EE promotes neural plasticity, resulting in improved social responses with fewer activated neurons, meaning improved activity with less energy consumption. Consequently, EE proves to be a valuable strategy for addressing the challenges associated with autism behavior

Nigral degeneration correlates with persistent activation of cerebellar Purkinje cells in MPTP-treated monkeys

In the present work we analyze the cerebellum of chronic parkinsonian monkeys in order to clarify whether chronic mesencephalic depletion is associated with long term activation of the cerebellar neurons in chronic Parkinsonism. In our study, we observed a persistent activation of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of chronic parkinsonian macaques, characterized by the expression of c-Fos, which correlated with dopaminergic degeneration. These results are compatible with the results observed in fMRI in Parkinson’s disease patients, and may contribute to the understanding of additional alterations in the brain circuitry in Parkinsonis