The influence of music on the brain development and plasticity

Stoljećima je poznat pozitivan i terapeutski utjecaj glazbe na živa bića. Stari Grci i Asirci su koristi glazbu za izlječenje i ostvarenje maksimalnog potencijala. Danas je poznato kako mačke zvučnim vibracijama predenja umanjuju bol, ubrzavaju rast kostiju, jačaju muskulaturu i zacjeljuju rane. "Mozartov učinak" odnosi se na kratkotrajno povećanje prostornih vještina nakon slušanja Mozartove sonate za dva klavira. Većina znanstvenika smatra da takav rezultat ovisi o stupnju uzbuđenosti, jačini pobuđenih emocija i motivaciji, a ne o direktnom utjecaju glazbe na neuronske sklopove u mozgu. Također, neki ističu važnost glazbenog obrazovanja u dugotrajnosti učinka glazbe na slušača. Određena vrsta glazbe evidentno smanjuje stres (snižena razina kortizola) kao i broj srčanih udara, pojačava rad mozga (vjerojatno poticanjem novih interakcija između uha i mozga, ali i izgradnjom novih veza između različitih struktura unutar mozga) te pomaže kod mnogih bolesti (Alzheimerova bolest, ataksija, multipla skleroza, depresija, ADHD 3 i dr.). Sve brojnija znanstvena istraživanja zato i ističu važnost i sveobuhvatnost glazbe u svakodnevnom životu. Svrha ovog rada je shvatiti kako je glazba interpretirana u mozgu, objasniti na koji način zvuk (kombinacija tonova) poboljšava naše performanse i kapacitete te navesti primjene glazbe u ljudskom životu.Positive and therapeutic effects of music on living beings are known for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Assyrians used music for healing and achieving one's maximum potential. Today it is known that a cat purring vibration sound reduces pain, accelerates bone growth, strengthens muscles and heals wounds. Mozart effect refers to a short-term increase in spatial skills after listening to the Mozart's sonata for two pianos. Most scientists all around the world believe that such a result is dependent on the level of excitement, intensity of evoked emotion and motivation, rather than a direct influence of music on the neural circuits in the brain. Also, some emphasize the importance of music education in the continuance of the effect of music on the listener. Certain types of music evidently reduce stress (lower levels of cortisol) as well as the number of heart attacks, increase brain function (probably by buildig up a new interconnections and stimulating interactions between the ear and the brain, but also between different structures within the brain) and help in cases of many diseases (Alzheimer's disease, ataxia, multiple sclerosis, depression, ADHD, etc.). That is why growing scientific researches point out the significance and universality of music in everyday life. The purpose of this study is to understand how the music is processed and interpreted in the brain, to explain the way by which sound (as a combination of tones) improves one's perfomances and capacity, and specify the use of music in different areas of human activities

The influence of music on the brain development and plasticity

Stoljećima je poznat pozitivan i terapeutski utjecaj glazbe na živa bića. Stari Grci i Asirci su koristi glazbu za izlječenje i ostvarenje maksimalnog potencijala. Danas je poznato kako mačke zvučnim vibracijama predenja umanjuju bol, ubrzavaju rast kostiju, jačaju muskulaturu i zacjeljuju rane. "Mozartov učinak" odnosi se na kratkotrajno povećanje prostornih vještina nakon slušanja Mozartove sonate za dva klavira. Većina znanstvenika smatra da takav rezultat ovisi o stupnju uzbuđenosti, jačini pobuđenih emocija i motivaciji, a ne o direktnom utjecaju glazbe na neuronske sklopove u mozgu. Također, neki ističu važnost glazbenog obrazovanja u dugotrajnosti učinka glazbe na slušača. Određena vrsta glazbe evidentno smanjuje stres (snižena razina kortizola) kao i broj srčanih udara, pojačava rad mozga (vjerojatno poticanjem novih interakcija između uha i mozga, ali i izgradnjom novih veza između različitih struktura unutar mozga) te pomaže kod mnogih bolesti (Alzheimerova bolest, ataksija, multipla skleroza, depresija, ADHD 3 i dr.). Sve brojnija znanstvena istraživanja zato i ističu važnost i sveobuhvatnost glazbe u svakodnevnom životu. Svrha ovog rada je shvatiti kako je glazba interpretirana u mozgu, objasniti na koji način zvuk (kombinacija tonova) poboljšava naše performanse i kapacitete te navesti primjene glazbe u ljudskom životu.Positive and therapeutic effects of music on living beings are known for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Assyrians used music for healing and achieving one's maximum potential. Today it is known that a cat purring vibration sound reduces pain, accelerates bone growth, strengthens muscles and heals wounds. Mozart effect refers to a short-term increase in spatial skills after listening to the Mozart's sonata for two pianos. Most scientists all around the world believe that such a result is dependent on the level of excitement, intensity of evoked emotion and motivation, rather than a direct influence of music on the neural circuits in the brain. Also, some emphasize the importance of music education in the continuance of the effect of music on the listener. Certain types of music evidently reduce stress (lower levels of cortisol) as well as the number of heart attacks, increase brain function (probably by buildig up a new interconnections and stimulating interactions between the ear and the brain, but also between different structures within the brain) and help in cases of many diseases (Alzheimer's disease, ataxia, multiple sclerosis, depression, ADHD, etc.). That is why growing scientific researches point out the significance and universality of music in everyday life. The purpose of this study is to understand how the music is processed and interpreted in the brain, to explain the way by which sound (as a combination of tones) improves one's perfomances and capacity, and specify the use of music in different areas of human activities

The influence of music on the brain development and plasticity

Stoljećima je poznat pozitivan i terapeutski utjecaj glazbe na živa bića. Stari Grci i Asirci su koristi glazbu za izlječenje i ostvarenje maksimalnog potencijala. Danas je poznato kako mačke zvučnim vibracijama predenja umanjuju bol, ubrzavaju rast kostiju, jačaju muskulaturu i zacjeljuju rane. "Mozartov učinak" odnosi se na kratkotrajno povećanje prostornih vještina nakon slušanja Mozartove sonate za dva klavira. Većina znanstvenika smatra da takav rezultat ovisi o stupnju uzbuđenosti, jačini pobuđenih emocija i motivaciji, a ne o direktnom utjecaju glazbe na neuronske sklopove u mozgu. Također, neki ističu važnost glazbenog obrazovanja u dugotrajnosti učinka glazbe na slušača. Određena vrsta glazbe evidentno smanjuje stres (snižena razina kortizola) kao i broj srčanih udara, pojačava rad mozga (vjerojatno poticanjem novih interakcija između uha i mozga, ali i izgradnjom novih veza između različitih struktura unutar mozga) te pomaže kod mnogih bolesti (Alzheimerova bolest, ataksija, multipla skleroza, depresija, ADHD 3 i dr.). Sve brojnija znanstvena istraživanja zato i ističu važnost i sveobuhvatnost glazbe u svakodnevnom životu. Svrha ovog rada je shvatiti kako je glazba interpretirana u mozgu, objasniti na koji način zvuk (kombinacija tonova) poboljšava naše performanse i kapacitete te navesti primjene glazbe u ljudskom životu.Positive and therapeutic effects of music on living beings are known for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Assyrians used music for healing and achieving one's maximum potential. Today it is known that a cat purring vibration sound reduces pain, accelerates bone growth, strengthens muscles and heals wounds. Mozart effect refers to a short-term increase in spatial skills after listening to the Mozart's sonata for two pianos. Most scientists all around the world believe that such a result is dependent on the level of excitement, intensity of evoked emotion and motivation, rather than a direct influence of music on the neural circuits in the brain. Also, some emphasize the importance of music education in the continuance of the effect of music on the listener. Certain types of music evidently reduce stress (lower levels of cortisol) as well as the number of heart attacks, increase brain function (probably by buildig up a new interconnections and stimulating interactions between the ear and the brain, but also between different structures within the brain) and help in cases of many diseases (Alzheimer's disease, ataxia, multiple sclerosis, depression, ADHD, etc.). That is why growing scientific researches point out the significance and universality of music in everyday life. The purpose of this study is to understand how the music is processed and interpreted in the brain, to explain the way by which sound (as a combination of tones) improves one's perfomances and capacity, and specify the use of music in different areas of human activities

Stroke promotes survival of nearby transplanted neural stem cells by decreasing their activation of caspase 3 while not affecting their differentiation

Although transplantation of stem cells improves recovery of the nervous tissue, little is known about the influence of different brain regions on transplanted cells. After we confirmed that cells with uniform differentiation potential can be generated in independent experiments, one million of neural stem cells isolated from B6.Cg-Tg(Thy1-YFP)16Jrs/J mouse embryos were transplanted into the brain 24 h after induction of stroke. The lateral ventricles, the corpus callosum and the striatum were tested. Two and four weeks after the transplantation, the cells transplanted in all three regions have been attracted to the ischemic core. The largest number of attracted cells has been observed after transplantation into the striatum. Their differentiation pattern and expression of neuroligin 1, SynCAM 1, postsynaptic density protein 95 and synapsin 1 followed the same pattern observed during in vitro cultivation and it did not differ among the tested regions. Differentiation pattern of the cells transplanted in the stroke-affected and healthy animals was the same. On the other hand, neural stem cells transplanted in the striatum of the animals affected by stroke exhibited significantly increased survival rates reaching 260 ± 19%, when compared to cells transplanted in their wild type controls. Surprisingly, improved survival two and four weeks after transplantation was not due to increased proliferation of the grafted cells and it was accompanied by decreased levels of activity of Casp3 (19.56 ± 3.1% in the stroke-affected vs. 30.14 ± 2.4% in healthy animals after four weeks). We assume that the decreased levels of Casp3 in cells transplanted near the ischemic region was linked to increased vasculogenesis, synaptogenesis, astrocytosis and axonogenesis detected in the host tissue affected by ischemia

Influence of RF excitation during pulsed laser deposition in oxygen atmosphere on the structural properties and luminescence of nanocrystalline ZnO:Al thin films

Thin ZnO:Al layers were deposited by pulsed laser deposition in vacuum and in oxygen atmosphere at gas pressures between 10 and 70 Pa and by applying radio-frequency (RF) plasma. Grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) data showed that an increase in the oxygen pressure leads to an increase in the roughness, a decrease in the sample density, and changes in the size distribution of nanovoids. The nanocrystal sizes estimated from GIXRD were around 20 nm, while the sizes of the nanovoids increased from 1 to 2 nm with the oxygen pressure. The RF plasma mainly influenced the nanostructural properties and point defects dynamics. The photoluminescence consisted of three contributions, ultraviolet (UV), blue emission due to Zn vacancies, and red emission, which are related to an excess of oxygen. The RF excitation lowered the defect level related to blue emission and narrowed the UV luminescence peak, which indicates an improvement of the structural ordering. The observed influence of the deposition conditions on the film properties is discussed as a consequence of two main effects: the variation of the energy transfer from the laser plume to the growing film and changes in the growth chemistry

Ta2N3 nanocrystals grown in Al2O3 thin layers

Tantalum nitride nanoparticles (NPs) and cubic bixbyite-type Ta2N3 nanocrystals (NCs) were grown in (Ta–N+Al2O3)/Al2O3 periodic multilayers (MLs) after thermal treatment. The MLs were prepared by magnetron deposition at room temperature and characterized using grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We found amorphous tantalum nitride NPs at 600–800 °C, with a high degree of ordering along the surface normal and short-range ordering within the layers containing tantalum (metallic layers). At an even higher annealing temperature of 900 °C the NPs crystallize in the rare and relatively unexplored Ta2N3 phase. However, the environment, morphology and spatial ordering of the NCs depend on the thickness of the metallic layers. For 12 nm thick metallic layers, the Ta2N3 NCs have an average diameter of 6 nm and they are confined and short-range ordered within the metallic layers. When the metallic layers are thinner, the NCs grow over 20 nm in diameter, show no spatial ordering, while the periodic structure of the ML was completely destroyed. The results presented here demonstrate a self-assembly process of tantalum nitride NPs, the morphological properties of which depend on the preparation conditions. This can be used as a generic procedure to realize highly tunable and designable optical properties of thin films containing transition-metal nitride nanocrystals

Transplantation of neural stem cells in the mouse model of ischemic brain stroke and expression of genes involved in programmed cell death

Aim: To analyze how neural stem cells (NSC) transplantation in the stroke-affected mouse brain influences the expression of genes involved in apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF)-mediated cell death – apoptosis inducing factor mitochondria associated 1 (Aifm1), ring finger protein 146 (Rnf146, Iduna), and cyclophilin A (CypA); necroptosis –receptor interaction protein kinase 1 (Ripk1), Ripk3, and mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein (Mlkl); and apoptosis – Caspase 3 (Casp3) and Casp8. Methods: Four groups of animals were used to obtain mRNA for quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis: healthy animals (n = 3), animals with stroke (n = 4), animals with stroke treated by stem cell transplantation (n = 7), and animals with stroke treated by proliferation-supporting medium (n = 5). Ischemic brain injury was induced by transient left middle cerebral artery occlusion. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance with post-hoc Tukey test. Results: NSC transplantation in the stroke-affected mouse brain significantly increased the expression of Iduna (P < 0.05), a gene-encoding protein with well-known protective effects on hypoxic damage, and significantly down-regulated the expression of damage-supportive genes, Casp3 (P < .01) and Aifm1 (P < 0.001). We were able to distinguish between the effect produced by stem cell transplantation (Iduna, Aifm1, Ripk3, Mlkl) and the effect produced by supporting the tissue with proliferation-supporting medium (Ripk1, Casp8). Conclusion: Beside revealing some clearly positive effects of stem cells transplantation on the stroke-affected brain, our results suggest that the tissue response triggered by stem cells points toward the desired, regeneration-supporting levels of expression of a certain gene at a certain time point

Early Regional Patterning in the Human Prefrontal Cortex Revealed by Laminar Dynamics of Deep Projection Neuron Markers

Early regional patterning and laminar position of cortical projection neurons is determined by activation and deactivation of transcriptional factors (TFs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) that regulate spatiotemporal framework of neurogenetic processes (proliferation, migration, aggregation, postmigratory differentiation, molecular identity acquisition, axonal growth, dendritic development, and synaptogenesis) within transient cellular compartments. Deep-layer projection neurons (DPN), subplate (SPN), and Cajal–Retzius neurons (CRN) are early-born cells involved in the establishment of basic laminar and regional cortical architecture; nonetheless, laminar dynamics of their molecular transcriptional markers remain underexplored. Here we aimed to analyze laminar dynamics of DPN markers, i.e., transcription factors TBR1, CTIP2, TLE4, SOX5, and RBP CELF1 on histological serial sections of the human frontal cortex between 7.5–15 postconceptional weeks (PCW) in reference to transient proliferative, migratory, and postmigratory compartments. The subtle signs of regional patterning were seen during the late preplate phase in the pattern of sublaminar organization of TBR1+/Reelin+ CRN and TBR1+ pioneering SPN. During the cortical plate (CP)-formation phase, TBR1+ neurons became radially aligned, forming continuity from a well-developed subventricular zone to CP showing clear lateral to medial regional gradients. The most prominent regional patterning was seen during the subplate formation phase (around 13 PCW) when a unique feature of the orbitobasal frontal cortex displays a “double plate” pattern. In other portions of the frontal cortex (lateral, dorsal, medial) deep portion of CP becomes loose and composed of TBR1+, CTIP2+, TLE4+, and CELF1+ neurons of layer six and later-born SPN, which later become constituents of the expanded SP (around 15 PCW). Overall, TFs and RBPs mark characteristic regional laminar dynamics of DPN, SPN, and CRN subpopulations during remarkably early fetal phases of the highly ordered association cortex development

Prevention of spontaneous combustion of cellulose with a thin protective Al2O3 coating formed by atomic layer deposition

We have studied properties of thin protective coating layers of Al2O3, grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique on surfaces of cellulose fibrous materials, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scanning transmission microscopy (STEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), high- resolution transmission microscopy (HR-TEM), x- ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetry (TGA). A minimum thickness of about 50 nm was required to completely inhibit oxygen diffusion into the material and prevent self-ignition at elevated temperatures. No substantial differences were found in morphology or protection performance of Al2O3 coatings produced by thermal or plasma-enhanced ALD (PEALD) methods. However, PEALD technique has shown almost a double growth rate, while, at the same time, it was successfully applied at temperatures as low as 40 °C without degrading quality of the coating