Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV R)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Exercising the worry away: How inflammation, oxidative and nitrogen stress mediates the beneficial effect of physical activity on anxiety disorder symptoms

  S. Moylan, M. Maes, H.A. Eyre, B.T. Baune, F.N. Jacka, M. Berk
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 02/2013; in press.
• Article: Brain stimulation studies of non-motor cerebellar function: A systematic review

  Tomlinson, Davis, Bracewell
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  ABSTRACT: Evidence for a cerebellar role in non-motor functions has been demonstrated by clinical and neuroimaging research. These approaches do not allow causal relationships to be inferred though the experimental manipulation of the cerebellum. Transcranial magnetic and current stimulation may allow better understanding of the cerebellum via the temporary alteration of its operation in healthy volunteers. This review examined all studies of the cerebellar role in non-motor functions using non-invasive brain stimulation. Of 7585 papers captured by an initial search, 26 met specific selection criteria. Analysis revealed behavioural effects across learning, memory, cognition, emotional processing, perception and timing, though the results were not sufficiently similar as to offer a definitive statement of the cerebellum’s role. The non-invasive application of stimulation to the cerebellum presents challenges due to surrounding anatomy and the relatively small target areas involved. This review analysed the methods used to address these challenges with a view to suggesting methodological improvements for the establishment of standards for the location of cerebellar stimulation targets and appropriate levels of stimulation.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 01/2013;
• Article: Dopaminergic modulation of cognition across the lifespan [Editorial]

  S.-C. Li, U. Lindenberger, L. Bäckman
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 01/2010; 34(5):625-630.
• Article: Risk factors for mental health: translational models from behavioural neuroscience.

  F Cirulli, G Laviola, L Ricceri
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 05/2009; 33(4):493-7.
• Article: REM sleep, energy balance and 'optimal foraging'.

  Jim Horne
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  ABSTRACT: Mechanisms underlying mammalian REM sleep (REM) indicate commonality with feeding and energy balance. REM 'epiphenomena' may facilitate this, in providing heat conservation and appetite modulation, with the atonia reflecting search (foraging?) behaviour, and the lost neck muscle tonus a suppressed ingestion. In rodents, REM deprivation severely undermines energy balance. It is argued that REM may also facilitate 'optimal foraging' in wakefulness by updating 'decisions' about: appropriate food, where to find it, allocation of time in obtaining it, the locomotion/energy expenditure required to do so, vs. risk of predation. Whereas REM in the early sleep period is oriented to this updating, later REM can put feeding 'on hold'. PGO intensity changes over successive REM periods may reflect this shift. Humans, pets, zoo and laboratory mammals, and neonates have easy food accessibility, without need to forage, leading to a potential excess of REM in the later sleep period; loss of which has different outcomes to total REM deprivation. A more ecological approach in understanding REM function is desirable.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 01/2009; 33(3):466-74.
• Article: Social attachment and aversion in human moral cognition.

  Jorge Moll, Jay Schulkin
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  ABSTRACT: Modern neuroscience is beginning to substantiate Darwin's notion that the roots of human morality lie in social instincts, present in several species. The role of primitive motivational-emotional systems in human morality still remains under-recognized, however. Based on recent experimental evidence and classic neuroanatomical data, we here portray a view of how "ancient" limbic-neurohumoral systems of social attachment and aversion are crucially involved in human moral behaviors, including altruism, empathic concern and aggression. Rather than being a mere evolutionary remnant of our ancestors, such limbic-neurohumoral systems are tightly integrated with cortical mechanisms to enable complex moral sentiments and values, which powerfully influence our choices in socio-cultural settings. Exploring the underlying mechanisms of human social attachment and aversion will provide new insights and foster novel experimental paradigms for the study of moral cognition and behavior.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 01/2009; 33(3):456-65.
• Article: Endocrine, neural and pharmacological aspects of sexual satiety in male rats.

  Bryan V Phillips-Farfán, Alonso Fernández-Guasti
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  ABSTRACT: Sexual satiety is the inhibition of masculine mating behavior produced by copulation itself. This inhibition is manifested in different ways depending upon the species, the time and the amount of sexual behavior prior to sexual satiety. Pharmacological studies indicate that monoaminergic and opioidergic compounds modify this phenomenon in the rat and other species, possibly via a final dopaminergic pathway involving sexual motivation. Reduced androgen receptor expression and/or increased estrogen receptor alpha expression in specific brain areas are associated with the inhibition of mating behavior that characterizes rat sexual satiety. Androgen receptor over-expression in the same and other brain areas coincides with a partial recovery of rat male copulatory behavior after sexual satiety. The lateral septum, medial amygdala and medial preoptic area may participate in the neuroendocrine regulation of sexual satiety, based on changes in the expression of c-Fos, androgen receptor and estrogen receptor alpha in these cerebral regions. These data suggest that changes in steroid receptors, possibly triggered by modifications in neurotransmitters, underlie at least partly the inhibition of copulatory behavior characteristic of rat sexual satiety.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 12/2008; 33(3):442-55.
• Article: Neuropsychological speed tests and blood phenylalanine levels in patients with phenylketonuria: a meta-analysis.

  Julia Albrecht, Sven F Garbade, Peter Burgard
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  ABSTRACT: Although pathogenesis of phenylketonuria is not completely understood, a low phenylalanine diet is effective to prevent severe neurological impairment, mental retardation and behavioural difficulties. Treatment recommendations heavily rely on neuropsychological research; however, single study results are ambiguous, what is reflected in substantial variation of US, British, German, Dutch and French recommendations for blood phenylalanine concentrations for adolescents and adults. We conducted a meta-analysis estimating the influence of age, phenylalanine level, and type of neuropsychological test on effect sizes (standardized differences between controls and patients) of computer-based speed measurements in phenylketonuric patients. The effect of blood phenylalanine level on effect size was more pronounced in children and adolescents than in adults, with choice reaction time being particularly sensitive for phenylalanine concentrations. Results corroborate all recommendations for children. With the exception of the US and Dutch recommendations, all recommendations for adolescents seem to be too liberal. The same effect size is predicted for adult phenylalanine concentrations between 750 and 1500mumol/L not suggesting a preference for any of the published treatment recommendations for adulthood.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 12/2008; 33(3):414-21.
• Article: Neurobiological evidence for thalamic, hippocampal and related glutamatergic abnormalities in bipolar disorder: a review and synthesis.

  Wan Xiu Dorcas Ng, Ik Yung Lau, Steven Graham, Kang Sim
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  ABSTRACT: The thalamus, hippocampus and related glutamatergic neurotransmission pathways have been implicated in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder. We have reviewed the existing literature over approximately two decades from 1990 to March 2008 for evidence that support structural, functional and chemical neuroimaging abnormalities as well as glutamatergic aberrations of the thalamus and the hippocampus in bipolar disorder. Available structural neuroimaging studies suggest a predominance of negative findings in terms of hippocampal and thalamic volumetric changes in bipolar disorder. Many functional neuroimaging studies however have found activation changes within the thalami, medial temporal lobes, prefrontal regions, and basal ganglia suggesting abnormal limbic-thalamo-cortical circuitry in bipolar disorder. The pattern of findings suggests abnormalities in the regulation of neuronal activity without fixed lesions in the thalamus or hippocampus. This could be related to factors such as cohort heterogeneity, image resolution and whether specific nuclei are examined, or that bipolar disorder is associated with greater neural inefficiency and greater reactivity to emotional stimuli. Chemical neuroimaging studies in bipolar disorder also implicate altered excitatory glutamate neurotransmission as well as cellular and membrane metabolism, especially pronounced within the hippocampus. Within the hippocampus, abnormalities of the ionotropic glutamate receptors were found in bipolar disorder with metabotropic glutamate receptors being relatively understudied. The few immunohistochemical studies performed on the thalamus also suggest the possibility of disturbances of glutamatergic neurotransmission involving intracellular signaling and trafficking processes in bipolar disorder. Overall, the emerging trends from these findings highlight the need for further research to unravel underlying neurobiological changes and clinical correlates of thalamic and hippocampal dysfunction in bipolar disorder.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 11/2008; 33(3):336-54.
• Article: The inevitable link between heart and behavior: new insights from biomedical research and implications for clinical practice.

  Andrea Sgoifo, Nicola Montano, Carol Shively, Julian Thayer, Andrew Steptoe
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 11/2008; 33(2):61-2.
• Article: Early life stress as a risk factor for mental health: role of neurotrophins from rodents to non-human primates.

  Francesca Cirulli, Nadia Francia, Alessandra Berry, Luigi Aloe, Enrico Alleva, Stephen J Suomi
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  ABSTRACT: Early adverse events can enhance stress responsiveness and lead to greater susceptibility for psychopathology at adulthood. The epigenetic factors involved in transducing specific features of the rearing environment into stable changes in brain and behavioural plasticity have only begun to be elucidated. Neurotrophic factors, such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are affected by stress and play a major role in brain development and in the trophism of specific neuronal networks involved in cognitive function and in mood disorders. In addition to the central nervous system, these effectors are produced by peripheral tissues, thus being in a position to integrate the response to external challenges. In this paper we will review data, obtained from animal models, indicating that early maternal deprivation stress can affect neurotrophin levels. Maladaptive or repeated activation of NGF and BDNF, early during postnatal life, may influence stress sensitivity at adulthood and increase vulnerability for stress-related psychopathology.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 10/2008; 33(4):573-85.
• Article: Gene-environment interaction during early development in the heterozygous reeler mouse: clues for modelling of major neurobehavioral syndromes.

  Giovanni Laviola, Elisa Ognibene, Emilia Romano, Walter Adriani, Flavio Keller
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  ABSTRACT: Autism and schizophrenia are multifactorial disorders with increasing prevalence in the young population. Among candidate molecules, reelin (RELN) is a protein of the extracellular matrix playing a key role in brain development and synaptic plasticity. The heterozygous (HZ) reeler mouse provides a model for studying the role of reelin deficiency for the onset of these syndromes. We investigated whether early indices of neurobehavioral disorders can be identified in the infant reeler, and whether the consequences of ontogenetic adverse experiences may question or support the suitability of this model. A first study focused on the link between early exposure to Chlorpyryfos and its enduring neurobehavioral consequences. Our data are interesting in view of recently discovered cholinergic abnormalities in autism and schizophrenia, and may suggest new avenues for early pharmacological intervention. In a second study, we analyzed the consequences of repeated maternal separation early in ontogeny. The results provide evidence of how unusual stress early in development are converted into altered behavior in some, but not all, individuals depending on gender and genetic background. A third study aimed to verify the reliability of the model at critical age windows. Data suggest reduced anxiety, increased impulsivity and disinhibition, and altered pain threshold in response to morphine for HZ, supporting a differential organization of brain dopaminergic, serotonergic and opioid systems in this genotype. In conclusion, HZ exhibited a complex behavioral and psycho-pharmacological phenotype, and differential responsivity to ontogenetic adverse conditions. HZ may be used to disentangle interactions between genetic vulnerability and environmental factors. Such an approach could help to model the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental psychiatric diseases.
  Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 10/2008; 33(4):560-72.