Efrain Buritica

• PhD
• Principal Investigator at University of Valle

In refractory focal epilepsy, resective surgery offers an alternative for seizure control. However, there is a risk of language deterioration when the epileptogenic zone involves an eloquent cortical region. The Wada test involves the insertion of a catheter through the internal carotid artery and the injection of a short-acting anesthetic, resulti...

Traumatic brain injury is a significant risk factor for the development of post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), posing a major clinical challenge. This review discusses the critical role of GABAergic interneurons and reactive astrogliosis in the pathophysiology of post-traumatic epilepsy, integrating findings from our research group within the traumatic...

Cortical GABAergic interneurons can be classified according to electrophysiological, biochemical, and/or morphological criteria. In humans, the use of calcium-binding proteins allows us to differentiate three subpopulations of GABAergic interneurons with minimal overlap. Cortical calretinin-positive neurons mainly include bipolar and double-bouquet...

The pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has not yet been fully elucidated. Crystallin alpha-B (CRYAB) is a molecular chaperone that apparently tries to stabilize the rapid thickening of the intermediate filaments of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) during the process of reactive astrogliosis in response to TBI. Previous analyses o...

Von Economo neurons (VENs) have been mentioned in the medical literature since the second half of the 19th century; however, it was not until the second decade of the 20th century that their cytomorphology was described in detail. To date, VENs have been found in limbic sectors of the frontal, temporal and insular lobes. In humans, their density se...

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are conditions that present with brain dysfunction due to alterations in the processes of brain development. They present with neuropsychiatric, cognitive, and motor symptoms. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X syndrome (FXS) are two of the most common NDDs. Human brain tissue is a scarce resource that...

The systemic effects generated by Porthidium lansbergii lansbergii envenoming, a species found in the northern region of Colombia, is poorly known. The present study aimed to analyze for the first time the mice's behavior, the histological alterations, and changes in biochemical markers levels resulting from the intraperitoneal injection of an LD50...

Early life stress can be caused by acute or chronic exposure to childhood events, such as emotional, physical, sexual abuse, and neglect. Early stress is associated with subsequent alterations in physical and mental health, which can extend into adolescence, adulthood, and even old age. The effects of early stress exposure include alterations in co...

The von Economo neurons (VEN) are characterized by a large soma, spindle-like soma, with little dendritic arborization at both, the basal and apical poles. In humans, VENs have been described in the entorhinal cortex, the hippocampal formation, the anterior cingulate cortex, the rostral portion of the insula and the dorsomedial Brodmann's area 9 (B...

The von Economo neurons (VEN) are characterized by a large soma, spindle-like soma, with little dendritic arborization at both, the basal and apical poles. In humans, VENs have been described in the entorhinal cortex, the hippocampal formation, the anterior cingulate cortex, the rostral portion of the insula and the dorsomedial Brodmann’s area 9 (B...

Prefrontal cortex (PFC) represents the highest level of integration and control of psychic and behavioral states. Several dysfunctions such as autism, hyperactivity disorders, depression, and schizophrenia have been related with alterations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Among the cortical layers of the PFC, layer II shows a particular vertical pa...

Preliminary evidence suggests that peripheral facial nerve injuries are associated with sensorimotor cortex reorganization. We have characterized facial nerve lesion-induced structural changes in primary motor cortex layer 5 pyramidal neurons and their relationship with glial cell density using a rodent facial paralysis model. First, we used adult...

Rationale: Traumatic brain injury is a global public health problem that causes neurological, psychological, and psychiatric aftermath in those who survive it, including the development of epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The characterization of temporal changes in cell susceptibility, neurogenesis, and neurodege...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) produces several cellular changes, such as gliosis, axonal and dendritic plasticity, and inhibition-excitation imbalance, as well as cell death, which can initiate epileptogenesis. It has been demonstrated that dysfunction of the inhibitory components of the cerebral cortex after injury may cause status epilepticus in e...

Introducción: El trauma craneoencefálico (TEC) es un problema de salud global que puede generar en los pacientes que lo padecen, muerte, discapacidad y/o alteraciones psiquiátricas con gran impacto sobre su desempeño posterior y sobre su ámbito familiar. En los últimos años se ha avanzado en el conocimiento de los mecanismos fisiopatológicos que su...

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury is a global medical problem whose survivors may show disability and neurological or psychiatric sequelae. In the last few years the knowledge of physiopathological mechanisms of TBI has increase but still it is not entirely known. For this reason the research has turn over in one's mind in new strategies to stud...

Objetives: The increased GABA content or administration of a centrally active GABA-mimetic agent have been used as a efficacious anticonvulsant therapeutic approach. However, it has been suggested that the use of drugs that continually and noncontingently alter synaptic transmission could alter at the nervous system. The present study was carried o...

Introduction: The brain is an extraordinarily dynamic structure specially its physiology in response to pathological events. This response include several mechanisms such as changes in cell metabolism, genes expression and possible modifications in cell phenotype and in connectivity that reflect activation of processes like neurogenesis, neuritogen...

Von Economo neurons (VENs), also known as spindle cells, have been described in layer V of the anterior cingulate (BA 24) and frontoinsular cortex (FI) of humans and other great apes. In the present study we used immunohistochemistry against two specific neuronal markers (NeuN and MAP2) in order to establish the presence of these cell types in Brod...

Introducción: El trauma craneoencefálico (TCE)es un fenómeno heterogéneo desde el punto de vista molecular, celular y en la respuesta clínica. Se considera que esta diversidad se debe a la intensidad de la injuria primaria, eventos secundarios asociados (hipoxia, isquemia, edema, inflamación), al estado metabólico del paciente, su base genética, ed...

Introducción: El cerebro es un órgano extraordinariamente dinámico, su fisiología es sorprendente especialmente por la respuesta concertada del tejido nervioso en su conjunto ante situaciones patológicas. Estas respuestas incluyen no solo aquellas desencadenadas por la estimulación de receptores o cambios en el metabolismo celular sino los complejo...

La corteza frontopolar, y en particular, el área 10, está vinculada con procesos cognitivos muy complejos como la planeación, la introspección, la memoria retrospectiva y prospectiva, la disociación de la atención y resolución de problemas que implican tareas simultáneas. Esta información se ha derivado de estudios con neuroimagenología funcional....

La corteza frontopolar, y en particular, el área 10, está vinculada con procesos cognitivos muy complejos como la planeación, la introspección, la memoria retrospectiva y prospectiva, la disociación de la atención y resolución de problemas que implican tareas simultáneas. Esta información se ha derivado de estudios con neuroimagenología funcional....

In the present paper the cytoachitecture of the human prefrontal cortex is presented, particularly sectors from areas 10-medial, 11-orbital and 46-lateral. Brain tissue samples were obtained from post- morten material of five human subjects from the Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, regional Bogotá. Tissue was processed by means of i...

La Región frontopolar de la corteza cerebral humana se vincula con el procesamiento explícito y la valoración de los estados mentales internos y externos, la recuperación de la información episódica, la memoria prospectiva y la disociación y reasignación de la atención. Los mecanismos inhibitorios de las interneuronas que expresan Parvoalbúmina son...