Valerie L Hedges’s research while affiliated with Michigan State University and other places

... When examining factors that influence women's sexuality, it is essential to consider the hormonal fluctuations that occur during the postpartum period. During this time, there is a decrease in estrogen and progesterone levels, while prolactin levels rise in breastfeeding mothers [52,53]. Additionally, changes in cortisol, oxytocin, and androgens, such as DHEAS, may also play a role in altering sexual function, often contributing to a reduction in sexual desire and activity [53]. ...

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The Impact of Stress on Women’s Sexuality in the First Months After Childbirth—A Pilot Cross-Sectional Comparative Study

... L'activation de ces récepteurs mène à l'activation de mGluR1a et promeut la neurotransmission au niveau de la synapse entre les FP et les PC. En conséquence, cela potentialise l'activité glutamatergique dans le cervelet (Hedges et al. 2018 ...

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Effets des acides gras polyinsaturés n-3 dans un modèle murin environnemental de troubles du spectre autistique

... It has been demonstrated that 3 weeks of voluntary wheel running significantly increased c-Fos positive neurons in the PL in rats (Zlebnik et al., 2014) and 4 weeks of voluntary exercise increased FosB + neurons in the mPFC in prairie voles (Watanasriyakul et al., 2019). We also examined the relationship between PL/IL neurons and EIH and found that non-GABA-ergic FosB + neurons in the Pl and IL were increased by voluntary exercise (Kami and Senba, 2019). ...

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Exercise therapy for chronic pain: How does exercise change the limbic brain function?

... Changes in fatty acids and PC metabolism could impair post-translational palmitoylation of membrane proteins/receptors and synaptic vesicle formation, worsening ischemic brain damage. [113][114][115][116][117][118] A strength of the model used by Lacasse et al. 31,124 is that the drugs were delivered both alone and in combination, which made it is possible to distinguish the drug-specific variable of EE and LNGs unique effects as well as to detect potential synergistic effects. For example, rats administered LNG had a bias toward the use of hippocampus-mediated navigation in the dual-solution plus maze task. ...

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Animal models of hormonal contraceptives: Understanding drug-specific and user-specific variables

... For example, removal of dopaminergic inputs into the nucleus accumbens of female rats attenuates the effect of female sexual experience on copulatory efficiency (Bradley et al., 2005). Relatedly, sexually experienced female hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) also show greater D1-receptor dependent intracellular signaling (Bradley et al., 2004) and increased spine density on D1 receptor expressing neurons in the nucleus accumbens (Staffend et al., 2014). ...

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Mechanisms, development, and comparative perspectives on experience‐dependent plasticity in social behavior

... Further work is also needed to understand what key neurohormones, neurotransmitter or peptides may be responsible for altering c-fos activity in the 21 maternal bird brain, which would help us understand the consequences of such region-specific changes in Fos expression following stimulation. While IEG expression is clearly linked to modification of synaptic networks associated with learning and memory (Grimm et al., 1997;He et al., 2002;Countryman et al., 2005;Yosechima et al., 2006;Katche et al., 2010), almost nothing is known about the particular function of neural IEG expression for the expression of social interactions, other than the fact that their normal expression is required for motherhood and other forms of sociality (Brown et al., 1996;Kuroda et al. , 2008Been et al., 2013;Pitchers et al., 2013;Aleyasin et al., 2018). ...

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Fos expression in the medial preoptic area and nucleus accumbens of female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) after maternal induction and interaction with chicks

... Our nerve image co-registration analysis indicates that the strong decline in motoneuron β1-AR expression with aging is the factor limiting its synaptic vesicle release. In contrast to the reported increase in β-AR in the cerebral cortex, hypothalamus (Meitzen et al., 2013), and hippocampus with aging (Santulli and Iaccarino, 2013), our data show a significant decline in β1-AR in choline-acetyltransferase and β1-and α2B-AR in tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive axons. We proposed that the age-dependent decline in β1-AR expression in sympathetic neurons contributes to diminished NA release (Wang et al., 2020a). ...

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The Emerging Role of the Sympathetic Nervous System in Skeletal Muscle Motor Innervation and Sarcopenia

... In the cerebellar cortex, PCs produce multiple hormone-synthesizing enzymes, including cytochrome P450 aromatase-a key enzyme for E2 production. This enzyme critically regulates glutamatergic transmission at parallel fiber-PC synapses through dual activation of estrogen receptors (ERs) and metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 (mGluR1) [10][11][12][13]. Centrally, E2 modulates neuronal circuit function via both nuclear and membrane-associated ERs [12,14]. ...

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Estradiol Enhances Cerebellar Molecular Layer Interneuron-Purkinje Cell Synaptic Transmission and Improves Motor Learning Through ER-β in Vivo in Mice

... This consequently determines the number of males sampled (Burley and Foster 2006). In that regard, food deprivation has been shown to result in gonadal regression and a decrease in the excretion of sex hormones, which may in turn influence a host's sexual motivation (Klingerman et al. 2011). Our findings are also consistent with results obtained from guppies Poecilia reticulata, where experimentally infected females were less active in mate-choice activities than healthy ones (Lopez 1999). ...

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Mate choice is affected by parasite infestation rate of the choosing individual as well as of potential mating partners

... Our observations along with those of others [29,[32][33][34][35][36][37]40,53] highlight the impact of genetic factors on drug responsiveness in mice, findings that mirror the contribution of genetic polymorphisms to addiction vulnerability in people [24]. Even with identical genetic backgrounds (inbred mice or identical twins), experiential factors [54] can impact responsiveness to drugs [55,56]. Part of the basis for these individual differences stems from experiential regulation of the genome through epigenetic modification of individual genes [57][58][59], creating extensive variation in addiction liability [60]. ...

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Sex Differences in Cocaine Sensitization Vary by Mouse Strain