We used functional

magnetic resonance imaging to measure regional variations in neural activity during detection of semantic incongruities within written sentences. Whilst the 12 controls showed a pattern of activity extending from posterior cingulate cortices bilaterally and the left occipitotemporal region to the left superior and inferior temporal lobes, right anterior cingulate and right inferior frontal gyrus, the 12 participants with an ASC presented a more spatially restricted activation pattern, including the left inferior frontal gyrus, left anterior check details cingulate cortex and right middle frontal gyrus. These results are coherent with the hypothesis that impaired integration of multiple neural networks in people with an ASC is related to previous observations that this group have difficulties in the use of context to predict the final word of sentences. “
“Ataxia is often associated with altered cerebellar motor control, a process in which Purkinje cells (PCs) play a principal role. Pogo mice display severe motor deficits characterized by an ataxic gait accompanying hindlimb hyperextension. Here, using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings,

we show that parallel fiber (PF)-excitatory post-synaptic currents (PF-EPSCs) are reduced, paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) is increased and PF-PC long-term depression (LTD) is impaired in Pogo mice; in contrast, climbing-fiber EPSCs are preserved. In control mice, treatment with the calmodulin find more antagonist calmidazolium (5 μm) impaired 6-phosphogluconolactonase PPF and LTD. Notably, cerebellar calmodulin expression was significantly reduced in Pogo mice compared with control mice. Control PCs predominantly exhibited a tonic firing pattern, whereas the firing pattern in Pogo PCs was mainly a complex burst type. These results implicate alterations in PC responses and calmodulin content in the abnormal cerebellar function

of Pogo mice. “
“Neuronal cell bodies are associated with glial cells collectively referred to as perineuronal satellite cells. One such satellite cell is the perineuronal oligodendrocyte, which is unmyelinating oligodendrocytes attaching to large neurons in various neural regions. However, little is known about their cellular characteristics and function. In this study, we identified perineuronal oligodendrocytes as 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase-positive cells attaching to neuronal perikarya immunostained for microtubule-associated protein 2, and examined their cytochemical and cytological properties in the mouse cerebral cortex. 2′,3′-Cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase-positive perineuronal oligodendrocytes were immunonegative to representative glial markers for astrocytes (brain-type lipid binding protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein), microglia (Iba-1) and NG2+ glia.