NMR cells, like cells from Snell dwarf mice, were more sensitive to tunicamycin and thapsigargin, which interfere with the function of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER stress). The sensitivity of both Snell dwarf and NMR cells to ER stress suggests that alterations in the unfolded protein response

might modulate cell survival and aging rate.”
“In functional magnetic resonance imaging research, nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation spontaneously increases before financial risk taking. As anticipation of diverse rewards can increase NAcc activation, even incidental reward cues may influence financial risk taking. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we predicted and found that anticipation of viewing rewarding stimuli (erotic pictures for 15 heterosexual men) increased financial risk taking, and that

this effect was partially mediated by increases in NAcc activation. These results are consistent with the notion IPI-549 supplier that incidental reward cues influence financial risk taking by altering anticipatory affect, and so identify a neuropsychological mechanism that may underlie effective emotional appeals in financial, marketing, and political domains.”
“In PLX4032 Caenorhabditis elegans, several manipulations that affect nutrition slow development, reduce fecundity, and increase life span. These are viewed as dietary restriction (DR) and include culture in semidefined, nutrient-rich liquid medium that is axenic (i.e., there is no microbial food source). Here we describe buy Blebbistatin convenient ways to exert DR by culture on agar plates containing axenic medium. We used these to explore whether effects of axenic culture really reflect DR. Our results imply that major nutrient components of axenic medium, and overall caloric content, are not limiting for life span. However, adding growth-arrested Escherichia coli as an additional food source rescued the effects of axenic culture. We then sought to identify the component of E. coli that is critical for normal C. elegans nutrition using add-back experiments. Our results suggest that C. elegans has a nutritional

requirement for live, metabolically active microbes or, possibly, an unidentified, heat-labile, nonsoluble component present in live microbes.”
“Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) enzymatically degrades biogenic amines such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, and plays a key role in the regulation of their neurotransmission. Allelic variations at the MAOA locus have been implicated in the neurobiology of aggression and impulsivity. We investigated the possible relationship between the MAOA-upstream variable number of tandem repeats (uVNTR) polymorphism and brain responses to negative facial stimuli, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found a significant association between a low activity allele of MAOA- uVNTR and neural activation to negative facial stimuli.