Brain and Behavior

Career Corner is a Wiley Open Access journal blog site linked to Wiley's newest online journal, Brain and Behavior. Its purpose is to promote intellectual exchange between clinician-scientists at early stages of their careers and the larger scientific community. By serving as a forum for early career scientists to share their findings and discuss the process that led them to their research outcomes Career Corner aims to facilitate mainstream scientific discourse while highlighting what training grants are capable of producing. Our audience is any research scientist in the early stages of career development (K-applicants, other early career award applicants, early career development grant awardees, trainees, residents, and faculty up to the associate professor level).

The goal of this study was to characterize the acute effects of cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), an FDA-approved treatment for insomnia, depression, and anxiety consisting of pulsed, low-intensity current applied to the earlobes, on resting state brain activity. Using fMRI simultaneously with stimulation, we found that both 0.5-Hz and 100-Hz stimulation resulted in significant deactivation in midline frontal and parietal regions, and 100-Hz stimulation was associated with alterations in connectivity within the default mode network. These results provide insight into the mechanism of action of CES, and may assist in the future development of optimal parameters for effective treatment.

This study is based on PET and autopsy data collected in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. We describe changes in brain function that occur over a 7 year period in older individuals who are cognitively normal during the PET scanning period, but subsequently go on to receive differential diagnoses at autopsy. Differences in brain activation patterns are presented for those with Asymptomatic Alzheimer disease (normal cognition despite substantial Alzheimer disease pathology) and those with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer pathology relative to cognitively and pathologically normal individuals.

We aim to evaluate TCD efficiency in a mixed Hispanic population in Santiago, Chile, and to determine whether factors associated with the presence of optimal temporal windows were obtained in 82% of cases. With male sex odds ratio (OR) 2.3 (1.51–3.45) and age below 60 OR 13.8 (7.8–24.6) as unique determinants Hispanic populations have detection rates for temporal windows similar to Europeans and are affected by patient-related elements.

Mirror neurons are recognized as a crucial aspect of motor and social learning yet we know little about their origins and development. In the present study we explored the temporal dynamics and spatial distribution of EEG brain responses in young infants during the observation of three distinct types of actions: a) actions that are within the motor repertoire of infants, b) actions that are not within the motor repertoire of infants and c) object motion. Our results suggest that the infants have a basic, experience-independent sensorimotor mechanism optimized to detect all coherent motion that is modulated by experience.

The objective of the study was to assess cerebral mass, based on head circumference measurements, in neonates exposed to tobacco smoke in utero and to determine the relative proportions of the cerebral and body mass. Active smoking during pregnancy had a negative effect on the cerebral mass of the neonate; however, no such effect was observed in neonates whose mothers were passive smokers. The deficiency in cerebral mass increased with greater smoking intensity.

Progression of leprosy neuropathy. A high prevalence of neuropathy was observed in newly-diagnosed patients. Associating different tests with a thorough clinical neurological evaluation increases detection rates.

We assessed cerebral lateralisation for language production and visuospatial memory in a group of 60 typically developing children between the ages of 6 and 16 years, using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound. No age-related change in direction or strength of lateralisation was found for language production, but the strength of lateralisation for visuospatial memory function continued to increase with age. Having both language and visuospatial functions in the same hemisphere was not associated with poor cognitive performance and we therefore found no evidence for the functional crowding hypothesis. Instead we found that children with left-lateralised language production scored higher on vocabulary and non-word reading than other children, regardless of the laterality of visuospatial memory.

Using a palmitoylation-deficient mutant of BACE1, we show that BACE1 cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and β-amyloid (Aβ) generation are independent of lipid raft association of the protease in neurons. We propose a model of neuronal Aβ generation involving mobilization of β-C-terminal fragment of APP from non-raft to raft domains.

The focus of this systematic review is on contemporary (from 1990) use and practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) worldwide. Seventy studies were included: 7 from Australia and New Zealand, 3 Africa, 12 North and Latin America, 33 Europe and 15 Asia. Many patients are still ECT treated without anesthesia today. Large global variation in ECT utilization, administration and practice advocate a need for worldwide sharing of knowledge about ECT, reflection, and learning from each other experiences.

Microglia are activated following CNS diseases. Different microglial phenotypes may be present along different anatomical niches following CNS injury.