Background: Observation of a goal-directed motor action can excite the respective mirror neurons, and this is the theoretical basis for action observation (AO) as a novel tool for functional recovery during stroke rehabilitation. To explore the therapeutic potential of AO for dysphagia, we conducted a task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify the brain areas activated during observation and execution of swallowing in healthy participants. Methods: Twenty-nine healthy volunteers viewed the following stimuli during fMRI scanning: an action-video of swallowing (condition 1, defined as AO), a neutral image with a Chinese word for "watching" (condition 2), and a neutral image with a Chinese word for "swallowing" (condition 3). Action execution (AE) was defined as condition 3 minus condition 2. One-sample t-tests were performed to define the brain regions activated during AO and AE. Results: Many brain regions were activated during AO, including the middle temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, pre-and postcentral gyrus, supplementary motor area, hippocampus, brainstem, and pons. AE resulted in activation of motor areas as well as other brain areas, including the inferior parietal lobule, vermis, middle frontal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus. Two brain areas, BA6 and BA21, were activated with both AO and AE. Conclusion: The left supplementary motor area (BA6) and left middle temporal gyrus (BA21), which contains mirror neurons, were activated in both AO and AE of swallowing. In this study, AO activated mirror neurons and the swallowing network in healthy participants, supporting its potential value in the treatment of dysphagia.
Innate immune memory is a part of the innate immune system that facilitates the elimination of pathogens. However, it may exacerbate neuropathology. In this study, we found that innate immune memory is detrimental in stroke, because it promotes the acute immune response and exacerbates ischemic infarcts. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy has been widely studied for its therapeutic potential in various diseases including stroke, but whether it diminishes innate immune memory has not been studied. Here, our study demonstrates that, after the activation of innate immune memory by lipopolysaccharide, mesenchymal stem cell therapy can diminish innate immune memory though down-regulation of H3 methylation and subsequently protect against stroke. Our results demonstrate that innate immune memory is detrimental in stroke, and we describe a novel potential therapeutic target involving the use of mesenchymal stem cells to treat stroke patients.
Objective: Brain-computer interface (BCI) training is becoming increasingly popular in neurorehabilitation. However, around one third subjects have difficulties in controlling BCI devices effectively, which limits the application of BCI training. Furthermore, the effectiveness of BCI training is not satisfactory in stroke rehabilitation. Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a powerful neural modulatory approach with strong facilitatory effects. Here, we investigated whether iTBS would improve BCI accuracy and boost the neuroplastic changes induced by BCI training.Methods: Eight right-handed healthy subjects (four males, age: 20–24) participated in this two-session study (BCI-only session and iTBS+BCI session in random order). Neuroplastic changes were measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). In BCI-only session, fNIRS was measured at baseline and immediately after BCI training. In iTBS+BCI session, BCI training was followed by iTBS delivered on the right primary motor cortex (M1). Single-pulse TMS was measured at baseline and immediately after iTBS. fNIRS was measured at baseline, immediately after iTBS, and immediately after BCI training. Paired-sample t-tests were used to compare amplitudes of motor-evoked potentials, cortical silent period duration, oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) concentration and functional connectivity across time points, and BCI accuracy between sessions.Results: No significant difference in BCI accuracy was detected between sessions (p > 0.05). In BCI-only session, functional connectivity matrices between motor cortex and prefrontal cortex were significantly increased after BCI training (p's < 0.05). In iTBS+BCI session, amplitudes of motor-evoked potentials were significantly increased after iTBS (p's < 0.05), but no change in HbO2 concentration or functional connectivity was observed throughout the whole session (p's > 0.05).Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study that investigated how iTBS targeted on M1 influences BCI accuracy and the acute neuroplastic changes after BCI training. Our results revealed that iTBS targeted on M1 did not influence BCI accuracy or facilitate the neuroplastic changes after BCI training. Therefore, M1 might not be an effective stimulation target of iTBS for the purpose of improving BCI accuracy or facilitate its effectiveness; other brain regions (i.e., prefrontal cortex) are needed to be further investigated as potentially effective stimulation targets.
a b s t r a c tBackground: Brain mapping is fundamental to understanding brain organization and function. However, a major drawback to the traditional Brodmann parcellation technique is the reliance on the use of postmortem specimens. It has therefore historically been difficult to make any comparison regarding functional data from different regions or hemispheres within the same individual. Moreover, this method has been significant limited by subjective boundaries and classification criteria and therefore suffer from reproducibility issues. The development of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers an alternative approach to brain mapping, specifically the motor cortical regions by eliciting quantifiable functional reactions. Objective: To precisely describe the motor cortical topographic representation of pharyngeal constrictor musculature using TMS and to further map the brain for use as a tool to study brain plasticity. Methods: 51 healthy subjects (20 male/31 female, 19e26 years old) were tested using single-pulse TMS combined with intraluminal catheter-guided high-resolution manometry and a standardized grid cap. We investigated various parameters of the motor-evoked potential (MEP) that include the motor map area, amplitude, latency, center of gravity (CoG) and asymmetry index. Results: Cortically evoked response latencies were similar for the left and right hemispheres at 6.79 ± 0.22 and 7.24 ± 0.27 ms, respectively. The average scalp positions (relative to the vertex) of the pharyngeal motor cortical representation were 10.40 ± 0.19 (SE) cm medio-lateral and 3.20 ± 0.20 (SE) cm antero-posterior in the left hemisphere and 9.65 ± 0.24 (SE) cm medio-lateral and 3.18 ± 0.23 (SE) cm antero-posterior in the right hemisphere. The mean motor map area of the pharynx in the left and right hemispheres were 9.22 ± 0.85(SE) cm 2 and 10.12 ± 1.24(SE) cm 2 , respectively. The amplitudes of the MEPs were 35.94 ± 1.81(SE)uV in the left hemisphere and 34.49 ± 1.95(SE)uV in the right hemisphere. By comparison, subtle but consistent differences in the degree of the bilateral hemispheric representation were also apparent both between and within individuals. Conclusion: The swallowing musculature has a bilateral motor cortical representation across individuals, but is largely asymmetric within single subjects. These results suggest that TMS mapping using a guided Abbreviations: RMT, rest motor threshold; EMG, electromyography; MEPs, motor evoked potentials; MSO, maximum stimulator output; PMEP, pharyngeal motor evoked potential; CoG, center of gravity; UES, upper esophageal sphincter; HRM, solid-state high-resolution manometry; IC, intra-luminal catheter; SE, standard error of mean. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). (2020) 891e899 intra-pharyngeal EMG catheter combined with a standardized gridded cap might be a useful tool to localize brain function/dysfunction by linking brain activation to the corresponding physical reaction. Brain Stimu...
BACKGROUND Polyphenols were reported to exhibit inhibitory effects on digestive enzymes to regulate carbohydrates and lipid digestion. However, different cooking methods might cause differences in the composition of polyphenols in cereal grains and thus further affect their activities. RESULTS The present study used boiling, roasting and microwaving to cook black quinoa and extracted polyphenols from them. Their total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids content were determined, and phenolic composition was analyzed via high‐performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS). Compared with other cooking methods, phenolic extract from microwaved black quinoa (PEM) showed the highest TPC value (about 2.64 mg GAE g−1). Microwaving released more phenolic acids (ferulic acid and gallic acid) from black quinoa grains. PEM also exhibited the strongest antioxidant and α‐glucosidase inhibitory activities. Lineweaver–Burk plots showed that PEM inhibited α‐glucosidase in an uncompetitive mode, which was supported by circular dichroism analysis. PEM further reduced about 20.04% of digested starch in an in vitro digestion model and suppressed postprandial blood glucose increases (about 16.91% reduction) in vivo. CONCLUSION Collectively, our data suggested that microwaving could be an ideal method to cook quinoa in regards of its polyphenols in management of postprandial blood glucose. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
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