Scientists uncover the importance of brain circuits to body health!

In this paper, I have compiled a number of important research results to jointly interpret the importance of brain circuit to body health! Learn with you! Photo source: Caltech [1] J Neurosci: key neural circuits regulate alcohol response doi: 10.1523/juniursci.1466-19.2019 now scientists have known that the central area of the amygdala (CEA) in the brain plays an important role in alcohol related behaviors However, the exact types of brain cells that mediate these behaviors are still unclear Recently, in a research report published in the International Journal of neuroscience, scientists from the school of medicine of the University of North Carolina found that specific neurons in CEA can lead to similar drinking behavior In this paper, researchers revealed a specific neural circuit, which will lead to the reduction of drinking behavior when the circuit changes In fact, these neurons can promote reward like behavior, and very low alcohol consumption can activate these cells The activation of these neurons can cause animals to drink without extensive drinking experience The researchers hope that by understanding the function of this neural circuit, we can better predict the transition from light drinking to alcoholism and alcoholism disorders What's going on in the brain 【2】 Science: it is the first time to find a cortical brainstem circuit to control and predict the generation of compulsive drinking behavior doi: 10.1126/science.aay1186 although the use of alcohol is common in modern society, only some people will have alcohol use disorder, that is, alcohol addiction However, scientists don't understand why some people are prone to alcohol problems while others don't Now, in a new study, researchers from shack Institute of biology and Massachusetts Institute of technology and other research institutions have found a cortical brainstem circuit that can control the drinking behavior of mice, and it can be used as a biomarker to predict the forced drinking behavior of mice in the future In the future, these findings may have a potential impact on the understanding of human alcoholism and alcohol addiction, and the relevant research results are published in the journal Science We hope this will be a landmark study because we have found (for the first time) a brain circuit that can accurately predict which mice will have compulsive drinking behavior weeks in advance, the researchers said This study fills in the gap between loop analysis and alcohol addiction research, and for the first time reveals how compulsive drinking performance occurs in the brain over time 【3】 Eneuro: brain circuit that helps memory to be generated during sleep doi: 10.1523/eneuro.0365-19.2019 recently, neuroscientists from the University of Alberta found a new mechanism that can help people build memory during deep sleep The study centers on the role of the commissural nucleus, which connects two other brain structures responsible for memory production - the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus - and may coordinate their activities during slow wave sleep The researchers said that the slow waves in sleep are beneficial to the generation of personal experience related memory, which may be due to the coordinated activities of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus We find that the conjunction core is responsible for coordinating the synchronous slow waves between the two structures This means that the structure may play an important role in the integration of sleep dependent events 【4】 Nat Neurosci: revealing the key role of brain circuits in improving learning and memory doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0496-y recently, an international journal Nature In the Research Report on neuroscience, scientists from the University of California identified a new type of neural circuit during the formation of horse body in the big brain, which plays a very important role in target-based learning and memory The loss of object position memory is one of the main obstacles for Alzheimer's disease patients Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common dementia in the elderly These new findings in the hippocampal circuit mechanism may provide researchers with a new target to help develop new strategies or therapies to effectively reduce or neutralize Alzheimer's disease-related memory impairment According to researcher Xiangmin Xu, our research is to detect the connectivity between different structures through new methods based on virus genetic map, and these new mapping tools can help us identify the new circuits in and between the sea horse body and the cerebral cortex 【5】 Neuron: scientists have found a new neural circuit doi: 10.1101/493007, which can trigger the innate defense response visually Over generalization of fear is a condition that limits the ability to distinguish between safety and threat It is an important pathological feature of anxiety related syndromes such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder However, unlike the traditional conditional fear, the mechanism of dealing with innate fear is largely unknown Professor Wang Liping and his colleagues from Shenzhen Institute of advanced technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed that the GABAergic neural circuit of VTA (ventral tegmental area) mediates the innate defense response visually In this study, the team first found a neural circuit related to vtagaba + neurons, which visually mediates the innate defense response involving the glut + - vtagaba + - CEA (central amygdala) pathway in the superior colliculus (SC) Neuroscientists have shown that VTA plays an important role in acquired appetite and aversion Interestingly, the researchers found that GABA neurons in VTA were activated by visual threat via fiber optic photometer Through virus tracking and electrophysiological recording in vivo and in vitro, they found that vtagaba + neurons received direct excitatory input from SC Photo source: unige [6] nature: a major breakthrough! Identify the brain circuits that lead to drug addiction, and treat drug addiction! Doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0789-4 what happens to the brain of compulsive drug users? What is the difference in brain function between addicts and people who take drugs in a controlled way? To solve this problem, researchers from the University of Geneva (unige), Switzerland, have been studying the differences in rodent addiction models In a new study, they found that brain circuits that link decision-making areas of the brain to reward systems are more active in compulsive drug use mice They also found that the reduced activity of this brain circuit allowed compulsive drug users to regain control On the contrary, by stimulating this brain circuit, the mice that initially maintained control were addicted to drugs The results were published in the journal Nature Addiction is a disease that develops in stages It begins with an initial exposure to a drug, and then a period when drug intake is still under control However, despite the significant negative effects of this, including increasing debt, social segregation or imprisonment, some people will start to compulsively take drugs Clinical estimates show that only one in five people will shift from controlled drug intake to compulsive drug use 【7】 Nature: found that there is a natural noise elimination circuit in the brain doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0520-5 In a new study, researchers from Duke University School of medicine in the United States conducted a series of difficult experiments and found that in order to ensure that mice can hear the approaching sound of cats rather than their own footsteps, the mouse brain has a built-in noise elimination circuit It's a direct connection from the motor cortex of the brain to the auditory cortex, essentially, "we're running now, but we don't notice our own footsteps." The results were published in the journal Nature What's special about this noise cancellation process, the researchers say, is that the brain learns to turn off responses to predictable spontaneous sounds You can see that the disappearance of these reactions is a function of time and experience 【8】 JCB: a new breakthrough in brain circuit research doi: 10.1083/jcb.201802057 recently, researchers from Marshall University discovered the internal mechanism of how many different types of cells in the brain form mature brain circuits The brain is a highly complex organ, which enables us to think, remember, move and complete simple or complex instructions These processes need the normal function of brain circuit, that is, the normal connection between brain neurons The place where neurons connect with each other is called "synapse" Risher et al, an assistant professor from the Department of biomedicine, made a detailed analysis of the synapses of neurons in the cerebral cortex, which is mainly responsible for the processing of sensory information and the control of action In this study, mice lost the α 2 δ - 1 receptor, which plays an important role in the response of neurons to signals from astrocytes When the receptor is absent, the number of synapses in cortical neurons is significantly reduced, indicating that the brain circuit has been significantly damaged 【9】 Cell reports: scientists have found a new mechanism of nicotine affecting reward circuit in brain doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.04.062 recently, scientists from Northwestern University in the United States found a new mechanism of nicotine controlling brain reward pathway, which will provide guidance for future anti addiction therapy Relevant research results are published in the journal Cell reports Identifying the detailed mechanism by which nicotine changes brain circuits is a very important thing at present, the researchers said We all understand the negative effects of cigarettes and other tobacco products However, the increasing use of e-cigarettes in teenagers also causes problems to some extent, because nicotine exposure may open the door for drug abuse in the future It is well known that nicotine plays a major enhancing role by interacting with specific cell types of receptors, dopamine and GABA neurons, in a brain region called ventral dorsal tegmental area (VTA) Previous studies have shown that VTA glutamate neurons may play an important role in reward and reinforcement behaviors However, whether these neurons respond to nicotine or are related to nicotine dependence is still unknown [10] Nature: We identified a neural circuit that regulates thirst in the brain In doi:10.1038/nature25488 mice, there are three regions in the brain that deal with thirst: subfornical organ (SFO), hypothalamic endplate vascular region (organum vasculosum laminae terminalis, OVLT) and median anterior nucleus (median, terminalis, OVLT) Together, these regions form a lamellar structure in the forebrain (near the front of the brain) called the terminalis (LT) Most areas of the brain are protected by an almost impermeable blood-brain barrier, which is a tightly packed layer of cells separating blood from the brain But in the brain's SFO and OVLT, this is not the case - they interface directly with the mouse's blood, allowing the two regions to measure the blood's sodium content, or salinity, which indicates hydration Therefore, lt is the main structure involved in the regulation of thirst In a new study, researchers found that mnpo is the center of thirst regulation It receives the excitatory input signal from the SFO, but vice versa