Angelman syndrome (AS) is a childhood-onset neurogenetic disorder characterized by functionally severe developmental delay with mental retardation, deficits in expressive language, ataxia, appendicular action tremors and unique behaviors such as inappropriate laughter and stimulus-sensitive hyperexcitibility. Most cases of AS are caused by mutations which disrupt expression of maternal UBE3A. A...

The discovery that cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract express the same molecular receptors and intracellular signaling components known to be involved in taste has generated great interest in potential functions of such post-oral "taste" receptors in the control of food intake. To determine whether taste cues in the GI tract are detected and can directly influence behavior, the present st...

In this study, the response of female rats in different phases of the estrus cycle to nociceptive stimulation was evaluated using thermal (hot plate and tail immersion) and chemical (formalin) tests. In the hot plate test, the paw licking latency fell significantly (p < 0.05) in the metestrus and diestrus phases compared with the proestrus and estrus phases. The observations in the tail immersi...

The amount of maternal licking received by newborn rats affects their adult stress reactivity and maternal behavior. Mouse studies in which litters were cross-fostered between strains that exhibit high vs. low amounts of maternal behavior also suggest that rearing conditions affect adult outcomes. The current study is the first to compare within a single mouse strain (C57BL/6J) behavioral respo...

A wide variety of human and animal experiments suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is one of the key brain substrates subserving higher order processing of noxious information. However, no sufficient data are now available regarding the mediation by ACC of different levels of pain processing as well as its potential descending modulation of spinal nociception. Using the well-develo...

The classification of rhythmic licking into clusters has proved to be useful for characterizing brain mechanisms that modulate the ingestion of natural rewards (sucrose and water). One cortical area that is responsive to rewarding stimuli is the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, it is not presently known how OFC neurons respond while rodents freely lick for natural rewards and whether these ...