In this study, the vertical, transverse and oblique diameters of the spinal cord segments (C1, C6, C12, C18, T1, T4, L1, L4, L6 and L8) and the ratio of gray matter to white matter in chick (l month) and adult (18 months) male ostriches, each group consisted of 3 animals, were measured with standard micrometric method using 6 μm thick sections by light microscope. With advancement of age, the r...

BACKGROUND Paracetamol's (APAP) mechanism of action suggests the implication of supraspinal structures but no neuroimaging study has been performed in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS This randomized, double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled trial in 17 healthy volunteers (NCT01562704) aimed to evaluate how APAP modulates pain-evoked functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. We used behavi...

Superior predatory skills led to the evolutionary triumph of jawed vertebrates. However, the mechanisms by which the vertebrate brain controls predation remain largely unknown. Here, we reveal a critical role for the central nucleus of the amygdala in predatory hunting. Both optogenetic and chemogenetic stimulation of central amygdala of mice elicited predatory-like attacks upon both insect and...

Recent technological developments, such as single unit recordings coupled to optogenetic approaches, have provided unprecedented knowledge about the precise neuronal circuits contributing to the expression and recovery of conditioned fear behavior. These data have provided an understanding of the contributions of distinct brain regions such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and p...

THIAMIN (vitamin B1) is a water-soluble vitamin involved in glucose metabolism. Its deficiency affects the cardiovascular (wet beriberi) and nervous (dry beriberi) systems, and in industrialized countries, it is commonly linked to chronic alcoholism. Wernicke encephalopathy (WE), a metabolic encephalopathy due to thiamine depletion, is clinically characterized by at least two among four feature...

In order to micturate successfully, information from the bladder has to be conveyed to the brainstem. In most experimental animals, this information is relayed, via the lumbosacral spinal cord, to the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG). Although the rat is the most used experimental animal in neurourological research, urodynamic studies show that guinea pig may be a better small experimental anim...

Based upon its ability to inhibit opiate receptor binding, a low-molecular-weight substance (600) has been isolated from human plasma by extraction into butanol and ion exchange, molecular sieve, and thin-layer chromatography. When this substance, termed anodynin, is microinjected into rat periaqueductal gray matter, it causes a profound, long-lasting analgesia which is prevented by prior injec...

We investigated in vivo the allodynic response of the central μ-opioid system during spontaneous migraine headaches, following a sustained pain threshold challenge on the trigeminal ophthalmic region. Six migraineurs were scanned during the ictal and interictal phases using positron emission tomography (PET) with the selective μ-opioid receptor (μOR) radiotracer [11C]carfentanil. Females were s...