Noxious stimulation of a restricted site on the skin of Aplysia (training) causes site-specific sensitization of the tail-withdrawal reflex that is associated with several sensory correlates that are evident both 10 min and 2 hr after training. First, extracellularly recorded afferent activity evoked by test stimulation of the trained site increases, indicating peripheral sensory changes. Secon...

Glutamate is the most common neurotransmitter in both the central and the peripheral nervous system. Glutamate is present in all types of neurons in sensory ganglia, and is released not only from their peripheral and central axon terminals but also from their cell bodies. Consistently, these neurons express ionotropic and metabotropic receptors, as well as other molecules involved in the synthe...

It has been about a decade since the molecular basis of the excitatory pathway in vertebrate photoreceptors was resolved. The lessons learned from that achievement have now been applied to other sensory modalities. The belief that each sensory modality relies upon unique, specialized molecules seems no longer tenable. Instead, common molecular components are adapted as needed and may function n...

UNLABELLED After CNS injury, axon regeneration is blocked by an inhibitory environment consisting of the highly upregulated tenascin-C and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). Tenascin-C promotes growth of axons if they express a tenascin-binding integrin, particularly α9β1. Additionally, integrins can be inactivated by CSPGs, and this inhibition can be overcome by the presence of a β1-bi...

Feedback systems are ubiquitous in neural systems and are a subject of intense theoretical and experimental analysis. Although there exists multiple hypotheses, there is little agreement on their exact function in neural systems. Looking at the thalamo-cortical feedback system as a model for studying feedback in general, I shall model such systems as coupled oscillators and ask if the feedback ...

BACKGROUND The function of current artificial arms is limited by inadequate control methods. We developed a technique that used nerve transfers to muscle to develop new electromyogram control signals and nerve transfers to skin, to provide a pathway for cutaneous sensory feedback to the missing hand. METHODS We did targeted reinnervation surgery on a woman with a left arm amputation at the hu...

See Saporta and Shy (doi:10.1093/awx048) for a scientific commentary on this article.Effective bidirectional signalling between axons and Schwann cells is essential for both the development and maintenance of peripheral nerve function. We have established conditions by which human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived sensory neurons can be cultured with rat Schwann cells, and have produced for...

mycobacterium tuberculosis, the main cause of tuberculosis (tb), has still remained a global health crisis especially in developing countries. tuberculosis treatment is a laborious and lengthy process with high risk of non compliance, cytotoxicity adverse events and drug resistance in patient. recently, there has been an alarming rise of drug resistant in tb. in this regard, it is an unmet need...

apoptosis or programmed cell death is a gene regulated phenomenon which is important in both physiological and pathological conditions. it is characterized by distinct morphological features including chromatin condensation, cell and nuclear shrinkage, membrane blebbing and oligonucleosomal dna fragmentation. although, two major apoptotic pathways including 1) the death receptor (extrinsic) and...