Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can produce chronic cognitive learning/memory deficits that are thought to be mediated, in part, by impaired hippocampal function. Experimentally induced TBI is associated with deficits in hippocampal synaptic plasticity (long-term potentiation, or LTP) at acute post-injury intervals but plasticity has not been examined at long-term survival periods. The present stu...

Tetanus-induced heterosynaptic depression in the hippocampus is a key cellular mechanism in neural networks implicated in learning and memory. A growing body of evidence indicates that glial cells are important modulators of synaptic functions, but very little is known about their role in heterosynaptic plasticity. We examined the role of glial cells in heterosynaptic depression, knowing that t...

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are key transcriptional regulators that play a major role in oxygen homeostasis. HIF activity is tightly regulated by oxygen-dependent hydroxylases, which additionally require iron and 2-oxoglutarate as cofactors. Inhibition of these enzymes has become a novel target to modulate the hypoxic response for therapeutic benefit. Inhibition of prolyl-4-hydroxylase dom...

Cholecystokinin (CCK), a peptide hormone found in the gut, is the most abundant peptide neurotransmitters in the brain, and its acute effects on the brain activity have been shown. In this study we aimed to evaluate the acute effects of CCK on short-term synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the rat hippocampus. Via stereotaxic surgery, the stimulating and the recording electrodes we...

In the present study the protective effect of Nigella sativa (N. sativa) on synaptic plasticity impairment induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats was investigated. Fifty-eight rats were grouped and treated as follows: 1) control (saline), 2) LPS, 3) LPS-N. sativa, and 4) N. sativa. In a Morris water maze test, the escape latency and travelled path to find the platform as well as time spent...

Objective(s): To illuminate the functional effects of allicin on rats with cognitive deficits induced by tunicamycin (TM) and the molecular mechanism of this process. Materials and Methods: 200–250 g male SD rats were divided into three groups at random: control group (n=12), TM group (5 μl, 50 μM, i.c.v, n=12), and allicin treatment group (180 mg/kg/d with chow diet, n=12). After 16 weeks of a...

Background: It is believed that cognitive processing is easily disturbed by incompatible environmental stimulations. Many studies have shown that prenatal stress affects fetal brain development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of noise pollution exposure during conception period on neural activity of hippocampus CA1 area in male rat offspring. Methods: Four groups of rats inclu...