EVC
Ellis-van Creveld syndrome protein (DWF-1)
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Investigations of brain maturation processes are a key step to understand the cognitive and emotional changes of adolescence. Although structural imaging findings have delineated clear brain developmental trajectories for typically developing individuals, less is known about the functional changes of this sensitive development period. Developmental changes, such as abstract thought, complex reasoning, and emotional and inhibitory control, have been associated with more prominent cortical control. The aim of this study is to assess brain networks connectivity changes in a large sample of 7- to 15-year-old subjects, testing the hypothesis that cortical regions will present an increasing relevance in commanding the global network. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected in a sample of 447 typically developing children from a Brazilian community sample who were submitted to a resting state acquisition protocol. The fMRI data were used to build a functional weighted graph from which eigenvector centrality (EVC) was extracted. For each brain region (a node of the graph), the age-dependent effect on EVC was statistically tested and the developmental trajectories were estimated using polynomial functions. Our findings show that angular gyrus become more central during this maturation period, while the caudate; cerebellar tonsils, pyramis, thalamus; fusiform, parahippocampal and inferior semilunar lobe become less central. In conclusion, we report a novel finding of an increasing centrality of the angular gyrus during the transition to adolescence, with a decreasing centrality of many subcortical and cerebellar regions.
MeSH Terms
- Adolescent
- Aging
- Brain Mapping
- Cerebral Cortex
- Child
- Child Development
- Female
- Functional Laterality
- Humans
- Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Male
- Neural Pathways
- Social Class
Keywords
- Children
- Graph
- Networks
- Neurodevelopment
- Neuroimaging
Although glaucoma is known to alter glial reactivity, the long-term effect of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) on glial change has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to examine how chronically elevated IOP induced by episcleral vein cauterization (EVC) in unilateral eyes affect reactivities of astrocytes and Müller cells of rats in the treated as well as contralateral eyes over time. EVC in unilateral eyes of Sprague-Dawley rats were performed to produce chronically elevated IOP. Flat mounted retina preparations were made at several points until 6 months, which were subjected to immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Retinal homogenates were one- or two-dimensionally electrophoresed, followed by GFAP immunoblotting. EVC significantly increased IOPs up to 27.8 from 13.1 mmHg, which gradually decreased over time. In flat mounted retinas, astrocytes lost but Müller cells gained GFAP immunoreactivity at 3 days after cauterization. The glial changes were partially reversed over time but last even after IOP normalization. In the contralateral eyes, similar glial changes gradually appeared at 1 month after EVC and thereafter. Immunoblotting demonstrated not only molecular size shifts but also alteration of isoelectric focusing of GFAP both in treated and contralateral retina as compared with age-matched control retina. EVC led to opposite reactions in astrocytes and Müller cells in terms of GFAP immunoreactivity. Late-onset glial reactivity also occurred in the contralateral retina.
MeSH Terms
- Aging
- Animals
- Astrocytes
- Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional
- Glaucoma
- Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
- Male
- Neuroglia
- Rats
- Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- Retina