D F Swaab

..We will also discuss a procedure that has been developed to culture human postmortem brain tissue, which allows testing of the efficacy of putative stimulatory compounds...

..Solid evidence for the importance of postnatal social factors is lacking. In the human brain, structural diferences have been described that seem to be related to gender identity and sexual orientation...

..Although cortisol and CRH may well be causally involved in the signs and symptoms of depression, there is so far no evidence for any major irreversible damage in the human hippocampus in this disorder...

..A number of pharmacological and non-pharmacological studies support the concept that activation of the brain indeed has beneficial effects on several aspects of cognition and other central functions...

..Whether this sex difference in hippocampal GR-ir in depression relates to the increased incidence of depression in females awaits further study. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'...

..Moreover, ApoE epsilon4 may participate in the pathogenesis of AD by decreasing neuronal metabolism. The main implication of these findings is that therapeutic strategies in AD should be focussed on reactivation of neuronal metabolism...

..We addressed the question whether a novel ER alpha splice variant TADDI is expressed at the protein level in the human brain and whether it changes in relation to aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD)...

....

..Both receptor changes are proposed to participate in the activation of the AVP neurons in postmenopausal women...

..Therefore, our results suggest that p75(NTR) is involved in postmenopausal activation of vasopressinergic neurons in the human SON...

..Species differences and similarities of the AR-ir distribution are discussed. The present results suggest the participation of androgens in the regulation of various hypothalamic processes that are sexually dimorphic...

..The ApoE genotype had no effect on ER expression in the NBM in AD. In conclusion, whereas only minor sex- and age-related changes in both ERs were found in the human NBM, a clear upregulation of ERalpha and beta was observed in AD...

..Our data show that the decreased activity of nucleus basalis neurons in AD is ApoE epsilon4 dependent and suggest that ApoE epsilon4 participates in the pathogenesis of AD by decreasing neuronal metabolism...

..In addition, the GA/cell size ratio correlated significantly with age in men and not in women. Our data suggest that androgens play an inhibitory role with respect to the metabolic activity of the human VMN neurons...

....

....

..The functional implications of these alterations are discussed in relation to reproduction, cognition, and neuroprotection...

..It is concluded that TENS increased the coupling between the rest activity rhythm and supposedly stable Zeitgebers in an advanced stage of AD...

..e. (i) the supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus and (ii) the suprachiasmatic nucleus, show quite different patterns of changes in the human in relation to development, aging and disease...

..However, in postmortem studies we could not find the presumed hippocampal damage of steroid overexposure in either depressed patients or in patients treated with synthetic steroids...

..No age-related changes were observed for the mentioned splice forms in women of this group...

..In conclusion, in the VP neurons of two PWS patients, greatly reduced amounts of 7B2 and PC2 are present, resulting in diminished VP precursor processing...

..Cranial radiation therapy (CRT) is required for successful treatment of a variety of brain tumours in childhood...

..Such cultures may enable us to study age and disease related processes directly in human brain tissue. Here, we present observations on subcortical brain tissue...

..A procedure has been developed to culture human postmortem brain tissue that allows testing of the efficacy of putative stimulatory compounds such as neurotrophins...

..and fixed or frozen postmortem brain tissue examination...

..02). By inference, hypercortisolism as present in patients with Cushing's syndrome or major depression may contribute to lower serum TSH or symptoms of depression by lowering hypothalamic TRH expression...

..A disbalance between AVP production and transport needs further investigation in future studies...

..These results indicate that in WS patients with diabetes insipidus, not only does VP neuron loss occur in the supraoptic nucleus, but there is also a defect in VP precursor processing...

....

..These results are consistent with the hypothesis that gonadal steroids contribute to the sexually dimorphic differentiation of the BST by controlling the incidence of apoptosis...

..The present paper reviews the changes observed in the human supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei, and their projections to the neurohypophysis, median eminence and to other brain areas in health and disease...

..The functional significance of DMH intrahypothalamic connections is discussed...

..We also found a significant relationship between the number of Alz-50-stained neurons and the severity of dementia...

....

..Furthermore, our results indicate that in the adult human neocortex DCX is neither a reliable nor a selective marker of neurogenesis...

..No projections were observed to other hypothalamic areas. The presence of an RHT in humans suggests that the RHT may serve a function in humans similar to that demonstrated in animals...

....

....

..We conclude that androgens may directly affect CRH neurons in the human PVN via AR binding to the CRH-ARE, which may have consequences for sex-specific pathogenesis of mood disorders...

..The difficulty in adjusting from inactivity to activity might be involved in the morning clustering of cardiovascular events...

..This is in contrast with the enhanced AVP gene expression in MDD, suggesting a difference in pathophysiology between MDD and depression in AD...

..These findings raise the possibility that a disturbed balance in the production of receptors may contribute to the activation of the HPA axis in depression...

....

..The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is presumed to be involved in the pathogenesis of depression...

....

..Guidelines for analyses of actigraphic data are given to improve the sensitivity to treatment effects in future studies...

..Finally, suggestions for therapeutic strategies will be included. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neuroactive Steroids: Focus on Human Brain...

..In this brief article we discuss a few examples of structural and functional sex differences in the human brain...

..The majority of cases is inherited in an autosomal dominant way. In this study, we present the clinical features of a mother and her son with autosomal dominant neurohypophyseal DI caused by a novel mutation...

..77; p = 0.02). The results suggest a role for decreased NPY input from the IFN in the resetting of thyroid hormone feedback on hypothalamic TRH cells in NTI...

..We conclude that systematic pathological investigation of the hypothalamus in MS patients reveals an unexpected high incidence of active lesions that may impact on hypothalamic functioning...

..78, p<0.001). We concluded that the basal level of cortisol is significantly increased in the CSF of MS patients and that IL-6 is not responsible for this rise. The relationship between cortisol and IL-6 in sepsis is discussed...

..These results can be related to another stress related system, the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal-(HPA)axis. This means that further evaluation of both of these systems is necessary...

..We will speculate about the possible mechanisms of failed NGF retrograde transport and its relationship to AD pathology...

..Thus, the present study provides clear evidence that early social stress induces changes in endocrine, autonomic and limbic brain function, which is mirrored by changes in male social behaviour...

..These observations cannot be explained by the amyloid cascade hypothesis...

..Further studies will provide additional valuable insights into the understanding of both sleep and circadian rhythms during senescence...

..Similar to the previous study, no improvements on cognition and (affective) behavior were found...

..These genes are candidates for male-specific transcriptional regulators that could confer upon human brain cells the potential for hormone-independent realization and maintenance of genetic sex...

....

..These data suggest that a single amino acid exchange within a highly conserved domain of the human vasopressin-associated neurophysin is the primary cause of one form of ADNDI...

..Firm conclusions about the effectiveness of mild physical activity on EF in the oldest old can only be drawn after studies with larger number of subjects...

..Eighteen AD patients, divided into an experimental and a placebo group, were treated for 30 min per day, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks. No improvements in cognition and (affective) behavior were found after CES...

..We conclude that tuberomamillary neurons in human co-express histamine with GABA but, unlike the neurons in rodents, do not express galanin, indicating that neurotransmitter co-localization patterns differ in the two species...

..Finally, a number of instruments which are most appropriate to assess pain in communicative and non-communicative patients are discussed...