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The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a pivotal role in regulating our emotions. The importance of ventromedial regions in emotion regulation, including the ventral sector of the medial PFC, the medial sector of the orbital cortex and subgenual cingulate cortex, have been recognized for a long time. However, it is increasingly apparent that lateral and dorsal regions of the PFC, as well as neighbouring dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, also play a role. Defining the underlying psychological mechanisms by which these functionally distinct regions modulate emotions and the nature and extent of their interactions is a critical step towards better stratification of the symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders. It is also important to extend our understanding of these prefrontal circuits in development. Specifically, it is important to determine whether they exhibit differential sensitivity to perturbations by known risk factors such as stress and inflammation at distinct developmental epochs. This Special Issue brings together the most recent research in humans and other animals that addresses these important issues, and in doing so, highlights the value of the translational approach.

norepinephrine --- medial prefrontal cortex --- fear extinction --- emotion regulation --- emotion processing --- connectivity --- anticipatory arousal --- Pavlovian --- triadic neural systems model --- prelimbic --- development --- positive and negative --- rat --- Williams Syndrome --- psychological treatment --- glia density --- anxiety --- fMRI --- area 25 --- anhedonia --- adolescence --- adolescent --- autonomic --- amygdala --- neuron density --- neural --- prefrontal cortex --- reliability --- functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) --- networks --- cAMP --- cognitive control --- extinction --- infralimbic --- NMDA --- reward --- calcium --- stress adolescence --- BDNF --- machine learning --- negative affect --- hierarchical control --- emotion --- occasion setting --- serotonin transporter --- ventromedial prefrontal cortex --- psychophysiology --- depression --- aging --- dopamine --- age

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Rearing mice from birth in an enriched environment leads to a conspicuous acceleration of visual system development appreciable at behavioral, electrophysiological and molecular level. Little is known about the possible mechanisms of action through which enriched environment affects visual system development. It has been suggested that differences in maternal behavior between enriched and non-enriched conditions could contribute to the earliest effects of enriched environment on visual development and that neurotrophins, BDNF in particular, might be involved. Here, we examined Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels in the visual cortex during development and showed that an increase occurs in the first week of life in enriched pups compared to standard reared pups; BDNF levels at birth were equal in the two groups. This suggests a postnatal rather than a prenatal effect of environment on BDNF. A detailed analysis of maternal care behavior showed that pups raised in a Condition of social and physical enrichment experienced higher levels of licking behavior and physical contact compared to standard reared pups and that enhanced levels of licking were also provided to pups in an enriched environment where no adult females other than the mother were present. Thus, different levels of maternal care in different environmental conditions could act as indirect mediator for the earliest effects of enrichment on Visual system development. Some of the effects of different levels of maternal care on the offspring behavior are long lasting. We measured the visual acuity of differentially reared mice at the end of the period Of Visual acuity development (postnatal day 45) and at 12 months of age, using a behavioral discrimination task. We found better learning abilities and higher visual acuity in enriched compared to standard reared mice at both ages. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Ability. --- Adult cortex. --- Adult. --- Age. --- Analysis. --- Bdnf. --- Behavior. --- Birth. --- Brain. --- Care. --- Contact. --- Cortex. --- Critical period. --- Dendritic growth. --- Development. --- Discrimination. --- Enriched environment. --- Enriched. --- Enrichment. --- Environment. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Female. --- Females. --- Group. --- Growth-factor-i. --- Increase. --- Learning ability. --- Learning-ability. --- Learning. --- Level. --- Licking behavior. --- Life. --- Long-term potentiation. --- Maternal behavior. --- Maternal care. --- Maternal touch. --- Maternal-behavior. --- Maternal-care. --- Maternal. --- Mechanisms. --- Mice. --- Mother. --- Neurotrophic factor. --- Physical. --- Plasticity. --- Prenatal. --- Pups. --- Rat-brain. --- Rearing. --- Social. --- Spatial memory. --- Synaptic-transmission. --- System. --- Task. --- Time. --- Visual acuity. --- Visual system development. --- Visual-cortex.

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The degree to which memory is enhanced by estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women may depend on environmental factors such as education. The present study utilized an animal model of environmental enrichment to determine whether environmental factors influence the mnemonic and neural response to estrogen. Female mice were raised in standard (SC) or enriched (EC) conditions from weaning until adulthood (7 months). All mice were ovariectornized at 10 weeks, and tested in object recognition and water-escape motivated radial arm maze (WRAM) tasks at 6 months. Each day at the completion of training, mice received injections of 0.1 mg/kg cyclodextrin-encapsulated 17-beta-estradiol (E-2), 0.2 mg/kg E-2, or cyclodextrin vehicle (VEH). At the completion of behavioral testing, hippocampal levels of the presynaptic protein synaptophysin and of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were measured. Enrichment effects were evident in VEH-treated mice; relative to SC-VEH females, EC-VEH females committed fewer working memory errors in the WRAM and exhibited increased hippocampal synaptophysin levels. Estrogen effects depended on environmental conditions. E-2 (0.2 mg/kg) improved object memory only in SC females. The same dose improved working memory in SC females, but somewhat impaired working memory in EC females. Furthermore, both doses reduced hippocampal synaptophysin levels in EC, but not SC, females. In contrast, E-2 reduced hippocampal BDNF levels in SC, but not EC, females. This study is the first to compare the effects of estrogen on memory and hippocampal function in enriched and non-enriched female mice. The results suggest that: (1) estrogen benefits object and working memory more in mice raised in non-enriched environments than in those raised in enriched environments, and (2) the changes induced by estrogen and/or enrichment may be associated with alterations in hippocampal synaptic plasticity. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO

Adulthood. --- Aged female mice. --- Animal model. --- Animal-model. --- Animal. --- Bdnf. --- Dendritic spine density. --- Education. --- Enriched environment. --- Enriched. --- Enrichment. --- Environment. --- Environmental enrichment. --- Environments. --- Estradiol. --- Estrogen. --- Factor messenger-rna. --- Female mice. --- Female. --- Females. --- Function. --- Health initiative memory. --- Hippocampal. --- Hippocampus. --- Hormone replacement therapy. --- Injections. --- Level. --- Memory consolidation. --- Memory. --- Mice. --- Model. --- Neurotrophic factor. --- Object recognition. --- Object. --- Plasticity. --- Postmenopausal women. --- Protein. --- Radial arm maze. --- Radial-arm maze. --- Randomized controlled-trial. --- Recognition. --- Replacement. --- Response. --- Spatial reference memory. --- Synaptic plasticity. --- Synaptophysin. --- Task. --- Tasks. --- Time. --- Training. --- Weaning. --- Women. --- Working memory. --- Working-memory.

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This book entitled “Cocoa, Chocolate, and Human Health” presents the most recent findings about cocoa and health in 14 peer-reviewed chapters including nine original contributions and five reviews from cocoa experts around the world. Bioavailability and metabolism of the main cocoa polyphenols, i.e., the flavanols like epicatechin, are presented including metabolites like valerolactones that are formed by the gut microbiome. Many studies, including intervention studies or epidemiological observations, do not focus on single compounds, but on cocoa as a whole. This proves the effectiveness of cocoa as a functional food. A positive influence of cocoa on hearing problems, exercise performance, and metabolic syndrome is discussed with mixed results; the results about exercise performance are contradictive. Evidence shows that cocoa flavanols may modulate some risk factors related to metabolic syndrome such as hypertension and disorders in glucose and lipid metabolism. However, several cardiometabolic parameters in type 2 diabetics were not affected by a flavanol-rich cocoa powder as simultaneous treatment with pharmaceuticals might have negated the effect of cocoa. The putative health-promoting components of cocoa are altered during processing like fermentation, drying, and roasting of cocoa beans. Chocolate, the most popular cocoa product, shows remarkable losses in polyphenols and vitamin E during 18 months of storage.

n/a --- lipids --- theobromine --- colonic bacteria --- ?-glucosidase inhibition --- cacao --- tinnitus --- antioxidant capacity --- metabolomics --- methylxanthines --- lipid status --- physical exercise --- skeletal muscle --- functional volatile compounds --- soluble cocoa products --- blood pressure --- flavanols --- functional food --- classification --- monitoring --- cocoa --- yeast --- quality --- flavanols bioavailability --- fermentation --- cocoa processing --- hearing loss --- Italian chocolate --- chocolate --- (?)-catechin --- extraction and characterization methods --- heath potentials --- CREB --- inflammation --- flavanol-rich cocoa --- behavior --- (?)-epicatechin --- BDNF --- plasma appearance --- flavan-3-ol stereoisomers --- fermentation-related enzymes --- angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity --- type 2 diabetes --- CaMKII --- exercise performance --- anti-inflammatory properties --- (+)-catechin --- bioactive compounds --- chiral separation --- plasma --- oxidative stress --- antidiabetic capacity --- polyphenols --- oligopeptides --- urine --- protein–phenol interactions --- postprandial --- working memory --- procyanidins --- simulated gastrointestinal digestion --- cocoa-based ingredients --- one-compartment model --- cocoa beans --- athlete --- biomarkers --- polyphenol --- metabolic syndrome --- nutrition --- bioavailability --- roasting --- glucose metabolism --- cohort study --- plasma nutrikinetics --- pharmacokinetics --- human --- cocoa proteins --- metabolites --- cocoa by-product --- meal --- bioactive peptides --- performance --- liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionisation and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QToF-MS) --- starter culture --- protein-phenol interactions --- health potentials