Neuroscience Journal of Shefaye Khatam
Year:2024 | Volume:12 | Issue:1|Papers Count:10

2Introduction: Overeating as a maladaptive behavior and an inefficient way of emotion regulation is associated with harmful health consequences. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between affective and emotional composite temperament and overeating concerning the mediating role of emotion regulation. Materials and Methods: The current research design is descriptive-correlation and modeling type, and its statistical population was all students of the secondary high school of Rasht, Iran in the academic year of 2021-2022, from which 368 people were selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. To collect information, the affective and emotional composite temperament questionnaire, emotion regulation questionnaire, and Binge eating scale were used and the data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling. Results: The results of structural equation modeling showed that the research model had a good fit and confirmed the direct effect of affective and emotional temperament (0.93) on overeating. Furthermore, the results of investigating the mediating role of emotion regulation revealed that emotion regulation had a significant mediating role (0.75) in the relationship between affective and emotional temperament and overeating. Conclusion: Preventive interventions focused on emotion regulation and following the temperamental characteristics of students, it is possible to reduce overeating behaviors and their unpleasant consequences.

2Introduction: Drug addiction is one of the most important problems of today's age, which has involved many young people in all societies with associated with negative consequences such as anxiety, depression, poor quality of life, and poor mental health, Therefore, purpose of this research was to evaluate the mediating role of social adequacy in the relationship between brain-behavioral systems and readiness for addiction. Materials and Methods: The present study was a correlational and structural equation type study and a statistical population of all undergraduate students of Mohaghegh Ardabili University in the academic year 2022-2023. 300 male and female students were selected by the available sampling method. Carver & White’s (1994) Brain-Behavioral Systems Questionnaire, Weed, Butcher, McKenna & Ben-Porath (1992) Addiction Readiness Questionnaire, and Flener & Lease’s Social Competence Questionnaire (1990) were used. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis) and inferential statistics (correlation and path analysis) were used. Results: Our study revealed the direct effect of behavioral inhibition variables on readiness for addiction (T=-07.6 and P<0.001) and social adequacy (T=72.4 and P<0.001). Furthermore, behavioral activation exerted a significant effect on readiness for addiction (T=61.4 and P<0.001) and social adequacy (T=-52.3 and P<0.001). Social adequacy had a significant effect on readiness for addiction (T=-7.86 and P<0.001). According to the amount obtained for the VAF statistic, 26.7% of the effect of behavior inhibition and 26.2% of the effect of behavior activation on readiness for addiction can be explained through social adequacy. Conclusion: Therefore, due to the high prevalence of addiction, it is necessary to investigate the level of readiness for addiction and the factors affecting it, including the behavioral brain systems and social adequacy to deal with the prevalence of addiction.

2Introduction: Contamination Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (C-OCD) is one of the most common subtypes of OCD. Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been suggested as a new solution for improving symptoms in patients with OCD. Evaluating the effectiveness of tDCS through electroencephalogram (EEG) signals can provide a better estimate of improvement and reveal how tDCS leads to changes in the dynamics and features of brain signals. Selecting the optimal features of EEG signals among different features is necessary to show the impact of tDCS. Hence, this study aimed to identify features that undergo substantial changes following tDCS intervention. Materials and Methods: 10 patients with C-OCD received 20 minutes of tDCS in 10 sessions. The cathode electrode was placed on the left orbitofrontal cortex, and the anode on the cerebellar area. Before and after receiving tDCS, the Yale-Brown Obsession scale (Y-BOCS) was completed, and EEG signals were recorded at rest with open and closed eyes. Then, features such as Fuzzy Synchronization Likelihood (FSL), power spectrum, and Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA) were extracted from the EEG signals. Then, the Relief algorithm selected optimal features based on tDCS effectiveness. Results: The Relief algorithm revealed that RQA indices were more optimal for reflecting tDCS impact compared to other features among those extracted from EEG signals. Moreover, the DET and Lmax values significantly increased after tDCS intervention. Conclusion: By influencing neural interactions and balancing neuronal activity, tDCS has caused changes in the brain complexity of patients with C-OCD. As a result, there is a correlation between the effectiveness estimated by the Y-BOCS and the features selected by the relief algorithm. tDCS alters brain complexity in EEG compared with other features in C-OCD patients.

2Introduction: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most common disorders in children, which directly affects the future of children's education and work. Therefore, in this research, we focus on the effectiveness of Spark-cognitive exercises on the two main components of concentration and working memory in this disorder. Materials and Methods: The experimental method of this research was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design. This research was conducted on female children from the first to third grades of schools in Mahabad, Iran. The purposeful sampling method and the method of assigning children to groups were random. The sample size was 30 people, 15 students were placed in the experimental group and 15 individuals were placed in the control group. The data were collected using the Wechsler IQ test for children (fourth edition) and were evaluated with the variance test with repeated measurements. Results: The results obtained from the analysis of variance for the dependent variables showed that in the treatment group, the scores of the variables of concentration and working memory increased significantly in the post-test and follow-up phase compared to the pre-test state. Conclusion: Our data revealed that performing Spark perceptual-motor exercises on concentration and working memory of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is an effective approach and can be used in designing intervention programs.

2Introduction: This study aimed to examine and compare mood states, distress tolerance, self-compassion, and perceived social support between individuals experiencing migraines and those without. Materials and Methods: The research employed a causal-comparative methodology, targeting all migraine patients in Shiraz City (sourced from neurology clinics) and individuals without migraine (typically accompanying patients) during the first quarter of 2012. The sample includes two groups of 50 people with migraine and healthy people, who were selected by convenience sampling. The tools used in this research included the distress tolerance questionnaires of Simmons and Gaher, Reiss et al.'s self-compassion, Zimmet et al.'s social support, and Lin et al.'s mood states. Results: The results showed that results of variance analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the two groups in the components of tension, vitality, fatigue, confusion, and happiness (mood states). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the components of depression, anger, and relaxation. There is a significant difference between the two groups in the components of tolerance, evaluation, and the total score of distress tolerance, self-kindness, and common human experiences.  Individuals without migraines exhibit higher mean scores compared to those with migraines. In addition, a significant disparity between the two groups is evident solely in the friends' support component within the social support variable.  No significant difference was observed in other components. Conclusion: The study's findings hold promise as a foundation for future investigations and the development of preventative and therapeutic interventions tailored to individuals suffering from migraines.

2Introduction: Aging is associated with a progressive decline in cognitive function. It seems that regular exercise slows down the rate of cognitive decline and this positive effect of exercise is exerted by some myokines. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare verbal memory function and cathepsin B (CTSB) serum levels as well as to investigate the effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on the response of these variables in young and older adult male football players. Materials and Methods: 29 male football players in two age groups: 19-30 years old (G1: n=15, football experience: 10.6 ± 2.8) and 46-71 years old (G2: n=14, football experience: 35.8 ± 9.5) voluntarily participated in the study. On the training day, the subjects ran for one hour at an intensity of 11-12 on the Borg Scale. The verbal memory test was performed before and after the exercise session, then blood samples were taken from the subjects to determine the serum levels of CTSB. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference between verbal memory function and CTSB serum levels of the two groups in the pre-test. Moreover, verbal memory function and CTSB serum levels increased significantly in both groups after exercise. In addition, there was no significant difference between the increases in verbal memory function between the two groups. However, the serum levels of CTSB increased significantly in the G2 group compared to the G1 group. Conclusion: It seems that regular participation in football can maintain CTSB serum levels even in old age as a myokine that can improve cognitive function (memory and learning). Moreover, the response of this myokine to aerobic exercise is more pronounced in older adults compared to younger individuals, underscoring the significant benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle into old age.

2Introduction: In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are rapidly becoming clinical practices such as diagnosis and prognosis processes, treatment effectiveness evaluation, and disease monitoring. Previous studies have shown interesting results regarding the diagnostic efficiency of artificial intelligence methods in differentiating patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from healthy individuals or other demyelinating diseases. There is a lack of a comprehensive systematic review on the role of AI in MS diagnosis. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review to document the performance of artificial intelligence in MS diagnosis. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive and systematic search using the PubMed database. All original studies that focused on deep learning or artificial intelligence to analyze methods aimed at diagnosing MS using MRI images were included in our study. Materials and Methods: For this review, we searched PubMed for studies on the application of artificial intelligence in MS using MRI images published in English during the period 2010-2023. The search strategy was based on the words Mesh and their combinations. All studies were reviewed, but only the most relevant ones were used in this review. Results: Artificial intelligence, using deep learning methods, can predict the incidence of MS and its complications based on the risk factors of the disease and reduces the cost and time spent for various medical tests. Artificial intelligence makes this possible by extracting information and performing the necessary processing using methods such as CNN. Conclusion: MS diagnosis based on new markers and artificial intelligence is a growing field of research with MRI images. All these results show that with advances in artificial intelligence, the way MS patients are monitored and diagnosed can change. However, several challenges remain, including better understanding of information selected by AI algorithms, appropriate multicenter and longitudinal validation of results, and practical aspects related to hardware and software integration. In general, the critical importance of human supervision to optimize and fully utilize the potential of artificial intelligence approaches cannot be ignored.

2Introduction: The brain is the most complex and evolved human organ, so protecting its function is a vital issue. The blood-brain barrier formed by the microvascular system of the brain is a membrane strip that separates the blood from the extracellular compartment of the brain in the central nervous system of most vertebrates. The blood-brain barrier is a single layer of endothelial cells that consists of five parts: pericytes, astrocytes, neurons, basement membrane, and connective tissues. The blood-brain barrier is a major barrier to drug delivery to the brain. To effectively release drugs into the brain, various methods have been developed. Among them, drug delivery with nanoparticles has many advantages, including non-invasiveness, cost-effectiveness, better biodegradability, and long-term stability. Conclusion: Investigating the structure and function of the blood-brain barrier, as well as the evaluation of various systems affecting this structure, especially the use of nanoparticles, can play an important role in helping to treat central nervous system diseases.

2Introduction: Klotho, an elixir of life, beneficially affects several bodily systems, including the brain. During the past two decades, positive effects of klotho in systemic and neurodegenerative diseases have been frequently reported. In this review, we summarized published data addressing these protective effects in neurodegenerative diseases along with associated improvement in cognitive performance. Klotho, a product of the Klotho gene, is a pluripotent protein and exists in soluble, secretary, and transmembrane forms in various types (α, β, and γ). Klotho receptor is localized in several cerebral regions, including the choroid plexus, limbic system, Purkinje cells, hippocampus, and basal ganglia. Klotho has been shown to induce anti-aging effects through the activation of several pathways. Moreover, a growing body of evidence supports its protective and cognition-enhancing effects in different Alzheimer's models. These effects mainly emerged via enhanced synaptic plasticity and clearance of amyloid beta plus improving neuronal energy balance by affecting astrocytes metabolic pathways. Growth factors-related pathways along with Wnt signaling are the most important pathways relating to Klotho functions. Klotho also promotes antioxidant systems, such as superoxide dismutase, to diminish reactive oxygen species and consequently restricts apoptotic cell death. Conclusion: Due to its low regenerative capacity, the brain is of great importance for therapeutic explorations aiming to replace dead neurons. In sum, comprehension of precise mechanism of this protein actions could be promising tool to develop Klotho based-novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

2Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious condition leading to complete or partial sensory and motor dysfunction. Currently, drug therapy, surgical decompression, and postoperative rehabilitation are the main potential treatments for SCI. Due to the complexity of the pathological microenvironment of SCI, there is no fully effective treatment approach. Investigations on SCI treatment are increasing to find drugs or methods that can help patients with SCI. In experimental studies, stem cell-based therapy and their derived exosomes, as well as certain drugs, hold significant promise for SCI treatment. This review study focuses on the latest advancements in SCI treatment. Data were collected from the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases. Conclusion: Compared to stem cells, exosomes offer advantages, such as neuroprotection, low immunogenicity, ease of storage and transport, axonal regeneration, small size that avoids capture by lung and liver tissues, and the ability to cross the blood-spinal cord barrier. Biomaterials provide a supportive microenvironment, while exosomes and stem cells continuously release growth factors to help in various pathological conditions, such as SCI.