Biomedical subjects

Cortney A Turner

Publications and source records attributed to Cortney A Turner.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The fibroblast growth factor system and mood disorders.

Recent evidence now suggests the involvement of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) system in mood disorders. Specifically, several members of the FGF family have been shown to be dysregulated in individuals with major depression. In this review, we will introduce the FGF system in terms of structure and function during development, in adulthood, and in various regions and cell types. We will also review the FGF system as a mediator of neural plasticity. Furthermore, this review will summarize animal as well as human studies. The majority of animal studies have focused on stress, environmental enrichment, pharmacological manipulations, and the hippocampus. By contrast, human studies have focused on volumetric measurements, antidepressant literature, and, most recently, post-mortem microarray experiments. In summary, a reduced tone in the FGF system might alter brain development or remodeling and result in a predisposition or vulnerability to mood disorders, including major depression.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Environmental enrichment: effects on stereotyped behavior and dendritic morphology.

We evaluated whether environmental enrichment-related effects on the development of stereotyped behavior in deer mice were associated with alterations in dendritic morphology. Deer mice were reared under enriched or standard housing conditions and then tested in automated photocell detectors and classified as stereotypic or nonstereotypic. Dendritic morphology was assessed in layer V pyramidal neurons of the motor cortex, medium spiny neurons of the dorsolateral striatum, and granule cells of the dentate gyrus using Golgi-Cox histochemistry. Enriched nonstereotypic mice exhibited significantly higher dendritic spine densities in the motor cortex and the striatum than enriched stereotypic or standard-cage mice. Significant increases in dendritic arborization following environmental enrichment also were observed. These results suggest that the enrichment-related prevention of stereotyped behavior is associated with increased dendritic spine density.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Environmental enrichment: effects on stereotyped behavior and neurotrophin levels.

The present study evaluated whether environmental enrichment-related effects on the development of stereotyped behavior in deer mice were associated with alterations in neurotrophin levels. Deer mice were reared in enriched or standard cage conditions for 60 days. The mice were then tested in automated photocell detectors and classified as either stereotypic or nonstereotypic. This testing paradigm yielded four behaviorally distinct groups: enriched stereotypic, enriched nonstereotypic, standard cage stereotypic, and standard cage nonstereotypic. The motor cortex, striatum, and hippocampus were dissected, and the levels of brain-derived neurotrophin factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in each brain region were analyzed using Promega ELISA kits. There were no differences in either NGF or BDNF in either the motor cortex or the hippocampus. In the striatum, the enriched nonstereotypic mice exhibited significantly more BDNF than the enriched stereotypic, the standard cage nonstereotypic, or the standard cage stereotypic mice. There were no differences in NGF in the striatum. These results provide evidence that the enrichment-related prevention of stereotyped behavior in deer mice is associated with increased BDNF in the striatum.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Environmental enrichment: effects on stereotyped behavior and regional neuronal metabolic activity.

The present study evaluated whether environmental enrichment-related effects on the development of stereotyped behavior in deer mice were associated with alterations in neuronal metabolic activity. Deer mice were reared under either enriched or standard housing conditions for 60 days following weaning. All mice were then placed in automated photocell detectors and classified as either stereotypic or non-stereotypic. Neuronal metabolic activity was then assessed using cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry. The results demonstrated that environmental enrichment significantly increased neuronal metabolic activity in the motor cortex. Furthermore, non-stereotypic mice exhibited significantly more CO activity than stereotypic mice in the cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala. This latter effect was due to the enriched mice as evidenced by a significant interaction between housing condition and behavioral status in the cortex, striatum, nucleus accumbens, thalamus and hippocampus. Thus, the observed increase in CO activity reflected increased neuronal metabolic activity in non-stereotypic enriched mice relative to stereotypic enriched mice. These results suggest that, in a developmental model of spontaneous stereotypy, the enrichment-related prevention of stereotyped behavior is associated with increased CO activity.

Animals↗