Staining neurons with Golgi techniques in degenerative diseases ofthe brain

A detailed morphological study of neurons in healthy and pathological conditions requires reasonably a number of special techniques, which may visualize the majority of neu- rons in a thick three-dimensional arrangement. A detailed visualization of neurons must include the cell body, most of the dendritic arbor, the dendritic spines, the axon, the axonal collaterals and the synapses. An ideal morphological technique for the study of degeneration and regeneration processes of the central nervous system must also visualize clearly the long and short neuronal circuits, as well as the dendritic and axonal bands and tracks.

Connecting Malfunctioning Glial Cells and Brain Degenerative Disorders

The DNA damage response（DDR） is a complex biological system activated by different types of DNA damage.Mutations in certain components of the DDR machinery can lead to genomic instability disorders that culminate in tissue degeneration,premature aging,and various types of cancers.Intriguingly,malfunctioning DDR plays a role in the etiology of late onset brain degenerative disorders such as Parkinson＇s,Alzheimer＇s,and Huntington＇s diseases.For many years,brain degenerative disorders were thought to result from aberrant neural death.Here we discuss the evidence that supports our novel hypothesis that brain degenerative diseases involve dysfunction of glial cells（astrocytes,microglia,and oligodendrocytes）.Impairment in the functionality of glial cells results in pathological neuro-glial interactions that,in turn,generate a ‘‘hostile＂ environment that impairs the functionality of neuronal cells.These events can lead to systematic neural demise on a scale that appears to be proportional to the severity of the neurological deficit.

Application of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in the healthcare industry:A review

Functional near-infrared spectrosoopy(NIRS),a growing neuroimaging modality,has been utilized over the past few decades to understand the neuronal behavior in the brain.The technique has been used to assess the brain hemodynamics of impaired cohorts as well as able-bodied.Neuroimaging is a critical technique for patients with inpaired cognitive or motor behaviors.The portable nature of the fNIRS system is suitable for frequent monitoring of the patients who exhibit impaired brain activity.This study comprehensively reviews brain impaired patients:The studies involving patient populations and the diseases discussed in more than 10 works are included.Eleven diseases examined in this paper include autism spectrum disorder,attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder,epilepsy,depressive disorders,anxiety and panic disorder,schizophrenia,mild cognitive impairment,Alzheimer's disease,Parkinson's disease,stroke,and traumatic brain injury.For each disease,the tasks used for exarmination,NIRS variables,and significant findings on the impairment are discussed.The channel configurations and the regions of interest are also outlined.Detecting the occurrence of symptoms at an earlier stage is vital for better rehabilitation and faster recovery.This paper ilustrates the usability of fNIRS for early detection of inpairment and the usefulness in monitoring the rehabilitation process.Finally,the limitations of the current fNIRS systems(ie,nonexistence of a standard method and the lack of well-established features for classification)and future research directions are discussed.The authors hope that the findings in this paper would lead to advanced breakthrough discoveries in the fNIRS field in the future.