Basic and Clinical Neuroscience最新文献

{"title":"DCM-ML: An Electroencephalography-based Classifier for Early Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Based on Dynamic Connectivity Matrices and Machine Learning Algorithms.","authors":"Seyed Abolfazl Valizadeh, Marcus Cheetham, Alireza Mohammadi","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.2572.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.2572.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Early diagnosis of schizophrenia (SZ) remains challenging due to the subjective nature of clinical assessments and the heterogeneity of symptoms. There is a pressing need for objective, scalable, and non-invasive diagnostic tools to complement traditional methods. This study aimed to propose a machine learning (ML) framework that utilizes dynamic connectivity matrices (DCMs) derived from event-related potentials (ERPs) for SZ classification.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>ERP data from 81 participants, including 49 patients with SZ and 32 healthy controls, were sourced from a publicly accessible and anonymized dataset. Granger causality was employed to compute 64×64 directional connectivity matrices, capturing inter-electrode information flow. Feature selection through t-tests identified 2,777 significant connectivity differences (P<0.05), which were subsequently used to train a random forest (RF) classifier. To address class imbalance, balanced training subsets were created. Additionally, the model's robustness was evaluated across varying levels of white Gaussian noise (0% to 45%).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The RF classifier demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy (99.24%), sensitivity (98.34%), specificity (99.73%), and an F1-score of 98.91% across 100 iterations, effectively minimizing the risks of overfitting. Its performance remained robust across various train-test splits and substantial noise levels, with an F1-score of 92% even with 45% white Gaussian noise. Feature selection significantly enhanced noise resilience and classification stability. Connectivity analysis revealed that central (Cz, FCz), occipito-parietal (PO3, Oz), and inferior (Iz) regions were key discriminators, indicating disrupted fronto-temporal and sensory integration networks in individuals with SZ.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights the feasibility of ML-driven ERP connectivity analysis as a non-invasive tool for early SZ detection. Achieving near-perfect accuracy, the model demonstrates strong generalizability, interpretability, and clinical scalability, outperforming deep learning counterparts while relying on a minimal, targeted feature set. These findings underscore the diagnostic relevance of fronto-central and occipito-parietal connectivity patterns. While promising as a non-invasive diagnostic adjunct, future validation on larger, demographically diverse cohorts is essential.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 6","pages":"1081-1096"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13228106/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148154893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neurophysiological Markers of Cognitive Failures in Drivers: An Electroencephalography Study.","authors":"Zahra Sharifi, Amir Pour Mohammadi, Seyed Ruhollah Hosseini, Shohreh Sadeghi, Mohebat Vali, Mozhgan Seif, Reza Kazemi","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.1773.2","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.1773.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cognitive failures (CFs) during driving significantly contribute to traffic accidents and fatalities. This study aimed to investigate neurophysiological markers of CF in drivers using electroencephalography (EEG).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty taxi drivers were classified into high and low CF groups based on CF questionnaire (CFQ) scores. EEG signals were recorded during eyes-closed rest and eyes-open Go/No-Go (GNG) tasks to assess brainwave patterns and lobe-specific activation. Statistical analyses included t-tests, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson's correlations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Drivers with high CF showed reduced delta, theta, and gamma activity-particularly in the temporal and occipital lobes-suggesting impaired cognitive processing. In contrast, low-failure drivers exhibited increased delta, theta, and alpha power in frontal and occipital regions. Elevated beta activity in the parietal lobe of high-failure drivers may reflect compensatory processing. Gamma power was consistently lower across all brain regions in this group.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results highlight specific EEG frequency bands as potential objective markers for identifying CF in drivers, offering implications for early cognitive assessment and the development of evidence-based safety strategies in driving contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 6","pages":"1033-1050"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13228110/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148155004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unequal Impact of Flavored Tobacco Across Populations: From Neuroscience to Policy.","authors":"Shervin Assari, Ali Farhoudian","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.216.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.216.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Flavored tobacco products engage neural reward and sensory integration pathways, increasing appeal and dependence, particularly among youth people. Although tobacco control policies such as taxation and adoption of smoke-free laws have reduced overall tobacco use, their benefits are unevenly distributed across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups. This study, by reviewing evidence from neuroscience, epidemiology, and public policy, aims to examine how flavored tobacco and major tobacco control strategies differentially affect population. We focus on tobacco taxation, smoke-free laws, and complementary policies, with attention to policy reach, enforcement, and structural inequities. Neuroscientific findings showed that flavor additives enhance reward and mask aversive properties of tobacco, amplifying vulnerability among targeted populations. While taxes and smoke-free laws reduce tobacco use at the population level, disadvantaged minority groups often experience weaker benefits due to uneven policy adoption, limited enforcement, targeted industry marketing, and reduced access to cessation resources. The Minorities' Diminished Returns framework helps explain why similar policy exposure yields smaller health gains in marginalized populations. Tobacco control policies are effective but not inherently equitable. Reducing tobacco-related inequalities requires integrating flavor restrictions with uniformly applied taxation, comprehensive smoke-free protections, strong enforcement, and accessible cessation support.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 6","pages":"1003-1016"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13228111/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148155097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Better Than Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Model-based and Model-free Learning Styles.","authors":"Sadjad Yazdani, Abdol-Hossein Vahabie, Babak Nadjar-Araabi, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2024.5883.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2024.5883.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Various decision-making systems collaborate to shape human behavior. Goal-directed and habitual systems are the two primary systems studied by reinforcement learning (RL), with model-based (MB) and model-free (MF) learning styles, respectively. Human behavior can be viewed as a combination of these two decision-making paradigms, achieved by the weighted sum of the action values of these two styles within an RL framework. The weighting parameter is often assessed using the maximum likelihood (ML) or maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation method.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we employ RL agents that use a combination of MB and MF decision-making to perform the well-known Daw two-stage task. ML and MAP methods yield less reliable estimates of the weighting parameter, often exhibiting a large bias toward extreme values. We propose the knearest neighbor as an alternative nonparametric estimate to improve the estimation error, where we devise a set of 20 features extracted from the behavior of the RL agent. Simulated experiments examine the proposed method.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our method reduces the bias and variance of the estimation error, as demonstrated by the obtained results. Human behavior data from previous studies are also investigated. The proposed method enables the prediction of indices such as age, gender, IQ, dwell time of gaze, and psychiatric disorder indices, which are not captured by the traditional method.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In brief, the proposed method increases the reliability of the estimated parameters and enhances the applicability of RL paradigms in clinical trials.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"891-912"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220689/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developmental Changes of Brain Oscillatory Pattern in Children With and Without Epilepsy.","authors":"Abdollah Mohammadian, Reza Khosrowabadi, Bahram Yarali","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2022.4230.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2022.4230.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The neural oscillations or brain waves refer to repetitive neural activities in the central nervous system. It is believed that the brain processes information through the converging and diverging of these neural oscillations. The neural oscillatory pattern changes during growth and follows a specific trend throughout typical development. Nevertheless, it is largely unknown whether this pattern would be differentiable in neurodevelopmental disorders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, we aimed to investigate the developmental pattern of changes in typically developing children compared to age-matched children with epilepsy. And so, eyes-open resting-state electroencephalograms (EEGs) of epileptic and healthy children were acquired. Subsequently, changes in the power spectrum of clean EEG segments (with no seizure and removed from artifacts) in the two groups were statistically compared in children aged 6-9 and 9-12 years old.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed significantly lower activities in the superior frontal and central regions, within the frequency range of 1-4 Hz, in epileptic children.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Epilepsy affects the activity of central and frontal brain regions in children. However, more investigations using a functional connectivity approach are required.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"975-986"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"tDCS Targeting the DLPFC for Reducing Cigarette Craving and Risky Decision Making.","authors":"Saba Niknamfar, Kamaledin Alaedini, Azarakhsh Mokri, Eisa Nazar, Raheleh Rafaiee, Seyedeh Masoumeh Seyedhosseini Tamijani, Seyed Hamzeh Hosseini, Hamed Ghazvini","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.2297.4","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.2297.4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cigarette smoking is a prevalent addictive behavior. Despite its well-known health risks, many individuals are unable to quit. One of the key factors contributing to the failure of smoking cessation efforts is the presence of craving and the tendency toward risk-taking behaviors. Noninvasive brain stimulation techniques have recently emerged as potential treatments for addiction. The present study is a pilot trial examining the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on risk-taking, electroencephalogram frequency power, and their relationship with cue-induced nicotine craving in smokers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this double-blind study, which is part of a larger randomized clinical trial, 63 cigarette smokers who met the international classification of disease-10 (ICD-10) criteria for tobacco addiction were enrolled. tDCS sham, left anodal/right cathodal, and right anodal/left cathodal tDCS will be applied to three participant groups. Participants were required to refrain from smoking for at least 2 hours before the study visit. The effects of tDCS on cue-triggered nicotine craving, certain risky decision-making tasks, and some resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) frequency power analyses will be evaluated both before and after tDCS (2 mA for 20 minutes) applied to the DLPFC on 5 consecutive days.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Although several studies have reported that tDCS may have beneficial effects on drug abuse by suppressing the degrees of cravings, impulsivity, and risk decision making, to date, no study has evaluated the impact of tDCS on the DLPFC and its relationship with EEG frequency power characteristics. The results of this study are anticipated to represent a significant step toward improving smoking cessation efforts. The findings from this randomized controlled trial will explore the therapeutic potential of tDCS in treating nicotine addiction among smokers.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"857-868"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220687/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chilling and Blurring Negative Memories: An Experimental Memory Training Study.","authors":"Fatemeh Azar, Tara Rezapour, Hossein Karsazi, Javad Hatami","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.5539.2","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.5539.2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The present study examined the extent to which broadening attentional scope (BAS) during acquisition and working memory interference (WMI) during reconsolidation could influence the memory formation process.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 95 participants were randomly assigned to inactive control (n=30), BAS (n=33), and WMI (n=32) groups. While watching a traumatic film, the participants in the BAS group were instructed to allocate their attention to the peripheral details of the film. In contrast, participants in the WMI group performed certain spatial working memory tasks. Memory vividness and emotionality were assessed before and after the intervention using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Valence, arousal, and dominance were measured by the self-assessment manikin (SAM) immediately after watching the film. Moreover, all participants were asked to record their intrusive memories for 3 days after the experiment. Statistical software package SPSS, version 24.0 was used for group comparisons.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our results suggested that interfering with visuospatial working memory during the retrieval of emotionally valenced memories could significantly reduce the level of vividness of mental images from pre- to post-assessments (P=0.004). However, in terms of emotionality, arousal, dominance, and the number of intrusive memories, we found no significant differences between the three groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Participants in the WMI group outperformed those in the control group in blurring the negatively valenced memory at the post-assessment. In contrast to our primary assumption, BAS did not result in any significant changes compared to the other two groups. Future studies with larger sample sizes and objective measurements may provide additional evidence on the efficacy of these methods, particularly in the context of clinical implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"879-890"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220683/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human Gene Expression Profile Analysis of Insomnia and Pre-insomnia Disorders: A Cellular Study.","authors":"Vahid Mansouri, Babak Arjmand, Nastaran Asri, Zahra Razzaghi, Mostafa Rezaei-Tavirani, Farideh Razi, Fatemeh Bandarian, Reza M Robati, Mitra Rezaei","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.6876.4","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.6876.4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Sleep is a vital process for restoring brain function and is recognized as a fundamental aspect of both physical and mental health. This study aims to assess the molecular mechanisms of insomnia disorder and identify the key dysregulated genes associated with it.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To study molecular mechanisms of insomnia, GSE208668 was selected from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Total RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 17 individuals with insomnia disorder was analyzed and compared to 25 controls using the GEO2R program. The gene expression profiles were assessed using box plots, uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) plots, expression density diagrams, and Venn diagrams. The significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were evaluated through a directed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using the CluePedia plugin of Cytoscape software, taking into account co-expression interactions. The central nodes were identified as the most influential and regulated genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Pre-evaluation analysis revealed that insomnia exhibits heterogeneity and can be divided into two groups. The gene expression profiles of the first group were similar to those of the insomnia group. In contrast, the second group of controls was distinguished from the insomnia group by genes such as <i>TP53</i>, <i>CCND1</i>, <i>IL1B</i>, <i>SOX1</i>, and <i>NOTCH1</i>, which were identified as key actor genes. Additionally, <i>IL10</i>, <i>IL6</i>, <i>TP53</i>, <i>PTGS2</i>, <i>ESR1</i>, <i>PTEN</i>, <i>JUN</i>, <i>CREB1</i>, <i>CDKN1A</i>, <i>CDKN2A</i>, <i>CXCR4</i>, and <i>GATA3</i> were identified as important regulatory genes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>It can be concluded that many individuals may be potentially involved in insomnia disorder as pre-insomnia. The findings demonstrate that pre-insomnia and insomnia share very similar molecular mechanisms. The critical genes <i>TP53</i>, <i>CCND1</i>, <i>IL1B</i>, <i>SOX1</i>, and <i>NOTCH1</i>, along with pathways related to apoptosis, inflammation, immunological response, and changes in sleep quality, are emphasized as particularly relevant to insomnia disorder.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"929-940"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220685/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"<i>Origanum vulgare</i> Prevents Kaolin-induced Hydrocephalus Via Regulation of GFAP and lba1 Proteins Expression in the Rat Brain.","authors":"Gelareh Vahabzadeh, Ashrafsadat Moazam, Mandana Rahimi, Fatemeh Khajehasani, Manijeh Motevalian","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.6766.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.6766.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Reactive gliosis contributes to damage and recovery patterns in hydrocephalus. This research aims to evaluate the impact of <i>Origanum vulgare</i> essential oil (OEO) on reactive astrogliosis. It decreased lateral ventricle thickness in a rat model of kaolin-induced hydrocephalus.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 30 male Wistar rats were injected with 25% kaolin directly into the cisterna magna. Twenty-one days after kaolin injection, hydrocephalic rats were randomly divided into four groups, and the presence of hydrocephalus was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine the lateral ventricle volume. Then, the rats received different doses of OEO for 10 days. Additionally, to assess the expression levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1), immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses were performed 10 days after the completion of the treatment course.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The size of the lateral ventricle in hydrocephalic rats treated with OEO was less than that in those treated with kaolin alone. Based on GFAP and Iba-1 immunostaining data, hydrocephalic rats showed more reactive astrocytes and activated microglia than OEO-treated animals. The findings of the immunohistochemistry analysis were also validated by Western blot. In terms of GFAP and Iba-1 expression levels, a significant difference was observed between the hydrocephalic control group and rats treated with OEO at a dose of 200 mg/kg/d.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Compared to hydrocephalic rats, the OEO-treated groups exhibited stable ventricular dilatation. According to the results of this research, OEO may reduce hydrocephalus-related damage in kaolin-induced rat brains, potentially by lowering the expression of GFAP and Iba-1. Therefore, OEO intervention might be effective as a novel treatment technique.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"913-928"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220690/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protective Effects of Adipose-derived Stem Cell Exosomes vs Dexamethasone on Neuromotor Deficits in Focal Cerebral Ischemia.","authors":"Mahdi Heydari, Bahman Jalali Kondori, Mehdi Raei, Ali Reza Eftekhari Moghadam","doi":"10.32598/bcn.2025.7946.1","DOIUrl":"10.32598/bcn.2025.7946.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cerebral ischemia is a leading cause of mortality and long-term disability worldwide, characterized by restricted blood flow to the brain, resulting in inflammation, oxidative stress, and neuronal death. Current therapies, such as thrombolytics and corticosteroids, offer limited efficacy in reversing neuronal damage. Recent advances suggest that exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may provide neuroprotective benefits through anti-inflammatory and regenerative mechanisms. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effects of exosomes derived from adipose tissue-MSCs (AT-MSCs) compared to dexamethasone in a rat model of transient focal cerebral ischemia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups: Sham, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) control, exosome-treated, and dexamethasone-treated. MACO was induced to simulate an ischemic stroke. Exosomes were administered intravenously, while dexamethasone was given intraperitoneally. Behavioral assessments (Bederson and Garcia scores), infarct volume (2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride [TTC] staining), serum inflammatory markers (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α], interleukin-6 [IL-6]), and histopathological changes (H&E and Nissl staining) were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Exosome treatment significantly improved neurological function and motor performance compared to the MCAO group, with superior outcomes relative to dexamethasone. Exosomes markedly reduced infarct volume and inflammatory biomarker levels, and histological analyses revealed preserved neuronal structure and reduced necrosis. Nissl staining revealed a higher count of healthy neurons in the exosome group compared to the other treatment groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Exosomes derived from AT-MSCs offer superior neuroprotective effects in ischemic brain injury compared to dexamethasone. Their multi-modal mechanisms-including anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, angiogenic, and neuroregenerative effects-highlight their potential as a novel therapeutic approach for stroke management. Future research should focus on clinical translation, dosage optimization, and long-term safety evaluation.</p>","PeriodicalId":8701,"journal":{"name":"Basic and Clinical Neuroscience","volume":"16 5","pages":"987-1002"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13220680/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148136439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}