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Brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS) are used to treat psychiatric and neurological diseases. It elicits physical, cognitive, and mood benefits by promoting neuroplasticity. However, at the same time, several studies showed that these techniques could also alter moral judgment and social behaviour, leading to aggressive and prosocial behaviour; thus, there arises an ethical consideration about their effects and usability. Morality has been debated over centuries as the social behaviour regulator in our society. It is required for cognitive executive functions, problem solving, consequence anticipation, conflict management, and emotional evaluation. From an anatomical point of view, in addition to its philosophical and psychological complexity, we know that morality involves different brain areas and neural circuits both cortical and subcortical. In this mini-review, we report a number of recent results related to the use of brain stimulation techniques for modulating moral and social behaviour in human beings.

Creativity is considered to be one of the most important characteristics that humans possess. It emerges from fundamental cognitive operations and the activation of specific brain regions. In several neurological disorders, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), creativity plays an important role in diagnosis and rehabilitation strategies. This study examined the link between creativity and pathology in a sample of neurological patients (idiopathic PD, n = 17; FTD, n = 11 with behavioural or semantic variants), and 15 healthy subjects (Mini Mental State Examination score ≥ 20; age range, 45 to 85 years) using the Divergent Thinking Test. The FTD group exhibited lower scores than the PD and control groups. Furthermore, PD patients performed significantly better on the single DTT factor, originality, than controls. These results are discussed in relation to neurological mechanisms that may influence creative strategies in dementia. Finally, it has been proposed creativity therapy as a cognitive rehabilitation approach, which may help patients enhance and maintain cognitive functions, reduce the severity of emotional disorders, and promote social interactions.

Regulatory peptides and their analogs are being extensively investigated as radiopharmaceuticals for cancer imaging. In particular, cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors of the subtype B (CCK-BR) have been shown to be overexpressed in certain neuroendocrine tumors including medullary thyroid cancer. Our recent work has focused on new methods to radiolabel the CCK8 peptide with (111)In or (99m)Tc for the purpose of developing radiopharmaceuticals for in vivo CCK-B receptor imaging. Labeling of CCK8 with (111)In was achieved at the N-terminus of the peptide by adding, in solid phase, a glutamate coupled diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) moiety through a glycine linker, yielding DTPA-Glu-G-CCK8. For labeling with (99m)Tc, the CCK8 peptide was modified at its N-terminus by introducing, in the following order--cysteine, glycine, and a diphenylphosphinopropionyl moiety--giving a 10-residue peptide derivative, Phos-GC-CCK8. A cell culture model was developed for the purpose of evaluating the binding properties of these two ligands. The human epidermoid carcinoma cell line, A431, was transfected with a plasmid containing the full coding sequence of the human CCK-BR under a strong viral promoter, obtaining a number of receptors in the range of 2-5 x 10(6) per cell. Control cells were transfected with vector alone. An animal tumor model utilizing these two cell lines was developed to evaluate the specificity of interaction with the CCK-BR and biodistribution properties of the compounds. CCK-BR positive and control cells were subcutaneously injected in opposite flanks of CD1 female nude mice in order to obtain xenografts differing only in their ability to express CCK-B receptors. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and other chromatographic methods were utilized to assess stability of the radiolabeled compounds after injection. Both (111)In-DTPA-Glu-G-CCK8 and (99m)Tc-Phos-GC-CCK8 showed similar binding affinities for cultured CCK-BR expressing cells, with dissociation constants in the range of 20-40 nM. With the two xenograft approach, we were able to demonstrate specific interaction with the receptor of both CCK analogs in our animal model. The data obtained shows rapid specific localization of both compounds on the CCK-BR overexpressing xenografts. Both tracers show rapid plasma clearance of unbound peptide. Clearance of (111)In-DTPA-Glu-G-CCK8 appears to be preferentially through the kidneys, whereas (99m)Tc-Phos-GC-CCK8 clearance occurs both through kidneys and the hepatobiliary system. Both our labeling approaches appear adequate for clinical use of peptide based radiopharmaceuticals, although (99m)Tc-Phos-GC-CCK8 shows elevated accumulation in the gastrointestinal tract, which causes high background activity.

Introduction The present study aims at exploring the effects of the depolarization of the primary motor cortex (M1), which is supposed to be associated to the mirror neuron system (MNS), via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and of synchronous music on individuals’ responses to observed actions/non actions in a sample of individuals with low sports expertise. The two main theories behind this study are linked to the role of the MNS in the human brain and the embodied cognition theory, which suggests an interdependent relationship between action, perception and cognition.