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Introduction: Neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus is thought to play an important role in cognitive processes such as reversal learning and pattern separation. The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) is expressed early in newly formed granule cells of the dentate gyrus, though its role in neurogenesis and related cognitive function is not fully understood. Methods: To better characterize relevant function of α7 nAChRs, we performed unbiased stereology to quantify hippocampal granule cells, pyramidal cells, and total volume and used a touchscreen operant spatial discrimination/reversal task to test pattern separation in a global α7 nAChR knockout mouse line. Results: The knockout resulted in an ≈22% reduction in granule cells and a ≈ 20% reduction in pyramidal cells in both sexes, with no change in total hippocampal volume. However, the knockout impaired performance in the touchscreen task for males only. The sex-dependent difference in behavioral, but not stereological, results suggest a divergence in the structure--function relationship in males versus females. Detailed analyses revealed males were more biased by the initial reversal contingency relative to females indicating a potential source of the sex-specific interaction with the loss of α7 nAChRs. Discussion: These findings argue that the α7 nAChR plays a critical role in hippocampal development, not just granule cell neurogenesis, and plays a sexdependent role in cognitive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionNeurogenesis within the dentate gyrus is thought to play an important role in cognitive processes such as reversal learning and pattern separation. The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) is expressed early in newly formed granule cells of the dentate gyrus, though its role in neurogenesis and related cognitive function is not fully understood.MethodsTo better characterize relevant function of α7 nAChRs, we performed unbiased stereology to quantify hippocampal granule cells, pyramidal cells, and total volume and used a touchscreen operant spatial discrimination/reversal task to test pattern separation in a global α7 nAChR knockout mouse line.ResultsThe knockout resulted in an ≈22% reduction in granule cells and a ≈ 20% reduction in pyramidal cells in both sexes, with no change in total hippocampal volume. However, the knockout impaired performance in the touchscreen task for males only. The sex-dependent difference in behavioral, but not stereological, results suggest a divergence in the structure–function relationship in males versus females. Detailed analyses revealed males were more biased by the initial reversal contingency relative to females indicating a potential source of the sex-specific interaction with the loss of α7 nAChRs.DiscussionThese findings argue that the α7 nAChR plays a critical role in hippocampal development, not just granule cell neurogenesis, and plays a sex-dependent role in cognitive function.

15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome causes a spectrum of cognitive disorders, including intellectual disability and autism. We assessed the ability of the EEG analysis algorithm Brain Network Analysis (BNA) to measure cognitive function in 15q13.3 deletion patients, and to differentiate between patient and control groups. EEG data was collected from 10 individuals with 15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome (14–18 years of age), as well as 30 age-matched healthy controls, as the subjects responded to Auditory Oddball (AOB) and Go/NoGo cognitive tasks. It was determined that BNA can be used to evaluate cognitive function in 15q13.3 microdeletion patients. This analysis also significantly differentiates between patient and control groups using 5 scores, all of which are produced from ERP peaks related to late cortical components that represent higher cognitive functions of attention allocation and response inhibition (P < 0.05).

15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome causes a spectrum of cognitive disorders, including intellectual disability and autism. We assessed the ability of the EEG analysis algorithm Brain Network Analysis (BNA) to measure cognitive function in 15q13.3 deletion patients, and to differentiate between patient and control groups. EEG data was collected from 10 individuals with 15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome (14–18 years of age), as well as 30 age-matched healthy controls, as the subjects responded to Auditory Oddball (AOB) and Go/NoGo cognitive tasks. It was determined that BNA can be used to evaluate cognitive function in 15q13.3 microdeletion patients. This analysis also significantly differentiates between patient and control groups using 5 scores, all of which are produced from ERP peaks related to late cortical components that represent higher cognitive functions of attention allocation and response inhibition (P < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]