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Imaging technologies for the analysis of the central nervous system are rapidly developing. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry imaging, tracer-based magnetic resonance imaging, CLARITY technology and optogenetics can be used to visualize small molecules in brain tissues, the interstitial system of the brain and neuronal circuits in whole-brain samples. These tools serve as powerful technical means to explore the mechanisms underlying disease models and to evaluate the effects of drugs. Here, we review the constituting principles of these imaging techniques and describe their applications in the field of neuroscience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A testing effect occurs when taking a test leads to more durable memory for tested materials, relative to restudying them during the same period of time. In the current study, we examined whether incidental and intentional restudy/testing practice modes during a practice phase would modulate the contribution of recollection-based and familiarity-based retrieval in a final recognition test. Both practice strategy (restudy versus testing) and practice mode (incidental vs. intentional) were manipulated between participants ( N = 160). The restudy and testing groups performed a semantic rating task and a word fragment completion task, respectively, in the incidental condition or in the intentional condition. Only those participants in the intentional condition were instructed to recall or restudy the targets. All participants went through two study-practice cycles that involved two different sets of targets. After the second cycle, participants performed a list-discrimination recognition test that could assess the contributions of recollection-based and familiarity-based retrieval on test-enhanced learning. The testing effect occurred in the intentional condition, but not in the incidental condition. Relative to intentional restudy, intentional testing boosted recollection, but not familiarity, demonstrating the role of recollection in test-enhanced learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a serious threat to the quality of human life and health with an increasing incidence worldwide. Renal fibrosis is closely related to CKD and regarded as the final common pathophysiological pathway in most cases of end-stage renal diseases. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying renal fibrosis and developing novel therapeutic strategies are of great importance. Herein, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI) based on 1, 5-diaminonaphthalene hydrochloride was applied to the rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) to investigate metabolic changes during renal fibrosis. Among identified endogenous compounds, twenty-one metabolites involved in metabolic networks such as glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, ATP metabolism, fatty acids metabolism, antioxidants, and metal ions underwent relatively obvious changes after 1 and 3 weeks of UUO. Unique distribution of the metabolites was obtained, and metabolic changes of kidneys during renal fibrosis were investigated simultaneously for the first time. These findings once again highlighted the promising potential of the organic salt matrix for application in small molecule in situ MSI and in the field of biomedical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]