Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by challenges in social communication as well as repetitive or restrictive behaviors. Many genetic associations with ASD have been identified, but most associations occur in a fraction of the ASD population. Here, we searched for eQTL-associated DNA variants with…

Recent studies show that oxidative stress has an important role in the etiology of autism. In our study, Nrf2, which is the main regulator of cellular antioxidant response, and Keap1 and Gsk-3[beta], which are the main proteins that regulate this pathway, were compared between children with autism and healthy controls. To the best of our…

Understanding and interpreting non-verbal actions are critical components of social cognition, which are often challenging for autistic individuals. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide known to modulate social behavior and enhance the salience of social stimuli, is being explored as a therapeutic option for improving social mirroring. However, its effects…

A critical role of protein modifications such as phosphorylation and acetylation in synaptic plasticity and memory is well documented. Tyrosine sulfation plays important roles in several biological processes. However, its role in synaptic plasticity and memory is not well understood. Here, we show that sulfation contributes to long-term…

Novelty seeking has been found to affect creative performance, but its impact on the temporal dynamics of creative information processing remains unclear. Creative information is identified by two key indicators--novelty and appropriateness. To explore the effect of novelty seeking on the temporal processing of novelty and appropriateness, a…

Dopamine participates in encoding memories and could either encode rewarding/aversive value of unconditioned stimuli or act as a novelty signal triggering contextual learning. Here we show that intraperitoneal injection of the dopamine D1/5R antagonist SCH23390 impairs contextual fear conditioning and tone-shock association, while intrahippocampal…

Remembering is not a static process: When retrieved, a memory can be destabilized and become prone to modifications. This phenomenon has been demonstrated in a number of brain regions, but the neuronal mechanisms that rule memory destabilization and its boundary conditions remain elusive. Using two distinct computational models that combine…

Strong evidence supports a role for protein degradation in fear memory formation. However, these data have been largely done in only male animals. Here, we found that following contextual fear conditioning, females, but not males, had increased levels of proteasome activity and K48 polyubiquitin protein targeting in the dorsal hippocampus, the…

Hippocampal dopamine D1/D5 receptor-dependent destabilization is necessary for object recognition memory (ORM) updating through reconsolidation. Dopamine also regulates hippocampal theta and gamma oscillations, which are involved in novelty and memory processing. We found that, in adult male rats, ORM recall in the presence of a novel object, but…

Reward is thought to attenuate forgetting through the automatic effect of dopamine on hippocampal memory traces. Here we report a conceptual replication of previous results where we did not observe this effect of reward. Participants encoded eight lists of pictures and recalled picture content immediately or the next day. They were informed that…

Access to high-quality early music education programs may mitigate the effects of poverty on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but fundamental questions remain about the role of early educators in conveying these benefits. In the current study, we measured the basal or resting cortisol levels of 76 children (M[subscript age] = 4.17…

Intra-individual response time variability (IIRTV) during cognitive performance is increasingly recognized as an important indicator of attentional control (AC) and related brain region function. However, what determinants contribute to preschoolers' IIRTV received little attention. The present study explored the interaction of dopaminergic…

During adolescence, increases in pubertal hormones lead to reproductive maturity as well as changes in cognitive development. Yet, little is known about how to best characterize interindividual differences in hormone concentrations. The goal of the current study was to examine the antecedents and consequences of membership in empirically derived…

Case studies are helpful teaching tools that can bring scientific concepts to life. Here, we present a case study related to protein-ligand interactions, amino acids, protein structure, and protein modification. While protein-ligand interaction is a foundational concept within Biochemistry, there are few available case studies that focus on this…

Protein kinase M[zeta] (PKM[zeta]) maintains long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory through persistent increases in kinase expression. Early-life adversity is a precursor to adult mood and anxiety disorders, in part, through persistent disruption of emotional memory throughout life. Here we subjected 10- to 16-wk-old male bonnet…