Assessing the acute effects of exposure to community violence among adolescents: A strategic comparison approach.

This paper examines whether exposure to spatially proximate homicide affects norms, attitudes, and the adaptive strategies adolescents take to insulate themselves from violent victimization. Drawing on survey data from a large sample of urban youth (n = 3195), we assess the impact of homicides occurring within a one-mile radius of respondents' homes on a variety of psychosocial outcomes. We exploit random variation in the timing of survey administration to compare the survey responses of youths who were exposed to a homicide in the immediate vicinity of their homes in the one-month period leading up the administration of the survey with students who did not experience a homicide near their homes during that period but would the following month. This strategic comparison approach minimizes the confounding influence of endogenous processes that funnel children and families into places where homicides tend to concentrate.

A Regional Approach to Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs Through LOV.

CONTEXT: Community violence is an underaddressed public health threat. Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) have been used to address the root causes of violence and prevent reinjury. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we describe the methodology of the St Louis Region-wide HVIP, Life Outside Violence (LOV) program, and provide preliminary process outcomes. DESIGN: Life Outside Violence mentors intervene following a violent injury to decrease risk of subsequent victimization and achieve goals unique to each participant by providing therapeutic counseling and case management services to patients and their families. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Eligible patients are victims of violent injury between the ages of 8 and 24 years, who are residents of St Louis, Missouri, and present for care at a LOV partner adult or pediatric level I trauma hospital. INTERVENTION: Enrolled participants receive program services for 6 to 12 months and complete an individual treatment plan. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In this article, we report LOV operational methodology, as well as process metrics, including program enrollment, graduation, and qualitative data on program implementation. RESULTS: From August 15, 2018, through April 30, 2022, 1750 LOV-eligible violently injured patients presented to a partner hospital, 349 were approached for program enrollment, and 206 consented to enroll in the program. During this pilot phase, 91 participants graduated from the LOV program and have process output data available for analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Life Outside Violence has been implemented into clinical practice as the first HVIP to influence across an entire region through partnership with multiple university and hospital systems. It is our hope that methods shared in this article will serve as a primer for organizations hoping to implement and expand HVIPs to interrupt community violence at the regional level.

ZEBrA: Zebra finch Expression Brain Atlas-A resource for comparative molecular neuroanatomy and brain evolution studies.

An in-depth understanding of the genetics and evolution of brain function and behavior requires a detailed mapping of gene expression in functional brain circuits across major vertebrate clades. Here we present the Zebra finch Expression Brain Atlas (ZEBrA; www.zebrafinchatlas.org, RRID: SCR_012988), a web-based resource that maps the expression of genes linked to a broad range of functions onto the brain of zebra finches. ZEBrA is a first of its kind gene expression brain atlas for a bird species and a first for any sauropsid. ZEBrA's >3,200 high-resolution digital images of in situ hybridized sections for ~650 genes (as of June 2019) are presented in alignment with an annotated histological atlas and can be browsed down to cellular resolution. An extensive relational database connects expression patterns to information about gene function, mouse expression patterns and phenotypes, and gene involvement in human diseases and communication disorders. By enabling brain-wide gene expression assessments in a bird, ZEBrA provides important substrates for comparative neuroanatomy and molecular brain evolution studies. ZEBrA also provides unique opportunities for linking genetic pathways to vocal learning and motor control circuits, as well as for novel insights into the molecular basis of sex steroids actions, brain dimorphisms, reproductive and social behaviors, sleep function, and adult neurogenesis, among many fundamental themes.

Exploring the molecular basis of neuronal excitability in a vocal learner.

BACKGROUND: Vocal learning, the ability to learn to produce vocalizations through imitation, relies on specialized brain circuitry known in songbirds as the song system. While the connectivity and various physiological properties of this system have been characterized, the molecular genetic basis of neuronal excitability in song nuclei remains understudied. We have focused our efforts on examining voltage-gated ion channels to gain insight into electrophysiological and functional features of vocal nuclei. A previous investigation of potassium channel genes in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) revealed evolutionary modifications unique to songbirds, as well as transcriptional specializations in the song system [Lovell PV, Carleton JB, Mello CV. BMC Genomics 14:470 2013]. Here, we expand this approach to sodium, calcium, and chloride channels along with their modulatory subunits using comparative genomics and gene expression analysis encompassing microarrays and in situ hybridization. RESULTS: We found 23 sodium, 38 calcium, and 33 chloride channel genes (HGNC-based classification) in the zebra finch genome, several of which were previously unannotated. We determined 15 genes are missing relative to mammals, including several genes (CLCAs, BEST2) linked to olfactory transduction. The majority of sodium and calcium but few chloride channels showed differential expression in the song system, among them SCN8A and CACNA1E in the direct motor pathway, and CACNG4 and RYR2 in the anterior forebrain pathway. In several cases, we noted a seemingly coordinated pattern across multiple nuclei (SCN1B, SCN3B, SCN4B, CACNB4) or sparse expression (SCN1A, CACNG5, CACNA1B). CONCLUSION: The gene families examined are highly conserved between avian and mammalian lineages. Several cases of differential expression likely support high-frequency and burst firing in specific song nuclei, whereas cases of sparse patterns of expression may contribute to the unique electrophysiological signatures of distinct cell populations. These observations lay the groundwork for manipulations to determine how ion channels contribute to the neuronal excitability properties of vocal learning systems.

Molecular architecture of the zebra finch arcopallium.

The arcopallium, a key avian forebrain region, receives inputs from numerous brain areas and is a major source of descending sensory and motor projections. While there is evidence of arcopallial subdivisions, the internal organization or the arcopallium is not well understood. The arcopallium is also considered the avian homologue of mammalian deep cortical layers and/or amygdalar subdivisions, but one-to-one correspondences are controversial. Here we present a molecular characterization of the arcopallium in the zebra finch, a passerine songbird species and a major model organism for vocal learning studies. Based on in situ hybridization for arcopallial-expressed transcripts (AQP1, C1QL3, CBLN2, CNTN4, CYP19A1, ESR1/2, FEZF2, MGP, NECAB2, PCP4, PVALB, SCN3B, SCUBE1, ZBTB20, and others) in comparison with cytoarchitectonic features, we have defined 20 distinct regions that can be grouped into six major domains (anterior, posterior, dorsal, ventral, medial, and intermediate arcopallium, respectively; AA, AP, AD, AV, AM, and AI). The data also help to establish the arcopallium as primarily pallial, support a unique topography of the arcopallium in passerines, highlight similarities between the vocal robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) and AI, and provide insights into the similarities and differences of cortical and amygdalar regions between birds and mammals. We also propose the use of AMV (instead of nucleus taenia/TnA), AMD, AD, and AI as initial steps toward a universal arcopallial nomenclature. Besides clarifying the internal organization of the arcopallium, the data provide a coherent basis for further functional and comparative studies of this complex avian brain region.