Comparative Brain Imaging Reveals Analogous and Divergent Patterns of Species and Face Sensitivity in Humans and Dogs.

Conspecific-preference in social perception is evident for multiple sensory modalities and in many species. There is also a dedicated neural network for face processing in primates. However, the evolutionary origin and the relative role of neural species sensitivity and face sensitivity in visuo-social processing are largely unknown. In this comparative study, species sensitivity and face sensitivity to identical visual stimuli (videos of human and dog faces and occiputs) were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging in dogs (n = 20; 45% female) and humans (n = 30; 50% female). In dogs, the bilateral mid suprasylvian gyrus showed conspecific-preference, no regions exhibited face-preference, and the majority of the visually-responsive cortex showed greater conspecific-preference than face-preference. In humans, conspecific-preferring regions (the right amygdala/hippocampus and the posterior superior temporal sulcus) also showed face-preference, and much of the visually-responsive cortex showed greater face-preference than conspecific-preference. Multivariate pattern analyses (MVPAs) identified species-sensitive regions in both species, but face-sensitive regions only in humans. Across-species representational similarity analyses (RSAs) revealed stronger correspondence between dog and human response patterns for distinguishing conspecific from heterospecific faces than other contrasts. Results unveil functional analogies in dog and human visuo-social processing of conspecificity but suggest that cortical specialization for face perception may not be ubiquitous across mammals.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To explore the evolutionary origins of human face-preference and its relationship to conspecific-preference, we conducted the first comparative and noninvasive visual neuroimaging study of a non-primate and a primate species, dogs and humans. Conspecific-preferring brain regions were observed in both species, but face-preferring brain regions were observed only in humans. In dogs, an overwhelming majority of visually-responsive cortex exhibited greater conspecific-preference than face-preference, whereas in humans, much of the visually-responsive cortex showed greater face-preference than conspecific-preference. Together, these findings unveil functional analogies and differences in the organizing principles of visuo-social processing across two phylogenetically distant mammal species.

Increased activation of the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex to citalopram challenge in migraine: an fMRI study.

BACKGROUND: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a key structure of the pain processing network. Several structural and functional alterations of this brain area have been found in migraine. In addition, altered serotonergic neurotransmission has been repeatedly implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine, although the exact mechanism is not known. Thus, our aim was to investigate the relationship between acute increase of brain serotonin (5-HT) level and the activation changes of the ACC using pharmacological challenge MRI (phMRI) in migraine patients and healthy controls. METHODS: Twenty-seven pain-free healthy controls and six migraine without aura patients participated in the study. All participant attended to two phMRI sessions during which intravenous citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), or placebo (normal saline) was administered. We used region of interest analysis of ACC to compere the citalopram evoked activation changes of this area between patients and healthy participants. RESULTS: Significant difference in ACC activation was found between control and patient groups in the right pregenual ACC (pgACC) during and after citalopram infusion compared to placebo. The extracted time-series showed that pgACC activation increased in migraine patients compared to controls, especially in the first 8-10 min of citalopram infusion. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that a small increase in 5-HT levels can lead to increased phMRI signal in the pregenual part of the ACC that is involved in processing emotional aspects of pain. This increased sensitivity of the pgACC to increased 5-HT in migraine may contribute to recurring headache attacks and increased stress-sensitivity in migraine.

Sensitivity enhancement for mycotoxin determination by optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy using gold nanoparticles of different size and origin.

Mycotoxins, present in a wide range of food and feed commodities, are toxic secondary metabolites produced by a number of different fungi. Certain mycotoxins do not readily degrade at high temperatures, therefore are resistant to food processing, and consequently are present in the human and animal food supply. Optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS) was applied for the detection of aflatoxin B1, in a competitive immunoassay format, to compare the analytical sensitivity achieved with an immunosensor design allowing signal enhancement by increasing the sensor surface through immobilization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of different size and origin (obtained by chemical or biotechnological synthesis). The effects of AuNPs median size, the methods of sensitization and the biochemical parameters on immunosensor performace were examined. After optimization of the sensitized sensor surface, an immunosensing method was developed for the analysis of aflatoxin in paprika matrix and the results were compared with HPLC reference measurements.

Sequence analysis of Schmallenberg virus genomes detected in Hungary.

Since its emergence near the German-Dutch border in 2011, Schmallenberg virus (SBV) has been identified in many European countries. In this study, we determined the complete coding sequence of seven Hungarian SBV genomes to expand our knowledge about the genetic diversity of circulating field strains. The samples originated from the first case, an aborted cattle fetus without malformation collected in 2012, and from the blood samples of six adult cattle in 2014. The Hungarian SBV sequences shared ≥99.3% nucleotide (nt) and ≥97.8% amino acid (aa) identity with each other, and ≥98.9 nt and ≥96.7% aa identity with reference strains. Although phylogenetic analyses showed low resolution in general, the M sequences of cattle and sheep origin SBV strains seemed to cluster on different branches. Both common and unique mutation sites were observed in different groups of sequences that might help understanding the evolution of emerging SBV strains.

Impaired mixed emotion processing in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia: an fMRI study.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia has a negative effect on the activity of the temporal and prefrontal cortices in the processing of emotional facial expressions. However no previous research focused on the evaluation of mixed emotions in schizophrenia, albeit they are frequently expressed in everyday situations and negative emotions are frequently expressed by mixed facial expressions. METHODS: Altogether 37 subjects, 19 patients with schizophrenia and 18 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. The two study groups did not differ in age and education. The stimulus set consisted of 10 fearful (100%), 10 happy (100%), 10 mixed fear (70% fear and 30% happy) and 10 mixed happy facial expressions. During the fMRI acquisition pictures were presented in a randomized order and subjects had to categorize expressions by button press. RESULTS: A decreased activation was found in the patient group during fear, mixed fear and mixed happy processing in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and the right anterior insula (RAI) at voxel and cluster level after familywise error correction. No difference was found between study groups in activations to happy facial condition. Patients with schizophrenia did not show a differential activation between mixed happy and happy facial expression similar to controls in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with schizophrenia showed decreased functioning in right prefrontal regions responsible for salience signaling and valence evaluation during emotion recognition. Our results indicate that fear and mixed happy/fear processing are impaired in schizophrenia, while happy facial expression processing is relatively intact.

ICN_Atlas: Automated description and quantification of functional MRI activation patterns in the framework of intrinsic connectivity networks.

Generally, the interpretation of functional MRI (fMRI) activation maps continues to rely on assessing their relationship to anatomical structures, mostly in a qualitative and often subjective way. Recently, the existence of persistent and stable brain networks of functional nature has been revealed; in particular these so-called intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) appear to link patterns of resting state and task-related state connectivity. These networks provide an opportunity of functionally-derived description and interpretation of fMRI maps, that may be especially important in cases where the maps are predominantly task-unrelated, such as studies of spontaneous brain activity e.g. in the case of seizure-related fMRI maps in epilepsy patients or sleep states. Here we present a new toolbox (ICN_Atlas) aimed at facilitating the interpretation of fMRI data in the context of ICN. More specifically, the new methodology was designed to describe fMRI maps in function-oriented, objective and quantitative way using a set of 15 metrics conceived to quantify the degree of 'engagement' of ICNs for any given fMRI-derived statistical map of interest. We demonstrate that the proposed framework provides a highly reliable quantification of fMRI activation maps using a publicly available longitudinal (test-retest) resting-state fMRI dataset. The utility of the ICN_Atlas is also illustrated on a parametric task-modulation fMRI dataset, and on a dataset of a patient who had repeated seizures during resting-state fMRI, confirmed on simultaneously recorded EEG. The proposed ICN_Atlas toolbox is freely available for download at http://icnatlas.com and at http://www.nitrc.org for researchers to use in their fMRI investigations.

Emergence and characterisation of pandemic H1N1 influenza viruses in Hungarian swine herds.

In 2010, two novel porcine H1N1 influenza viruses were isolated from pigs with influenza-like illness in Hungarian swine herds. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis of these strains revealed that they shared molecular features with the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus strains, which emerged globally during 2009. The PB2, HA and NA genes contained unique amino acid changes compared to the available new H1N1 influenza virus sequences of pig origin. Furthermore, the investigated strains could be separated with respect to parallel amino acid substitutions affecting the polymerase genes (PB2, PB1 and PA) and the nucleoprotein (NP) gene, supporting the proposed complementarities between these proteins, all required for the viral fitness. Molecular characterisation of two Hungarian human pandemic H1N1 isolates was also performed, so that we could compare contemporaneous strains of different host species origins. Shared molecular motifs in various genes of animal and human influenza strains suggested that the Hungarian porcine strains could have originated from humans through direct interspecies transmission. This study is among the few that support the natural human-to-pig transmission of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus.

Genome sequence of a monoreassortant H1N1 swine influenza virus isolated from a pig in Hungary.

The genome of a porcine H1N1 influenza A strain is reported in this study. The strain proved to be a monoreassortant strain with a typical porcine N1 gene on the genetic backbone of the pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus strain. Monitoring of descendants of the pandemic 2009 H1N1 strain is needed because of concerns that more-virulent strains may emerge in forthcoming epidemic seasons.

Putative novel genotype of avian hepatitis E virus, Hungary, 2010.

To explore the genetic diversity of avian hepatitis E virus strains, we characterized the near-complete genome of a strain detected in 2010 in Hungary, uncovering moderate genome sequence similarity with reference strains. Public health implications related to consumption of eggs or meat contaminated by avian hepatitis E virus, or to poultry handling, require thorough investigation.

Novel circovirus in European catfish (Silurus glanis).

Circular single-stranded DNA viral genomes had been identified worldwide in different species and in environmental samples. Among them, viruses belonging to the genus Circovirus of the family Circoviridae are present in birds and pigs, and recently, they were detected in barbels. The present study reports the identification of a new circovirus in fish. PCR amplification and sequencing were used to identify the novel circular DNA virus in European catfish (Silurus glanis). Full genome characterization and phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus belonged to the family Circoviridae and that it was distantly related to the previously described barbel circovirus.

Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in small mammals and ectoparasites in Hungary.

The aim of our study was to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in small mammals and ticks using polymerase chain reaction and to gain information about the prevalence and possible coexistence of these pathogens at a selected site in Hungary. Two hundred seventy-seven small mammals were trapped in South-Eastern Hungary during 2009. Tissue samples and a total of 831 ectoparasites (Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes acuminatus, Haemaphysalis concinna, Ctenophtalmus assimilis, and Nosopsyllus fasciatus) were collected from small mammals. One thousand one hundred and six I. ricinus and 476 H. concinna were collected from the vegetation during the investigation. Neither A. phagocytophilum nor B. burgdorferi s.l. was detected in any of the mammal tissue samples. A. phagocytophilum was not found in ticks collected from small mammals. Very low minimum prevalence was found for all pathogens (0.62% for Borrelia afzelii in ticks collected from small mammals, and 0.57%, 0.06%, and 0.19% for A. phagoctyophilum, B. afzelii, and Borrelia garinii, respectively, in questing ticks). The present study is the first report of borreliae from I. acuminatus and H. concinna from Hungary.

Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates of poultry, swine, and cattle origin collected from slaughterhouses in Hungary.

Campylobacter spp. are the most common cause of bacterial enteritis in Hungary, and the aim of this study was to identify the distribution, genotypes, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter species in the most important food-producing animals at the time of slaughter during 2008 and 2009. Of 1,110 samples, 266 were identified as Campylobacter coli (23.9%) and 143 as C. jejuni (12.9%) by real-time PCR. Resistance to enrofloxacin-ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid was significant, especially in C. jejuni (73.3%) and C. coli (77.2%) from broilers. Higher erythromycin (P = 0.043) and tetracycline (P = 1.865e-14) resistance rates were found among C. coli isolates (9.7 and 74.1%, respectively) than among C. jejuni isolates (3.1 and 36.6%, respectively). A total of 47 fla short variable region sequences were identified among 73 selected C. coli and C. jejuni isolates, with 35 fla types detected only once. At the nucleotide level, fla types A66 and A21 were the most common. Using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method, 66% of strains exhibited unique profiles after Sma I digestion. Forty-two isolates assigned to 18 Sma I clusters were further typed by Kpn I, and of these, 24 were assigned to 10 Kpn I clusters. For isolates in five Kpn I clusters, epidemiological links were observed. Stable C. jejuni and C. coli clones were detected, indicating that further studies involving broiler and human isolates need to be conducted to elucidate the importance of these stable clones in human infections.

Molecular characterization of Campylobacter lanienae strains isolated from food-producing animals.

During 2008 and 2009, within the framework of the Hungarian monitoring program of antibiotic resistance of zoonotic agents from food-producing animals, a significant number (43 strains) of Campylobacter lanienae were detected for the first time in Hungary. The isolates were genotyped using partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis using three different restriction enzymes. The antimicrobial resistance of the isolates was determined by microtiter broth dilution. C. lanienae isolation was successful only from swine but not from other animal species. According to phylogenetic analysis, clustering of the isolates shows the same extensive genetic diversity as other Campylobacter species. Sequence analysis of the partial 16S rRNA gene showed that additional variations exist in variable regions Vc2 and Vc6. SmaI restriction enzyme proved to be the most efficient for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of C. lanienae. A significant tetracycline resistance (60.9%) and the presence of erythromycin-, enrofloxacin-, and multiresistant C. lanienae strains were found. Although the pathogenic potential of C. lanienae in humans is currently unknown, this study demonstrates that C. lanieanae is common in pigs in the country, provides further details on the genotypic and phenotypic properties of C. lanienae, and offers a genotyping method for use in source tracing.

[Spatial standardization of [15O]-butanol PET images using T1-weighted MRI data]. / [15O]-butanol PET-vizsgálatok térbeli standardizálása szegmentált, T1-súlyozott MRI-felvételek segítségével.

Population averaged brain activation studies require the spatial standardization of the individual perfusion PET images. This procedure is usually supported by T1-weighted MRI images. The authors developed a segmentation technique to improve the automatized transformation of the individual MRI images into Talairach space. It was for the first time in Hungary that population averages of standardized T1-weighted MRI and [15O]-butanol PET images of the brain were created after validation of the procedure using data from 23 healthy volunteers. The newly developed method offers a solution for the automatized processing of primary data from brain activation experiments prior to statistical analysis.

[Right prefrontal cerebral hemispheric activation by symmetrical carotid sinus baroreceptor stimulation]. / Jobb agyféltekei praefrontalis aktiváció szimmetrikus carotis sinus baroreceptor-ingerlés hatására.

This study was performed to test the hypothesis of greater right hemispheric involvement in the processing of signals related to baroreceptor stimuli. Carotis sinus baroreceptors were stimulated by rhythmically decreasing air pressure in a neck chamber, and as a control the thorax was stimulated in a similar manner. Changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Baroreceptor stimulation resulted in rCBF increase in the right anterior-inferior prefrontal cortex (Brodmann areas [BA] 10/44/47) and bilaterally in BA 6/8. The authors conclude that, at least in some stages of baroreceptor information processing, the right hemisphere plays a greater role than the left one.