Exploring Methodological Approaches of Experimental Studies in the Field of Neuroarchitecture: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aims to strengthen the relationship between architecture and neuroscience by classifying data measurement techniques in the field of neuroarchitecture with a focus on the most practical and common methodological approaches. It classifies data recording techniques in different architectural categories (e.g., interior, urban, built environment). BACKGROUNDS: With regard to urban life developments and technological breakthroughs, studies of human interactions with environments have been expanding in recent years. Additionally, recent advances in neuroscience have allowed architects to find out more about human experiences in built environments, but there are few valid frameworks about what methodologies and instruments are more common to conduct experimental tasks in this interdisciplinary field. METHODS: Twenty-eight experimental studies were selected based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses literature search extension (PRISMA) systematic review protocol and a comprehensive analysis. The task-space of selected articles was categorized into three subfields, namely, "interior design," "urban design," and "building design" based on environments and their stimuli. As for this context-based categorization, recording techniques and methodology were distinguished for each subfield division. RESULTS: More than 50% of the studies were incorporated in the first two categories, and the EEG recording was the most frequently employed neuroimaging technique thanks to the technical efficacy of its setup and the high temporal resolution of its electrophysiological signals. CONCLUSION: In this study, a summary of techniques and methodological approaches applied in the field is provided in a nut shell, and a general framework of instruments is presented to help scholars to carry out more practical research in the future leading to designing built environments more efficiently.

Evaluation of the Biodistribution of Arginine, glycine, aspartic acid peptide-modified Nanoliposomes Containing Curcumin in Rats.

Background: Liposomes, as a biological membrane, is successfully used for drug delivery, reduces toxicity in normal cells and improves bio-accessibility of the drug to the target cells. Curcumin, as a bioactive substance with pleiotropic biological activities, is an anti-inflammatory compound and has several anticancer effects in different cancers such as pancreatic and breast cancer. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the bio-distribution of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD)-modified nanoliposomes containing curcumin in different tissues of rats. Materials and Methods: The amount of curcumin in each tissue was examined by HPLC analysis. The distribution of liposomal Hoechst in the rats was evaluated by using fluorescence spectrophotometry, live animal imaging analyses and histological methods. Results: HPLC analysis showed the mean of curcumin in the blood significantly increased in the liposomal curcumin modified with RGD compared to free curcumin. These results were confirmed by fluorescence measurement for RGD modified liposome containing Hoechst dye. There was negligible fluorescent intensity in the blood rats, which received Hoechst alone. Live animal imaging analysis showed the presence of fluorescent color in heart tissue for all groups. It was also detected in kidney tissue for liposomal Hoechst modified with RGD group. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that RGD-modified nano-liposomes can significantly improve drug retention time in the blood of rats.

Neuroarchitecture Assessment: An Overview and Bibliometric Analysis.

Research on the relationship between architecture and neuroscience has increased in number and significance since the 1990s. Although a growing number of studies revolve around this field of research, there are very limited studies that have reviewed and assessed the field and there is a gap in the literature to address the overall analysis of neuroarchitecture literature and its evolution. Additionally, neuroarchitecture literature is now challenging to manage because of its multidisciplinary scope and wide range spread within different themes and journals. The primary aim of this study is to present a bibliometric analysis of three decades of research on neuroarchitecture. This provides an overall picture of the field and its research landscape. Two hundred and ninety-five publications were included in the final database of the study after screening processes. Next, a science mapping tool, VOSviewer, was utilized to detect major topics as well as influential authors, countries, publications, and prominent journals using different network analysis techniques such as term co-citation, term co-occurrence, and bibliographic coupling. Next, a similar co-occurrence analysis was conducted to identify the major themes and the evolution of the intellectual basis of the field. SciMAT was also used to detect how the intellectual base of the knowledge in the field has evolved over time. It also assisted to identify the major themes that have contributed to this evolution. The results show that this field has initially been mainly focused on few themes but has later become more diversified to acknowledge the multi-faceted characteristics of neuroarchitecture; over time, the intellectual base of the field of neuroarchitecture started to grow, particularly from 2016. Major progress in the development of theoretical and methodological approaches has been achieved and there has been a paradigm shift toward major keywords in neuroarchitecture such as EEG, fMRI, and virtual reality.

Encoding Pleasant and Unpleasant Expression of the Architectural Window Shapes: An ERP Study.

The evaluation of building facades is one of the most important elements in built environments for helping architects and professionals to develop future designs. The form or shape of windows in building facades has direct impacts on perceivers' affective state and emotions. To understand the impacts of geometric windows on the subject's feedback and cortical activity, psychophysics experiments and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings were measured from the participants. Our behavioral results show a distinguished categorization of the window shapes as pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. The rectangular, square, circular and semi-circular arch were determined as the pleasant window shapes, while the triangular and triangular arch window shapes were distinguished as unpleasant. Furthermore, event-related potential (ERP) components (N1, P2 and P3) were investigated to determine the influence of window shapes on the local brain activity. To measure reliable cortical responses, a Butterworth notch filter (50 Hz), band pass filter (0.1-60 Hz) and ADJUST filter were employed to remove the artifacts. The electrophysiological results show increased activity for the unpleasant in comparison to the pleasant windows (p < 0.05, Rank-Sum test) in both frontal (for P2 component) and posterio-occipital (ERP amplitudes; the N1 through to the P3 peak) channels. The ERP amplitudes of the right hemisphere were significantly larger than in the left hemisphere, not only in response to the unpleasant (p < 0.001) but also to the pleasant window stimuli (p < 0.001, Signed-Rank test). However, the unpleasant stimuli evoked significantly larger ERP amplitude than the pleasant stimuli. Moreover, the significant ERPP2 amplitude was more distinguished for unpleasant (p = 0.01, Signed-Rank test) than pleasant windows (p = 0.01, Rank-Sum test) between frontal and central cortical lobes. Overall, our behavioral and electrophysiological studies demonstrate a distinguished categorization of pleasant and unpleasant window shapes and more significant ERP modulations in the right than left hemisphere for unpleasant windows compared to pleasant ones.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Therapy Attenuates Neurotoxicity of Methanol-Induced Memory Impairment and Apoptosis in The Hippocampus.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The adolescent brain has a higher vulnerability to alcoholinduced neurotoxicity, compared to adult's brain. Most studies have investigated the effect of ethanol consumption on the body, however, methanol consumption, which peaked in the last years, is still poorly explored. METHOD: In this study, we investigated the effects of methanol neurotoxicity on memory function and pathological outcomes in the hippocampus of adolescent rats and examined the efficacy of Light- Emitting Diode (LED) therapy. Methanol induced neurotoxic rats showed a significant decrease in the latency period, in comparison to controls, which was significantly improved in LED treated rats at 7, 14 and 28 days, indicating recovery of memory function. In addition, methanol neurotoxicity in hippocampus caused a significant increase in cell death (caspase3+ cells) and cell edema at 7 and 28 days, which were significantly decreased by LED therapy. Furthermore, the number of glial fibrillary acid protein astrocytes was significantly lower in methanol rats, compared to controls, whereas LED treatment caused their significant increase. Finally, methanol neurotoxicity caused a significant decrease in the number of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF+) cells, but also circulating serum BDNF, at 7 and 28 days, compared to controls, which were significantly increased by LED therapy. Importantly, LED significantly increased the number of Ki-67+ cells and BDNF levels in the serum and hypothalamus in control-LED rats, compared to controls without LED therapy. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, chronic methanol administration caused severe memory impairments and several pathological outcomes in the hippocampus of adolescent rats which were improved by LED therapy.

Comparison of repair of peripheral nerve transection in predegenerated muscle with and without a vein graft.

BACKGROUND: Despite substantial research into the topic and valiant surgical efforts, reconstruction of peripheral nerve injury remains a challenging surgery. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of axonal regeneration of a transected sciatic nerve through a vein conduit containing degenerated skeletal muscle compared with axonal regeneration in a transected sciatic nerve through degenerated skeletal muscle alone. METHODS: In two of the three experimental rat groups, 10 mm of the left sciatic nerve was transected and removed. The proximal and distal ends of the transected sciatic nerve were then approximated and surrounded with either (a) a degenerated skeletal muscle graft; or (b) a graft containing both degenerated skeletal muscle and vein. In the group receiving the combined vein and skeletal muscle graft, the vein walls were subsequently sutured to the proximal and distal nerve stump epineurium. Sciatic functional index (SFI) was used for assessment of functional recovery. Tracing study and histological procedures were used to assess axonal regeneration. RESULTS: At 60 days, the gait functional recovery as well as the mean number of myelinated axons in the middle and distal parts of the sciatic nerve significantly increased in the group with the vein graft compared to rats with only the muscular graft (P < 0.05). Mean diameter of myelinated nerve fiber of the distal sciatic nerve was also improved with the vein graft compared to the muscle graft alone (P < 0.05). The mean number of DiI-labeled motor neurons in the L4-L5 spinal segment increased in the vein with muscle group but was not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that a graft consisting of not only predegenerated muscle, but also predegenerated muscle with vein more effectively supported nerve regeneration, thus promoting functional recovery after sciatic nerve injury in rats.

The Effects of L-arginine on the Hippocampus of Male Rat Fetuses under Maternal Stress.

INTRODUCTION: Prenatal stress has deleterious effects on the development of the brain and is associated with behavioral and psychosocial problems in childhood and adulthood. This study aimed to determine the protective effect of L-arginine on fetal brain under maternal stress. METHODS: Twenty pregnant Wistar rats (weighting 200-230 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=5 for each group). The first nonstress and stress groups received 2 mL of normal saline and the other nonstress and stress two groups received L-arginine (200 mg/kg, IP) from their 5(th) to 20(th) days of pregnancy. The pregnant rats were killed on 20(th) day and the brain fetuses removed and prefrontal cortical thickness, total neurons in the prefrontal cortex and in the areas of CA1, CA2, and CA3 of the hippocampus were measured and counted. Nitrite levels in the brain were measured as an indicator for nitric oxide (NO) level. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease of mean number of pyramidal cells in the CA1 in prenatal stress group compared to nonstress and nonstress plus arginine groups. The NO level in brain tissue increased significantly in the stress plus arginine (3.8±0.4 nmol/mg) and in nonstress rats (2.9±0.3 nmol/mg) compared to the stress group (1.8±0.1 nmol/mg). Prefrontal cortical thickness decreased significantly in stress rats (1.2±0.09 mm) compared to the nonstress plus arginine (1.7±0.15 mm) and nonstress (1.6±0.13 mm) groups. DISCUSSION: Results indicated that prenatal stress could lead to neurodegeneration of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of rat fetuses. L-arginine as a precursor of NO synthesis had neuroprotective effect during prenatal stress and could be used an effective treatment for stress.

Age-associated changes on axonal regeneration and functional outcome after spinal cord injury in rats.

This study was conducted to evaluate the association between aging and regenerative potential of spinal cord injury. Three groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats, including young (40 days), mature (5-6 months) and old (28-29 months) were spinally hemisected at the L1 level. The locomotor performance was assessed weekly for eight weeks after lesion using locomotors' rating scale developed by Basso, Bresnahan and Beattie (BBB). In the tracing study, retrograde labeled neuron was counted in the lateral vestibular nucleus for axonal regeneration. From 4-8 weeks, the functional recovery of the young and mature age rats was significantly increased in comparison to the old age group. At 8 weeks, young and mature animals achieved a plateau score of (mean ± SD), 17 ± 1.47 and 16.8 ± 0.70 respectively, and the old rats reached an average score of 13.8±1.63 (P<0.05). The mean number of labeled neurons in the vestibular nucleus in the young group (mean ± SD): 32.05 ± 1.03 increase significantly compared to the older age group 5.01 ± 1.31 (P<0.05). Current findings suggest that axonal repair and functional improvement decrease in aged animals after partial spinal cord injury. Thus, the aging process may affect the regenerative capacity of the injured central nervous system, and axonal regeneration is age dependent.

The effect of vitamin D on vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Most of the women suffer from vaginal atrophy and dryness, and therefore, efficient and safe treatment is needed to improve vaginal lubrication. Vitamin D has several important functions which may be effective in proliferation and repair of the epithelial tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D vaginal suppositories on maturation index, pH, and dryness in postmenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women were enrolled in this double-blind clinical trial, in whom menopause occurred at least one year ago. Those women who had an abnormal Papanicolaou smear, had undergone hormonal treatment, or have had vaginal infection in the previous year were excluded. Forty-four women who found eligible were randomized into two equal groups, the treatment and control groups, which received vitamin D and placebo vaginal suppository daily for 8 weeks, respectively. Vaginal pH and maturation value were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Pain, dryness, and paleness were assessed before treatment and at the end of the 2, 4, and 8 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: In the treatment group, the number (Mean ± SD) of superficial cells increased (69.76 ± 12.4) and vaginal pH decreased (1.42 ± 0.67) significantly compared to the control group after 56 days. The mean pain significantly reduced after 8 weeks in the treatment group (1.23 ± 0.53) compared to the control group 1.95 ± 0.74 (P < 0.001). The mean of dryness and paleness reduced significantly in the treatment group versus control at 56 days. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D is effective in improving the maturation index and decreased the pH and dryness of the vaginal atrophy due to menopause.