Centrosome loss in the evolution of planarians

The centrosome, a cytoplasmic organelle formed by cylinder-shaped centrioles surrounded by a microtubule-organizing matrix, is a hallmark of animal cells. The centrosome is conserved and essential for the development of all animal species described so far. Here, we show that planarians, and possibly other flatworms, lack centrosomes. In planarians, centrioles are only assembled in terminally differentiating ciliated cells through the acentriolar pathway to trigger the assembly of cilia. We identified a large set of conserved proteins required for centriole assembly in animals and note centrosome protein families that are missing from the planarian genome. Our study uncovers the molecular architecture and evolution of the animal centrosome and emphasizes the plasticity of animal cell biology and development.     

Unconditioned response to electric shock: mechanism in planarians

Some implications of a mathematical theory relating neuronal geometry to the parameters of excitation in unconditioned response of planarians to electric shock are experimentally verified. The regions and patterns of primary neural excitation depend on the relation between the distribution of neural sizes and the wave form of the electric stimulus.     

Localization of porphyrin fluorescence in planarians

Two species of planarians were studied by fluorescence microscopy. Red fluorescence of uroporphyrin was observed localized in the epidermal rhabdites and subepidermal rhabdite-containing gland cells. Fluorescence was observed in isolated rhabdites of homogenates, but was not seen in rhabdites of the living animal. The identity of rhabdites was established by their location, shape, size, and acid-ophilic staining properties.     

Language control in the bilingual brain

How does the bilingual brain distinguish and control which language is in use? Previous functional imaging experiments have not been able to answer this question because proficient bilinguals activate the same brain regions irrespective of the language being tested. Here, we reveal that neuronal responses within the left caudate are sensitive to changes in the language or the meaning of words. By demonstrating this effect in populations of German-English and Japanese-English bilinguals, we suggest that the left caudate plays a universal role in monitoring and controlling the language in use.     

Dopamine: release from the brain in vivo by amantadine

After dopamine stores in the caudate nucleus of cats were labeled with [(3)H]dopamine, the ventricular system was perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid. The addition of amantadine to the perfusing fluid caused a doserelated increase in the concentrations of [(3)H]dopamine appearing in the perfusion effluent. Subthreshold concentrations of amantadine also enhanced the efflux of [(3)H]dopamine induced by electrical stimulation of the caudate nucleus.     

Effect of ribonuclease on retention of conditioned response in regenerated planarians

Conditioned planarians were transected and allowed to regenerate in a ribonuclease solution or in pond water. Heads which had regenerated in ribonuclease displayed a retention level equal to that of head and tail sections which had regenerated in pond water. However, tails regenerated in ribonuclease performed randomly although they could be retrained to criterion.     

Lateralized cognitive processes and lateralized task control in the human brain

The principles underlying human hemispheric specialization are poorly understood. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging of letter and visuospatial decision tasks with identical word stimuli to address two unresolved problems. First, hemispheric specialization depended on the nature of the task rather than on the nature of the stimulus. Second, analysis of frontal candidate regions for cognitive control showed increased coupling between left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left inferior frontal gyrus during letter decisions, whereas right ACC showed enhanced coupling with right parietal areas during visuospatial decisions. Cognitive control is thus localized in the same hemisphere as task execution.     

Benzodiazepines: anxiety-reducing activity by reduction of serotonin turnover in the brain

The anxiety-reducing effects of minor tranquilizers in the rat conflict test were mimicked by serotonin antagonists and by p-chlorophenylalanine, an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis; the depressant effects of the minor tranquilizers were mimicked by norepinephrine antagonists. Intraventricular injections of serotonin led to a suppression of behavior, and also antagonized the anxiety-reducing action of benzodiazeprines. Intraventricular injections of norepinephrine led to a release of punished behavior from suppression, and also antagonized the depressant action of benzodiazepines. The anxiety-reducing activity, and the decrease in serotonin turnover induced by benzodiazepines, were maintained over repeated doses, whereas depressant activity, and the decrease induced in norepinephrine turnover, both rapidly underwent tolerance. Tranquilizers may exert their anxiety-reducing effects by a reduction of serotonin activity in a behaviorally suppressive punishment system, and they may exert their depressant effects by a reduction of norepinephrine activity in a behaviorally facilitatory reward system.     

Norepinephrine: release from brain by d-amphetamine in vivo

After injection of H(3)-norepinephrine into the left lateral cerebral ventricle of cats, the lateral and third cerebral ventricles were perfused with an artificial cerebrospinal fluid. Addition of d-amphetamine to the perfusion fluid caused a significant increase in the concentration of H(3)-norepinephrine in the effluent.     

Pemoline levels in brain: enhancement by dimethyl sulfoxide

Pemoline-C(14) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and injected intraperitoneally into rats was found in larger amounts in the brain than was a similar dose given in 0.3 percent tragacanth suspension. This appeared to be related to a partial breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in vivo by the dimethyl sulfoxide.     

Aluminum in seawater: control by biological activity

The distribution and concentration of dissolved aluminum in a vertical hydrographic profile in the Mediterranean Sea near Corsica are controlled by biological activity. The concentrations of dissolved silica and aluminum covary in the profile and exhibit minima coincident with the seasonal thermocline, a nitrate minimum, and an oxygen maximum. These observations support the hypothesis that the silicon and aluminum cycles in the oceans are linked through the activity of diatoms.     

Aluminum in seawater: control by inorganic processes

The distribution of dissolved aluminum in open ocean waters is probably controlled by the solution of aluminum from atmospherically derived particles and bottom sediments balanced against scavenging by siliceous shells of dead organisms. Variations in the aluminum concentration within vertical hydrographic profiles are small as compared to those for other trace metals. Aluminum concentrations in the Atlantic and Pacific are inversely related to the silica contents of these oceans.     

Object-carrying by rats: an approach to the behavior produced by brain stimulation

Rats were provided with opportunity to turn reinforcing hypothalamic stimulation on and off by traversing back and forth across a chamber. When provided with edible and inedible objects, all animals that self-stimulated carried them from the stimulation to the nonstimulation side. Neither food deprivation nor a history of stimulus-bound eating produced a preference for the edible objects. Equivalent stimulation provided without regard to the animals' location in the chamber did not elicit object-carrying. Results are interpreted in terms of the natural conditions which normally elicit this species-specific unit of behavior. Implications for understanding other behavior patterns elicited by hypothalamic stimulation are suggested.     

Alcohol drinking: abnormal intake caused by tetrahydropapaveroline in brain

Tetrahydropapaveroline (THP), a dopamine-dopaldehyde condensation product, was delivered directly into the cerebral ventricle of rats automatically every 15 minutes for 12 days. The animals were given access to both water and ethylalcohol, the latter being presented in 12 concentrations from 3 to 30 percent. Within 3 to 6 days of the start of the infusion of THP, the rats, which normally rejected alcohol, drank alcohol solutions in increasingly excessive amounts; this was accompanied by symptoms that were similar to those of withdrawal and intoxication. These results provide evidence that an abnormal metabolite in the brain may produce the addictive state caused by alcoholic beverages.     

Choline: high-affinity uptake by rat brain synaptosomes

Synaptosomes from rat brain accumulate choline by two kinetically distinct processes, a high-affinity uptake system [Michaelis constant (K(m)) = 1 x 10(-6)M], and a low-affinity system (K(m) = 9 x 10(-5)M). The high-affinity uptake system requires sodium, and is associated with considerable formation of acetylcholine. The low-affinity uptake system is less dependent on sodium, and does not appear to be associated with a marked degree of acetylcholine formation. The high-affinity choline uptake appears to represent selective choline accumulation by cholinergic neurons.     

Silica in sea water: control by silica minerals

Silicate minerals typical of those carried in the suspended load of streams release silica to silica-deficient sea water and abstract silica from silicaenriched sea water. Experimental rates of release and uptake permit the conclusion that the suspended solids carried into the oceans by streams are a major control of the concentration of silica in the ocean.     

Fecal bacterial beta-glucuronidase: control by diet

The effect of a mixed Western, high meat diet or a nonmeat diet on the intestinal bacterial beta-glucuronidase activity was studied in human volunteers. This enzyme was significantly higher in stools of subjects on a high meat diet as compared to the nonmeat regimen. Thus, intestinal flora of subjects on a high meat diet was more able to hydrolyze glucuronide conjugates than that of individuals on a nonmeat diet. This, in turn, may raise the amount of substances, such as carcinogens, within the colonic lumen.