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Graïc JM, Mazzariol S, Casalone C, Petrella A, Gili C, Gerussi T, Orekhova K, Centelleghe C, Cozzi B. Report on the brain of the monk seal (Monachus monachus, Hermann, 1779). Anat Histol Embryol 2024; 53:e12986. [PMID: 37843436 DOI: 10.1111/ahe.12986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus, Hermann, 1779) is an endangered species of pinniped endemic to few areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Extensive hunting and poaching over the last two centuries have rendered it a rare sight, scattered mainly in the Aegean Sea and the western coast of North Africa. In a rare event, a female monk seal calf stranded and died in southern Italy (Brindisi, Puglia). During due necropsy, the brain was extracted and fixed. The present report is the first of a monk seal brain. The features reported are remarkably typical of a true seal brain, with some specific characteristics. The brain cortical circonvolutions, main fissures and the external parts are described, and an EQ was calculated. Overall, this carnivore adapted to aquatic life shares some aspects of its neuroanatomy and physiology with other seemingly distant aquatic mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Marie Graïc
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Sandro Mazzariol
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Cristina Casalone
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d'Aosta, Torino, Italy
| | - Antonio Petrella
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Foggia, Italy
| | | | - Tommaso Gerussi
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Ksenia Orekhova
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Cinzia Centelleghe
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
| | - Bruno Cozzi
- Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padova, viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Italy
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McClain AM, Field CL, Norris TA, Borremans B, Duignan PJ, Johnson SP, Whoriskey ST, Thompson-Barbosa L, Gulland FMD. The symptomatology and diagnosis of domoic acid toxicosis in stranded California sea lions ( Zalophus californianus): a review and evaluation of 20 years of cases to guide prognosis. Front Vet Sci 2023; 10:1245864. [PMID: 37850065 PMCID: PMC10577433 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1245864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Domoic acid (DA) is a glutaminergic excitatory neurotoxin that causes the morbidity and mortality of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus; CSL) and other marine mammals due to a suite of effects mostly on the nervous and cardiac systems. Between 1998 and 2019, 11,737 live-stranded CSL were admitted to The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC; Sausalito, CA, USA), over 2,000 of which were intoxicated by DA. A plethora of clinical research has been performed over the past 20 years to characterize the range of toxic effects of DA exposure on CSLs, generating the largest dataset on the effects of natural exposure to this toxin in wildlife. Materials and methods In this study, we review published methods for diagnosing DA intoxication, clinical presentation, and treatment of DA-intoxicated CSL and present a practical, reproducible scoring system called the neuroscore (NS) to help assess whether a DA-affected CSL is fit for release to the wild following rehabilitation. Logistic regression models were used to assess the relationships between outcome (released vs. euthanized or died) and multiple variables to predict the outcome for a subset of 92 stranded CSLs. Results The largest proportion of DA-intoxicated CSLs was adult females (58.6%). The proportions of acute and chronic cases were 63.5 and 36.5% respectively, with 44% of affected CSL released and 56% either dying naturally or euthanized. The average time in rehabilitation was 15.9 days (range 0-169) for all outcomes. The best-performing model (85% accuracy; area under the curve = 0.90) assessing the relationship between outcome and predictor variables consisted of four variables: final NS, change in NS over time, whether the animal began eating in rehabilitation, and the state of nutrition on admission. Discussion Our results provide longitudinal information on the symptomatology of CSL intoxicated by domoic acid and suggest that a behavioral scoring system is a useful tool to assess the fitness for the release of DA-intoxicated CSL.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cara L. Field
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | | | - Benny Borremans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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Righes Marafiga J, Baraban SC. Cell therapy for neurological disorders: Progress towards an embryonic medial ganglionic eminence progenitor-based treatment. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1177678. [PMID: 37123353 PMCID: PMC10140420 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1177678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Impairment of development, migration, or function of inhibitory interneurons are key features of numerous circuit-based neurological disorders, such as epilepsy. From a therapeutic perspective, symptomatic treatment of these disorders often relies upon drugs or deep brain stimulation approaches to provide a general enhancement of GABA-mediated inhibition. A more effective strategy to target these pathological circuits and potentially provide true disease-modifying therapy, would be to selectively add new inhibitory interneurons into these circuits. One such strategy, using embryonic medial ganglionic (MGE) progenitor cells as a source of a unique sub-population of interneurons, has already proven effective as a cell transplantation therapy in a variety of preclinical models of neurological disorders, especially in mouse models of acquired epilepsy. Here we will discuss the evolution of this interneuron-based transplantation therapy in acquired epilepsy models, with an emphasis on the recent adaptation of MGE progenitor cells for xenotransplantation into larger mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseane Righes Marafiga
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Scott C. Baraban
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Helen Wills Institute for Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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Simeone CA, Andrews JP, Johnson SP, Casalia M, Kochanski R, Chang EF, Cameron D, Dennison S, Inglis B, Scott G, Kruse-Elliott K, Okonski FF, Calvo E, Goulet K, Robles D, Griffin-Stence A, Kuiper E, Krasovec L, Field CL, Hoard VF, Baraban SC. Xenotransplantation of porcine progenitor cells in an epileptic California sea lion (Zalophus californianus): illustrative case. JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY. CASE LESSONS 2022; 3:CASE21417. [PMID: 36273868 PMCID: PMC9379678 DOI: 10.3171/case21417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Domoic acid (DA) is a naturally occurring neurotoxin harmful to marine animals and humans. California sea lions exposed to DA in prey during algal blooms along the Pacific coast exhibit significant neurological symptoms, including epilepsy with hippocampal atrophy. OBSERVATIONS Here the authors describe a xenotransplantation procedure to deliver interneuron progenitor cells into the damaged hippocampus of an epileptic sea lion with suspected DA toxicosis. The sea lion has had no evidence of seizures after the procedure, and clinical measures of well-being, including weight and feeding habits, have stabilized. LESSONS These preliminary results suggest xenotransplantation has improved the quality of life for this animal and holds tremendous therapeutic promise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire A. Simeone
- Sea Change Health, Kentfield, California
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California
| | - John P. Andrews
- Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | | | - Mariana Casalia
- Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Ryan Kochanski
- Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Edward F. Chang
- Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | | | | | - Ben Inglis
- Henry H. Wheeler, Jr. Brain Imaging Center, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | | | | | - F. Fabian Okonski
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California
| | - Eric Calvo
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California
| | - Kelly Goulet
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California
| | - Dawn Robles
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California
| | | | - Erin Kuiper
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California
| | | | - Cara L. Field
- The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, California; and
| | | | - Scott C. Baraban
- Department of Neurological Surgery & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
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Patel AD. Vocal learning as a preadaptation for the evolution of human beat perception and synchronization. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200326. [PMID: 34420384 PMCID: PMC8380969 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The human capacity to synchronize movements to an auditory beat is central to musical behaviour and to debates over the evolution of human musicality. Have humans evolved any neural specializations for music processing, or does music rely entirely on brain circuits that evolved for other reasons? The vocal learning and rhythmic synchronization hypothesis proposes that our ability to move in time with an auditory beat in a precise, predictive and tempo-flexible manner originated in the neural circuitry for complex vocal learning. In the 15 years, since the hypothesis was proposed a variety of studies have supported it. However, one study has provided a significant challenge to the hypothesis. Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that vocal learning is not a binary trait animals have or lack, but varies more continuously across species. In the light of these developments and of recent progress in the neurobiology of beat processing and of vocal learning, the current paper revises the vocal learning hypothesis. It argues that an advanced form of vocal learning acts as a preadaptation for sporadic beat perception and synchronization (BPS), providing intrinsic rewards for predicting the temporal structure of complex acoustic sequences. It further proposes that in humans, mechanisms of gene-culture coevolution transformed this preadaptation into a genuine neural adaptation for sustained BPS. The larger significance of this proposal is that it outlines a hypothesis of cognitive gene-culture coevolution which makes testable predictions for neuroscience, cross-species studies and genetics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniruddh D. Patel
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA
- Program in Brain, Mind, and Consciousness, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada
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Verga L, Ravignani A. Strange Seal Sounds: Claps, Slaps, and Multimodal Pinniped Rhythms. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.644497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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