SCAN：厌食女性大脑神经回路改变

近日，国际期刊Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience发表的一项研究结果表明，患厌食症的女性和正常女性在评价自己时的大脑活动有区别。

研究人员让参与此项研究的女性评价自己和自己的朋友，同时用功能性核磁共振成像（functional magnetic resonance imaging，fMRI）记录她们的大脑活动。参与者的任务包括阅读和三项评价：自我评价，评价自己的一个亲密的女性朋友及朋友眼中的自己。在评价自己时，患厌食症的女性与正常女性大脑活动不同。Krawczyk博士说自我评价时的大脑活动不同可能导致了厌食症的发生和维持，而厌食症关系到的不仅仅是食物本身，也影响了患者对自己和对社会的认识。

研究者通过fMRI观察了大脑楔前叶的两个区域--前扣带回和左额叶脑中间，进一步证实，楔前叶与自我意识（self-consciousness）和反射自我意识(reflectiveself-awareness)有关。

此项研究有助于厌食症的诊断，在下一步的研究中，研究者希望知道改变这两个大脑区域是否可以达到治疗的目的。

根据美国国家神经性厌食和相关疾病协会（National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders）的统计，美国有超过240万人有饮食障碍，女性的患病率达4%。神经性厌食症的死亡率高达10%，治疗方法是改变患者的饮食习惯，使得他们的饮食营养均衡，但是仅仅改变饮食无法治愈疾病本身。

编译自Study shows brain function differences in women with anorexia

doi:10.1093/scan/nss093
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NCoR1 Is a Conserved Physiological Modulator of Muscle Mass and Oxidative Function

Hiroyasu Yamamoto, Evan G. Williams, Laurent Mouchiroud, Carles Cantó, Weiwei Fan, Michael Downes, Christophe Héligon, Grant D. Barish, Béatrice Desvergne, Ronald M. Evans et al.

Transcriptional coregulators control the activity of many transcription factors and are thought to have wide-ranging effects on gene expression patterns. We show here that muscle-specific loss of nuclear receptor corepressor 1 (NCoR1) in mice leads to enhanced exercise endurance due to an increase of both muscle mass and of mitochondrial number and activity. The activation of selected transcription factors that control muscle function, such as MEF2, PPARβ/, and ERRs, underpins these phenotypic alterations. NCoR1 levels are decreased in conditions that require fat oxidation, resetting transcriptional programs to boost oxidative metabolism. Knockdown of gei-8, the sole C. elegans NCoR homolog, also robustly increased muscle mitochondria and respiration, suggesting conservation of NCoR1 function. Collectively, our data suggest that NCoR1 plays an adaptive role in muscle physiology and that interference with NCoR1 action could be used to improve muscle function.