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Journal ArticleDOI

Epigenetic codes in cognition and behaviour.

01 Sep 2008-Behavioural Brain Research (Elsevier)-Vol. 192, Iss: 1, pp 70-87
TL;DR: Recent findings on the role and mechanisms of epigenetic codes in the brain are described, and their implication in synaptic plasticity, cognitive functions and psychiatric disorders are discussed.
About: This article is published in Behavioural Brain Research.The article was published on 2008-09-01. It has received 260 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Epigenetic code & Epigenetics.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Current cases of stress and behavioral disorders found in youngsters are discussed, and the importance of considering epigenetic processes affecting the development of cognitive abilities and learning within the educational environment and for the developed of teaching methodologies is highlighted.
Abstract: Despite current advances on the relevance of environmental cues and epigenetic mechanisms in biological processes, including behavior, little attention has been paid to the potential link between epigenetic influences and educational sciences. For instance, could the learning environment and stress determine epigenetic marking, affecting students' behavior development? Could this have consequences on educational outcomes? So far, it has been shown that environmental stress influences neurological processes and behavior both in humans and rats. Through epigenetic mechanisms, offspring from stressed individuals develop altered behavior without any exposure to traumatizing experiences. Methylated DNA and noncoding RNAs regulate neurological processes such as synaptic plasticity and brain cortex development in children. The malfunctioning of these processes is associated with several neurological disorders, and these findings open up new avenues for the design of enriched environments for education and therapy. In this article, we discuss current cases of stress and behavioral disorders found in youngsters, and highlight the importance of considering epigenetic processes affecting the development of cognitive abilities and learning within the educational environment and for the development of teaching methodologies.

10 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results suggest that DNMT3B polymorphisms may explain variability in the IQ response to either enriched or impoverished environmental conditions, and the applied methodology is shown as a potentially valuable tool for determining genetic markers of cognitive plasticity.

9 citations


Cites background from "Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..."

  • ...mental influences and gene-environment interactions have also been suggested to play an important role in shaping cognition [30,38,47,62]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review describes recent work supporting the concept of neuroepigenetic mechanisms underlying individuation, possible roles of transgenerational effects, and implications for precision medicine.
Abstract: This commentary reviews the concept of experience-dependent epigenetic modifications in the CNS as a core mechanism underlying individuality and individuation at the behavioral level. I use the term individuation to refer to the underlying neurobiological processes that result in individuality, with the discussion focusing on individuality of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral repertoire. The review describes recent work supporting the concept of neuroepigenetic mechanisms underlying individuation, possible roles of transgenerational effects, and implications for precision medicine.

9 citations

Dissertation
27 Nov 2018
TL;DR: Le consortium international FANTOM a fourni un des atlas de sites de depart de the transcription (TSSs) les plus importants a ce jour and nous avons note that the majorite d'entre eux sont detectes dans les regions non-codantes, notamment les introns.
Abstract: L'expression des genes est etroitement regulee par differentes regions regulatrices afin d'assurer une grande variete de types cellulaires et de fonctions. Identifier ces regions regulatrices actives, leurs caracteristiques et comprendre comment elles interagissent entre elles dans chaque type cellulaire est un enjeu majeur. Cette connaissance permettrait notamment de mieux comprendre l'impact des variants genomiques tres souvent localises dans les regions non-codantes. Par ailleurs, le developpement de cancers et autres maladies est lie a des deregulations des controles de l'expression des genes. Pour pouvoir envisager des traitements cibles et tendre vers une medecine de precision, il est important de comprendre comment toute cette machinerie est orchestree.Plusieurs approches ont ete developpees pour repondre a cette question, la plupart basees sur des donnees experimentales de modification d'histones, methylation et facteurs de transcription (TFs). Cependant, ces donnees sont limitees a des echantillons specifiques et ne peuvent pas etre generees pour tous les regulateurs et tous les patients. Mes travaux de these ont porte, dans une premiere partie, sur la modelisation de l'expression des genes uniquement a partir de l'information contenue dans la sequence ADN. Nous avons utilise un modele lineaire avec selection de variables, equivalent en terme de performances a des methodes non parametriques et simple a interpreter. Ce modele m'a permis de comparer plusieurs types de variables basees sur la sequence ADN, comme les motifs de fixation des TFs et la composition nucleotidique. Ces variables sont determinees pour differentes regions du gene afin d'evaluer leur pouvoir regulateur et leur contribution. Les introns seuls, dont la composition nucleotidique reflete celle de l'environnement du gene, expliquent une part importante de la variation de l'expression des genes. De plus, nous avons demontre que les domaines topologiques (TADs), dans lesquels les interactions sont favorisees, partagent une composition genomique similaire. Notre modele de prediction nous permet vraisemblablement de capturer, pour chaque individu, la composition des TADs actifs.Dans un second temps de mon travail, je me suis interessee aux regulations pouvant survenir dans les introns. Le consortium international FANTOM a fourni un des atlas de sites de depart de la transcription (TSSs) les plus importants a ce jour et nous avons note que la majorite d'entre eux sont detectes dans les regions non-codantes, notamment les introns. Nous avons donc entrepris un travail visant a explorer ces TSS introniques. Pour determiner si ces TSSs sont fonctionnels, je me suis interessee a la recherche de potentiels motifs regulateurs autour de ces signaux de transcription. Une fraction de ces signaux sont localises 2 bases en aval d'une repetition de Thymidines (T). Des evidences biochimiques et genetiques suggerent qu'au moins une partie de ces signaux correspondent a de longs ARNs non-codants sens-introniques exprimes de maniere tissu-specifique. Il semblerait egalement que la longueur des repetitions de Ts ait une influence sur la presence d'un signal de transcription au niveau de ces loci et, indirectement, sur l'expression du gene hote. Ces observations offrent une possible base moleculaire a l'effet de ces courtes repetitions en tandem de T.

8 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...2) qui font partie des marques épigénétiques [86]....

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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: In this paper, a group of 76 patients with bipolar disorder was examined over a period of two years, and the course of their cognitive functioning by testing among others memory and attention functions and the influence of clinical variables on that, such as mood and medication.
Abstract: Patients with a bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder suffer from extreme mood swings that take shape as depression and/or mania. Bimonthly, a group of 76 patients was neuropsychologically examined over a period of two years. Studied were the course of their cognitive functioning by testing among others memory and attention functions and the influence of clinical variables on that, such as mood and medication. The cognitive functioning turned out to vary strongly over time and could only be partially explained by the mentioned variables. Medication used in the treatment of psychotic symptoms turned out to have the strongest negative effects on cognitive functioning.

8 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
07 Jan 1993-Nature
TL;DR: The best understood form of long-term potentiation is induced by the activation of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor complex, which allows electrical events at the postsynaptic membrane to be transduced into chemical signals which, in turn, are thought to activate both pre- and post Synaptic mechanisms to generate a persistent increase in synaptic strength.
Abstract: Long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission in the hippocampus is the primary experimental model for investigating the synaptic basis of learning and memory in vertebrates. The best understood form of long-term potentiation is induced by the activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor complex. This subtype of glutamate receptor endows long-term potentiation with Hebbian characteristics, and allows electrical events at the postsynaptic membrane to be transduced into chemical signals which, in turn, are thought to activate both pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms to generate a persistent increase in synaptic strength.

11,123 citations


"Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..." refers background in this paper

  • ...These forms f plasticity reflect respectively, an increase and a decrease in he efficiency of synaptic transmission, and have been extenively studied in the hippocampus, a brain area required for earning and memory (for a review see [30])....

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Journal ArticleDOI
23 Feb 2007-Cell
TL;DR: The surface of nucleosomes is studded with a multiplicity of modifications that can dictate the higher-order chromatin structure in which DNA is packaged and can orchestrate the ordered recruitment of enzyme complexes to manipulate DNA.

10,046 citations


"Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Chronic xposure to an aggressor results in pronounced social avoidnce, prolonged downregulation of two splice variants of Bdnf, dnfIII and BdnfIV in the hippocampus and increased promoter imethylation of H3K27 [102], a mark of transcriptional represion [20]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
10 Aug 2001-Science
TL;DR: It is proposed that this epigenetic marking system represents a fundamental regulatory mechanism that has an impact on most, if not all, chromatin-templated processes, with far-reaching consequences for cell fate decisions and both normal and pathological development.
Abstract: Chromatin, the physiological template of all eukaryotic genetic information, is subject to a diverse array of posttranslational modifications that largely impinge on histone amino termini, thereby regulating access to the underlying DNA. Distinct histone amino-terminal modifications can generate synergistic or antagonistic interaction affinities for chromatin-associated proteins, which in turn dictate dynamic transitions between transcriptionally active or transcriptionally silent chromatin states. The combinatorial nature of histone amino-terminal modifications thus reveals a “histone code” that considerably extends the information potential of the genetic code. We propose that this epigenetic marking system represents a fundamental regulatory mechanism that has an impact on most, if not all, chromatin-templated processes, with far-reaching consequences for cell fate decisions and both normal and pathological development.

9,309 citations


"Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..." refers background in this paper

  • ...These nzymes operate both independently and in synergy to establish “histone code”, a highly dynamic and flexible chromatin markng that, in combination with chromatin-associated proteins, etermines the pattern of gene expression in response to given xternal stimuli [24,25]....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The heritability of methylation states and the secondary nature of the decision to invite or exclude methylation support the idea that DNA methylation is adapted for a specific cellular memory function in development.
Abstract: The character of a cell is defined by its constituent proteins, which are the result of specific patterns of gene expression. Crucial determinants of gene expression patterns are DNA-binding transcription factors that choose genes for transcriptional activation or repression by recognizing the sequence of DNA bases in their promoter regions. Interaction of these factors with their cognate sequences triggers a chain of events, often involving changes in the structure of chromatin, that leads to the assembly of an active transcription complex (e.g., Cosma et al. 1999). But the types of transcription factors present in a cell are not alone sufficient to define its spectrum of gene activity, as the transcriptional potential of a genome can become restricted in a stable manner during development. The constraints imposed by developmental history probably account for the very low efficiency of cloning animals from the nuclei of differentiated cells (Rideout et al. 2001; Wakayama and Yanagimachi 2001). A “transcription factors only” model would predict that the gene expression pattern of a differentiated nucleus would be completely reversible upon exposure to a new spectrum of factors. Although many aspects of expression can be reprogrammed in this way (Gurdon 1999), some marks of differentiation are evidently so stable that immersion in an alien cytoplasm cannot erase the memory. The genomic sequence of a differentiated cell is thought to be identical in most cases to that of the zygote from which it is descended (mammalian B and T cells being an obvious exception). This means that the marks of developmental history are unlikely to be caused by widespread somatic mutation. Processes less irrevocable than mutation fall under the umbrella term “epigenetic” mechanisms. A current definition of epigenetics is: “The study of mitotically and/or meiotically heritable changes in gene function that cannot be explained by changes in DNA sequence” (Russo et al. 1996). There are two epigenetic systems that affect animal development and fulfill the criterion of heritability: DNA methylation and the Polycomb-trithorax group (Pc-G/trx) protein complexes. (Histone modification has some attributes of an epigenetic process, but the issue of heritability has yet to be resolved.) This review concerns DNA methylation, focusing on the generation, inheritance, and biological significance of genomic methylation patterns in the development of mammals. Data will be discussed favoring the notion that DNA methylation may only affect genes that are already silenced by other mechanisms in the embryo. Embryonic transcription, on the other hand, may cause the exclusion of the DNA methylation machinery. The heritability of methylation states and the secondary nature of the decision to invite or exclude methylation support the idea that DNA methylation is adapted for a specific cellular memory function in development. Indeed, the possibility will be discussed that DNA methylation and Pc-G/trx may represent alternative systems of epigenetic memory that have been interchanged over evolutionary time. Animal DNA methylation has been the subject of several recent reviews (Bird and Wolffe 1999; Bestor 2000; Hsieh 2000; Costello and Plass 2001; Jones and Takai 2001). For recent reviews of plant and fungal DNA methylation, see Finnegan et al. (2000), Martienssen and Colot (2001), and Matzke et al. (2001).

6,691 citations


"Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..." refers background in this paper

  • ...ecause of the covalent nature of the binding of methyl groups o the C5 carbon in cytosine, DNA methylation is thought to be he most stable epigenetic mark [9]....

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  • ...DNA methylation is commonly associated with ranscriptional silencing because it can directly inhibit the bindng of transcription factors or regulators, or indirectly recruit ethyl-CpG binding proteins (MBPs), which have repressive hromatin-remodeling functions [9,10]....

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  • ...Most cases of RS are caused by mutaions in the gene coding for methyl-CpG binding protein 2 MeCP2) [62], a member of the MBP family involved in ong-term gene silencing (for a review see [9])....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Advances in the understanding of the mechanism and role of DNA methylation in biological processes are reviewed, showing that epigenetic mechanisms seem to allow an organism to respond to the environment through changes in gene expression.
Abstract: Cells of a multicellular organism are genetically homogeneous but structurally and functionally heterogeneous owing to the differential expression of genes. Many of these differences in gene expression arise during development and are subsequently retained through mitosis. Stable alterations of this kind are said to be 'epigenetic', because they are heritable in the short term but do not involve mutations of the DNA itself. Research over the past few years has focused on two molecular mechanisms that mediate epigenetic phenomena: DNA methylation and histone modifications. Here, we review advances in the understanding of the mechanism and role of DNA methylation in biological processes. Epigenetic effects by means of DNA methylation have an important role in development but can also arise stochastically as animals age. Identification of proteins that mediate these effects has provided insight into this complex process and diseases that occur when it is perturbed. External influences on epigenetic processes are seen in the effects of diet on long-term diseases such as cancer. Thus, epigenetic mechanisms seem to allow an organism to respond to the environment through changes in gene expression. The extent to which environmental effects can provoke epigenetic responses represents an exciting area of future research.

5,760 citations


"Epigenetic codes in cognition and b..." refers background in this paper

  • ...ot be explained by changes in the DNA sequence itself [3] reviewed in [4,5])....

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