Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Emotion

Over the past three decades, insights into the role of the cerebellum in emotional processing have substantially increased. Indeed, methodological refinements in cerebellar lesion studies and major technological advancements in the field of neuroscience are in particular responsible to an exponential growth of knowledge on the topic. It is timely to review the available data and to critically evaluate the current status of the role of the cerebellum in emotion and related domains. The main aim of this article is to present an overview of current facts and ongoing debates relating to clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological findings on the role of the cerebellum in key aspects of emotion. Experts in the field of cerebellar research discuss the range of cerebellar contributions to emotion in nine topics. Topics include the role of the cerebellum in perception and recognition, forwarding and encoding of emotional information, and the experience and regulation of emotional states in relation to motor, cognitive, and social behaviors. In addition, perspectives including cerebellar involvement in emotional learning, pain, emotional aspects of speech, and neuropsychiatric aspects of the cerebellum in mood disorders are briefly discussed. Results of this consensus paper illustrate how theory and empirical research have converged to produce a composite picture of brain topography, physiology, and function that establishes the role of the cerebellum in many aspects of emotional processing.

A Method for Recovery of Viruses from Oysters and Hard and Soft Shell Clams

A method for recovery of small numbers of enteric viruses from oysters and hard and soft shell clams was developed. As few as 3 plaque forming units (PFU) of virus per 100 g of shellfish homogenate could be detected with an overall accuracy of ca. 60 percent in each of the three species tested.

Improved method and test strategy for recovery of enteric viruses from shellfish

An improved recovery method and testing strategy were devised for recovery of low numbers of enteric viruses from each of three commercially important shellfish species. Effective recovery of virus depended as much upon details of the test strategy adopted for use of the improved method with each species as on the method itself. The most important test details involved sample composition, pool size, and method of use of cell cultures. Recovery sensitivity measured permitted detection of 25 to 3 plaque-forming units of enteroviruses and 100 to 27 plaque-forming units of reovirus through their recovery in cell culture, with effectivenesses averaging 64 and 46%, respectively. Test samples prepared by the improved recovery method were virtually cytotoxicity free. Optimal recovery of virus on 45-cm2 cell culture monolayers was obtained with 1-ml inocula adsorbed for 2 h. The most effective recovery of virus from shellfish samples was made by a sequential adsorption procedure which allowed equal exposure of an entire sample to each of two or more cell cultures. Removal of nonviral contaminants from test samples by antibiotic treatment was preferable to the use of ether or membrane filtration procedures.

Bioaccumulation and depuration of enteroviruses by the soft-shelled clam, Mya arenaria

Low levels of feces-associated natural virus, simulating virus numbers estimated to exist in moderately polluted shellfish-growing waters, were used to evaluate the effectiveness of depuration as a virus depletion procedure in soft-shell clams. Depuration effectiveness depended upon the numbers of virus bioaccumulated and whether virus was solids associated. Virus uptake was greatest when viruses were solids associated and pollution levels were equivalent or greater than those likely to be found in grossly polluted growing waters. Virtually all bioaccumulated feces-associated natural virus was deposited within either the hepatopancreas or siphon tissues. Viruses usually were eliminated within a 24- to 48-h depuration period. Dependence upon depuration of clams to elimate health hazards of virus etiology involved a risk factor not measureable in the study. The greatest reduction of health risks would come from the routine depuration of clams harvested from growing waters of good sanitary quality.