Transducer model produces facilitation from opposite-sign flanks.
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Small spots, lines and Gabor patterns can be easier to detect when they are superimposed upon similar spots, lines and Gabor patterns. Traditionally, such facilitation has been understood to be a consequence of nonlinear contrast transduction. Facilitation has also been reported to arise from non-overlapping patterns with opposite sign. We point out that this result does not preclude the traditional explanation for superimposed targets. Moreover, we find that facilitation from opposite-sign flanks is weaker than facilitation from same-sign flanks. Simulations with a transducer model produce opposite-sign facilitation. (+info)
p75 neurotrophin receptor-mediated neuronal death is promoted by Bcl-2 and prevented by Bcl-xL.
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The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) has been shown to mediate neuronal death through an unknown pathway. We microinjected p75NTR expression plasmids into sensory neurons in the presence of growth factors and assessed the effect of the expressed proteins on cell survival. We show that, unlike other members of the TNFR family, p75NTR signals death through a unique caspase-dependent death pathway that does not involve the "death domain" and is differentially regulated by Bcl-2 family members: the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-2 both promoted, and was required for, p75NTR killing, whereas killing was inhibited by its homologue Bcl-xL. These results demonstrate that Bcl-2, through distinct molecular mechanisms, either promotes or inhibits neuronal death depending on the nature of the death stimulus. (+info)
Activation of visceral afferents by bradykinin and ischemia: independent roles of PKC and prostaglandins.
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We have shown that the cyclooxygenase (COX) and protein kinase C (PKC) systems both contribute to afferent activation in response to bradykinin (BK) and abdominal ischemia. Because the contribution from PKC to C fiber activation may depend, in part, on prostaglandin production, we hypothesized that an intact COX system is required for PKC-induced activation of ischemically sensitive abdominal visceral afferents by BK and abdominal ischemia. Single-unit activity of abdominal visceral C fibers was recorded from the right thoracic sympathetic chain of anesthetized cats. Three repeated injections of BK (1-2 micrograms/kg ia) produced similar increases in afferent activity from the baseline of 1.32 +/- 0.24, 1.37 +/- 0.32, and 1.41 +/- 0.24 impulses/s (n = 5). In another group of animals (n = 5), the second and third BK injections were performed after COX inhibition (indomethacin; 5 mg/kg iv) and then combined COX + PKC inhibition [PKC-(19-36), 20 micrograms/kg iv], respectively. Inhibition of COX reduced (P < 0.05) the afferent response to BK (0.59 +/- 0.12 impulses/s) compared with the unblocked condition (1.14 +/- 0.27 impulses/s), whereas combined COX + PKC inhibition further attenuated the increase from baseline (0.18 +/- 0.09 impulses/s; P < 0.05). Similar results were obtained in a third group of cats when the antagonists were administered in reverse order (n = 7). In a fourth group of cats (n = 9) that were pretreated with indomethacin, ischemia increased afferent activity (0.78 +/- 0.17 impulses/s). However, neural activity was attenuated (0.51 +/- 0.14 impulses/s; P < 0.05) during a second bout of ischemia in the presence of indomethacin + PKC-(19-36). These results suggest that the contribution from PKC to the activation of ischemically sensitive C fibers, particularly by BK, does not require an intact cyclooxygenase system. (+info)
Identification of barosensitive neurons in the mediobasal forebrain using juxtacellular labeling.
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Previous investigations suggest a possible role in cardiovascular regulation for neurons of the mediobasal forebrain. The present study was designed to determine the location and morphology of basal forebrain neurons that respond to acute changes in arterial blood pressure. Extracellular recordings of single units were done in alpha-chloralose- or urethan-anesthetized rats. The effect of cardiovascular pressor (phenylephrine, 1-2 microgram/kg iv) and depressor (sodium nitroprusside, 0.5-1 microgram/kg iv) events on the discharge rates of units was determined. Some of the neurons tested were subsequently filled with biocytin using the juxtacellular method. Brain sections were processed using the avidin-biotin complex reaction to reveal a Golgi-like appearance of the neuron. Of 32 neurons located in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (hDB), 13 (41%) were found to be excited by depressor events. Barosensitive biocytin-labeled cells were located in all regions of the hDB and had small- to medium-sized cell bodies with sparse and simple dendritic morphology. Only 2 of 47 neurons tested in the region of the olfactory tubercle, islands of Calleja (IC), and ventral pallidum responded to changes in arterial blood pressure. The results of the present investigation suggest a role in the regulation of cardiovascular function for neurons of the hDB. The findings also suggest that most neurons in the olfactory tubercle, including the IC complex, do not respond to acute changes in arterial blood pressure. (+info)
Visceral afferent activation-induced changes in sympathetic nerve activity and baroreflex sensitivity.
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The following experiments were done to determine whether changes in baroreflex sensitivity evoked by cervical vagus nerve stimulation are due to sympathoexcitation mediated by the parabrachial nucleus. The relative contribution of cardiopulmonary and general gastric afferents within the cervical vagus nerve to the depression in baroreflex sensitivity are also investigated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats anesthetized with thiobutabarbital sodium (50 mg/kg) were instrumented to measure blood pressure and heart rate or for the continuous monitoring of renal sympathetic nerve activity. Baroreflex sensitivity was measured using bolus injections of phenylephrine. Electrical stimulation of the cervical vagus (with or without the aortic depressor nerve) or the abdominal vagus nerve produced a significant increase in renal nerve activity and a decrease in baroreflex sensitivity. Both of these effects were blocked after the microinjection of lidocaine into the parabrachial nucleus before nerve stimulation. Therefore, we conclude that an increase in the activity of cardiac, pulmonary, or general gastric afferents mediated the increased sympathetic output and decreased baroreflex sensitivity via a pathway involving the parabrachial nucleus. (+info)
Threshold for efferent bladder nerve firing in the rat.
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In this study, the mechanism involved in the initiation of voiding was investigated. Bladder pressure and bladder and urethral nerve activity were recorded in the anesthetized rat. Bladder nerve activity was resolved into afferent and efferent activity by means of a theoretical model. The beginning of an active bladder contraction was defined as the onset of bladder efferent firing at a certain time (t0). From t0 onward, bladder efferent activity increased linearly during deltat seconds (rise time) to a maximum. The pressure at t0 was 1.0 +/- 0.4 kPa, the afferent nerve activity at t0 was 2.0 +/- 0.6 microV (53 +/- 15% of maximum total nerve activity), and deltat was 11 +/- 13 s. Between contractions the afferent activity at t0 was never exceeded. Urethral afferent nerve activity started at bladder pressures of 2.1 +/- 1.1 kPa. Therefore, we concluded that urethral afferent nerve activity does not play a role in the initiation of bladder contractions; voiding contractions presumably are initiated by bladder afferent nerve activity exceeding a certain threshold. (+info)
Specification of somatosensory area identity in cortical explants.
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The H-2Z1 transgene is restricted to a subset of layer IV neurons in the postnatal mouse cortex and delineates exactly the somatosensory area. Expression of the H-2Z1 transgene was used as an areal marker to determine when the parietal cortex becomes committed to a somatosensory identity. We have shown previously that grafts dissected from embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5) H-2Z1 cortex and transplanted into the cortex of nontransgenic newborns express H-2Z1 according to their site of origin. Expression was not modified on heterotopic transplantation (). In the present study, whole cortical explants were isolated at E12.5 from noncortical tissues. The explants developed a regionalized expression of H-2Z1, indicating that regionalization takes place and is maintained in vitro. We used this property and confronted embryonic H-2Z1 cortex with presumptive embryonic sources of regionalizing signals in an in vitro grafting procedure. A great majority of E11.5-E13.5 grafts maintained their presumptive expression of H-2Z1 when grafted heterotopically on nontransgenic E13.5-E15.5 explants. However, a significantly lower proportion of E11.5 parietal grafts expressed H-2Z1 in occipital compared with parietal cortex, indicating that somatosensory identity may be partially plastic at E11.5. Earlier stages could not be tested because the E10.5 grafts failed to develop in vitro. The data suggest that commitment to the expression of a somatosensory area-specific marker coincides with the onset of neurogenesis and occurs well before the birth of the non-GABAergic neurons that express H-2Z1 in vivo. (+info)
Single- and multi-whisker channels in the ascending projections from the principal trigeminal nucleus in the rat.
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This study investigated the relationship between axonal projections and receptive field properties of whisker-sensitive cells in the principal trigeminal sensory nucleus of the rat. The labeling of small groups of trigeminothalamic axons with biotinylated dextran amine disclosed two broad classes of axons; a majority of fibers (68%; n = 107) project to a single barreloid of the ventral posteromedial nucleus, and the remaining group includes axons that innervate both the posterior group of the thalamus and the tectum. Additional terminal sites for axons of this latter group may include the pretectum, the zona incerta, the medial part of the medial geniculate nucleus, and the ventral posteromedial nucleus. Corresponding to these two classes of fibers, 67% of the cells in the principal trigeminal nucleus (n = 313) have single-whisker receptive fields, whereas the rest of the population have receptive fields composed of multiple whiskers. The tonic or phasic properties of the responses apparently bear no relation to the axonal projection patterns. Solid retrograde labeling of cells that project to the ventral posteromedial nucleus and intracellular staining revealed that single-whisker cells have small somata and narrow, barrelette-bounded dendritic trees. In contrast, multi-whisker neurons have large multipolar somata, expansive dendritic trees, and many respond antidromically to stimulation of the superior colliculus. Together, these results provide evidence for two main channels of vibrissal information: a single-whisker channel that links trigeminal barrelettes to their corresponding barreloids, and a multi-whisker channel that distributes principally in the posterior group and tectum. (+info)