Modulation of Hydra attenuata rhythmic activity: phase response curve.
(1/799)
We investigated the effect of photic stimulation on the frequency of Hydra attenuata column contractions. We used positive or negative abrupt light transitions, single or repetitive light or darkness pulses, and alternation of light and darkness periods. The main results are: (a) The frequency of the contraction pulse trains (CPTs) varies transiently in response to an abrupt variation of the light intensity. (b) CPTs in progress can be inhibited by different types of photic stimuli. (c) The response time to a single photic stimulus varies during the inter-CPT interval and depends also on the polarity of the stimulus. (d) The CPTs are entrainable with repetitive light stimulation of various frequencies. (e) Long-lasting variations of the frequency of CPTs occur after the end of a repetitive light stimulation. We suggest that the mechanism responsible for the rhythym of column contractions is quite similar to that on which other biological rhythmic phenomena are based. (+info)
Time and memory: towards a pacemaker-free theory of interval timing.
(2/799)
A popular view of interval timing in animals is that it is driven by a discrete pacemaker-accumulator mechanism that yields a linear scale for encoded time. But these mechanisms are fundamentally at odds with the Weber law property of interval timing, and experiments that support linear encoded time can be interpreted in other ways. We argue that the dominant pacemaker-accumulator theory, scalar expectancy theory (SET), fails to explain some basic properties of operant behavior on interval-timing procedures and can only accommodate a number of discrepancies by modifications and elaborations that raise questions about the entire theory. We propose an alternative that is based on principles of memory dynamics derived from the multiple-time-scale (MTS) model of habituation. The MTS timing model can account for data from a wide variety of time-related experiments: proportional and Weber law temporal discrimination, transient as well as persistent effects of reinforcement omission and reinforcement magnitude, bisection, the discrimination of relative as well as absolute duration, and the choose-short effect and its analogue in number-discrimination experiments. Resemblances between timing and counting are an automatic consequence of the model. We also argue that the transient and persistent effects of drugs on time estimates can be interpreted as well within MTS theory as in SET. Recent real-time physiological data conform in surprising detail to the assumptions of the MTS habituation model. Comparisons between the two views suggest a number of novel experiments. (+info)
Visual evoked potentials in migraine patients: alterations depend on pattern spatial frequency.
(3/799)
Visual information is conducted by two parallel pathways (luminance- and contour-processing pathways) which are thought to be differentially affected in migraine and can be investigated by means of pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Components and habituation of VEPs at four spatial frequencies were compared between 26 migraineurs (13 without aura, MO; 13 with aura, MA) and 28 healthy volunteers. Migraineurs were recorded in the headache-free interval (at least 72 h before and after an attack). Five blocks of 50 responses to chequerboards of 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 cycles per degree (c.p.d.) were sequentially averaged and analysed for latency and amplitude. Differences in VEPs were dependent on spatial frequency. Only when small checks were presented, i.e. at high spatial frequency (2 and 4 c.p.d.), was the latency of N2 significantly prolonged in MA and did it tend to be delayed in MO subjects. Habituation behaviour was not significantly different between groups under the stimulating conditions employed. Prolonged N2 latency might be explained by the lack or attenuation of a contour-specific component N130 in migraineurs, indicating an imbalance of the two visual pathways with relative predominance of the luminance-processing Y system. These results reflect an interictally persisting dysfunction of precortical visual processing which might be relevant in the pathophysiology of migraine. (+info)
Ischemic preconditioning in 18- to 20-month-old gerbils: long-term survival with functional outcome measures.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In young animals, ischemic preconditioning protects CA1 hippocampal neurons against global ischemia. However, cerebral ischemia occurs most frequently in individuals aged >/=65 years. This study examined the protection provided by ischemic preconditioning in a population of aged (18- to 20-month-old) gerbils. METHODS: One group of animals was exposed to two 1.5-minute episodes of global ischemia separated by 24 hours and followed 72 hours later by a 5-minute occlusion of both carotid arteries. A second group was given 2 episodes of preconditioning only. Two other groups were exposed to 5 minutes of ischemia or sham surgery. The animals survived 10, 30, or 60 days. Functional and histological assessments were used to determine the extent of protection. RESULTS: Ten days after ischemia there was >80% protection of CA1 neurons in ischemic preconditioned animals compared with 6% in ischemic gerbils. Nevertheless, these preconditioned animals were impaired in open-field tests of habituation. In addition, CA1 dendritic field potentials were smaller in amplitude compared with those in sham animals. While there was a complete loss of staining for CA1 microtubule-associated protein-2 in ischemic animals, staining in ischemic preconditioned animals was normal. This suggests that dendritic abnormalities per se were not responsible for the observed functional deficits. CA1 cell survival declined to approximately 75% of sham values (P<0.05) at 60 days after ischemia. CONCLUSIONS: Ischemic preconditioning provided substantial neuroprotection in aged gerbils. Nonetheless, the striking dissociation between histological and functional protection provided by ischemic preconditioning in aged animals emphasizes the need to use functional end points and long-term survival when assessing neuroprotection. Although functional recovery was evident with increasing survival time, CA1 cell death continued, thereby raising the possibility that the level of neuroprotection attained was not permanent. (+info)
Spatial summation in the receptive fields of MT neurons.
(5/799)
Receptive fields (RFs) of cells in the middle temporal area (MT or V5) of monkeys will often encompass multiple objects under normal image viewing. We therefore have studied how multiple moving stimuli interact when presented within and near the RF of single MT cells. We used moving Gabor function stimuli, <1 degrees in spatial extent and approximately 100 msec in duration, presented on a grid of possible locations over the RF of the cell. Responses to these stimuli were typically robust, and their small spatial and temporal extent allowed detailed mapping of RFs and of interactions between stimuli. The responses to pairs of such stimuli were compared against the responses to the same stimuli presented singly. The responses were substantially less than the sum of the responses to the component stimuli and were well described by a power-law summation model with divisive inhibition. Such divisive inhibition is a key component of recently proposed "normalization" models of cortical physiology and is presumed to arise from lateral interconnections within a region. One open question is whether the normalization occurs only once in primary visual cortex or multiple times in different cortical areas. We addressed this question by exploring the spatial extent over which one stimulus would divide the response to another and found effective normalization from stimuli quite far removed from the RF center. This supports models under which normalization occurs both in MT and in earlier stages. (+info)
Effects of sustained phencyclidine exposure on sensorimotor gating of startle in rats.
(6/799)
Phencyclidine (PCP), a non-competitive NMDA antagonist with actions at multiple other central nervous system receptors, can cause both acute and lasting psychoses in humans, and has also been used in cross-species models of psychosis. Acute exposure to PCP in rats produces behavioral changes, including a loss of prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle reflex, which parallels the loss of PPI observed in schizophrenia patients. Sustained exposure to PCP in rats produces neuropathological changes in several limbic regions and prolonged behavioral abnormalities that may parallel neuropsychological deficits in schizophrenia. It is unclear whether sustained PCP exposure will also produce a loss of prepulse inhibition which parallels the decrease observed in schizophrenia patients. In the present study, we examined changes in PPI during and after sustained PCP administration, using 5-day PCP exposure via subcutaneous osmotic minipumps, or 14-day PCP exposure via repeated intraperitoneal injections. In both forms of drug delivery, PPI was disrupted during, but not after, sustained drug exposure. PPI does not appear to be sensitive to neuropathological effects of sustained PCP exposure. (+info)
The vibrational startle response of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria.
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Substratum vibrations elicit a fast startle response in unrestrained quiescent desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria). The response is graded with stimulus intensity and consists of a small, rapid but conspicuous movement of the legs and body, but it does not result in any positional change of the animal. With stimuli just above threshold, it begins with a fast twitch of the hindlegs generated by movements of the coxa-trochanter and femur-tibia joints. With increasing stimulus intensity, a rapid movement of all legs may follow, resulting in an up-down movement of the whole body. The magnitude of both the hindleg movement and electromyographic recordings from hindleg extensor and flexor tibiae muscles increases with stimulus amplitude and reaches a plateau at vibration accelerations above 20 m s(-)(2) (peak-to-peak). Hindleg extensor and flexor tibiae muscles in unrestrained animals are co-activated with a mean latency of 30 ms. Behavioural thresholds are as low as 0. 47 m s(-)(2) (peak-to-peak) at frequencies below 100 Hz but rise steeply above 200 Hz. The response habituates rapidly, and inter-stimulus intervals of 2 min or more are necessary to evoke maximal reactions. Intracellular recordings in fixed (upside-down) locusts also revealed co-activation of both flexor and extensor motor neurones with latencies of approximately 25 ms. This shows that the neuronal network underlying the startle movement is functional in a restrained preparation and can therefore be studied in great detail at the level of identified neurones. (+info)
Dizocilpine (MK-801) prevents the development of sensitization to ethanol in DBA/2J mice.
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DBA/2J mice repeatedly exposed to ethanol (2 g/kg, i.p. every 48 h for 8 days) exhibit sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol. Pretreatment with the NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine (0.2-0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) completely prevents the development of sensitization. Thus, NMDA receptors appear to play an important role in behavioural sensitization to ethanol. (+info)