Rhesus monkey models of Parkinson＇s disease were induced by injection of N-methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. Neural firings were recorded using microelectrodes placed in the interna segment of the globus p...Rhesus monkey models of Parkinson＇s disease were induced by injection of N-methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. Neural firings were recorded using microelectrodes placed in the interna segment of the globus pallidus. The wavelets and power spectra show gradual power reduction during the disease process along with increased firing rates in the Parkinson＇s disease state. Singular values of coefficients decreased considerably during tremor-related activity as well as in the Parkinson＇s disease state compared with normal signals, revealing that higher-frequency components weaken when Parkinson＇s disease occurs. We speculate that the death of neurons could be reflected by irregular frequency spike trains, and that wavelet packet decomposition can effectively detect the degradation of neurons and the loss of information transmission in the neural circuitry.展开更多
Oscillatory neuronal activity is the fundamental signature of neural networks.In the EEG literature,the oscillations are described as belonging to different frequency bands that are commonly used in clinical monitoring.
In certain extracellular environments, there would appear a kind of solitary pulse calcium waves in Rana pipiens sympathetic neurons, propagating inwards along the radial direction from the plasma membrane. To gain a ...In certain extracellular environments, there would appear a kind of solitary pulse calcium waves in Rana pipiens sympathetic neurons, propagating inwards along the radial direction from the plasma membrane. To gain a deeper insight into the waves, a model describing intracellular calcium waves in frog sympathetic neurons was established. In the piecewise linear approximation, the present model is identical to the Sneyd model. Thus, with (Sneyd's) method, analytical expressions for the wave speed and profiles of 1-D solitary pulse wave were obtained. A wave speed of (21.5 μm/s) was deduced, which agrees rather well with experimental data.展开更多
A large body of evidence indicates that astrocytes play an important role in a range of brain functions through calcium (Ca2+) signaling. Experimentally evoking Ca2+ signaling is a useful technique for investigating t...A large body of evidence indicates that astrocytes play an important role in a range of brain functions through calcium (Ca2+) signaling. Experimentally evoking Ca2+ signaling is a useful technique for investigating the functions of astrocytes. However,conventional stimulation methods typically have poor spatio-temporal precision,and some are invasive. Our group has developed a technique to overcome these problems,in which astrocytes are photostimulated with a femtosecond laser. In the current study,we applied this method to a hippocampal neural network to explore astrocytic functions in detail. The results revealed that applying photostimulation to astrocytes in a cultured hippocampal astrocyte-neuron network caused the following changes:(i) Syn-chronous Ca2+ oscillations in neurons were induced; (ii) spontaneous Ca2+ synchrony instantaneously emerged; and (iii) high-frequency spontaneous Ca2+ synchrony was regulated. Thus,astrocytic Ca2+ signaling evoked by photostimulation was found to modulate synchronous Ca2+ oscillations in hippocampal neurons. We propose that photostimulation with a femtosecond laser will serve as a powerful tool in investigating astrocytic functions at the network level.展开更多
基金supported in part by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No. 81071150,10872156the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program),No.2006AA04Z370
文摘Rhesus monkey models of Parkinson＇s disease were induced by injection of N-methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. Neural firings were recorded using microelectrodes placed in the interna segment of the globus pallidus. The wavelets and power spectra show gradual power reduction during the disease process along with increased firing rates in the Parkinson＇s disease state. Singular values of coefficients decreased considerably during tremor-related activity as well as in the Parkinson＇s disease state compared with normal signals, revealing that higher-frequency components weaken when Parkinson＇s disease occurs. We speculate that the death of neurons could be reflected by irregular frequency spike trains, and that wavelet packet decomposition can effectively detect the degradation of neurons and the loss of information transmission in the neural circuitry.
文摘Oscillatory neuronal activity is the fundamental signature of neural networks.In the EEG literature,the oscillations are described as belonging to different frequency bands that are commonly used in clinical monitoring.
文摘In certain extracellular environments, there would appear a kind of solitary pulse calcium waves in Rana pipiens sympathetic neurons, propagating inwards along the radial direction from the plasma membrane. To gain a deeper insight into the waves, a model describing intracellular calcium waves in frog sympathetic neurons was established. In the piecewise linear approximation, the present model is identical to the Sneyd model. Thus, with (Sneyd's) method, analytical expressions for the wave speed and profiles of 1-D solitary pulse wave were obtained. A wave speed of (21.5 μm/s) was deduced, which agrees rather well with experimental data.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30927001)the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (30925013)the"111"Project
文摘A large body of evidence indicates that astrocytes play an important role in a range of brain functions through calcium (Ca2+) signaling. Experimentally evoking Ca2+ signaling is a useful technique for investigating the functions of astrocytes. However,conventional stimulation methods typically have poor spatio-temporal precision,and some are invasive. Our group has developed a technique to overcome these problems,in which astrocytes are photostimulated with a femtosecond laser. In the current study,we applied this method to a hippocampal neural network to explore astrocytic functions in detail. The results revealed that applying photostimulation to astrocytes in a cultured hippocampal astrocyte-neuron network caused the following changes:(i) Syn-chronous Ca2+ oscillations in neurons were induced; (ii) spontaneous Ca2+ synchrony instantaneously emerged; and (iii) high-frequency spontaneous Ca2+ synchrony was regulated. Thus,astrocytic Ca2+ signaling evoked by photostimulation was found to modulate synchronous Ca2+ oscillations in hippocampal neurons. We propose that photostimulation with a femtosecond laser will serve as a powerful tool in investigating astrocytic functions at the network level.
