Local circuit neurons of macaque monkey striate cortex: I. Neurons of laminae 4C and 5A

A study has been made, using Golgi preparations, of the organization of neurons with smooth or sparsely spined dendrites, here called local circuit neurons, of the macaque monkey primary visual cortex. Since these neurons include those responsible for inhibitory circuitry of the cortex, a better understanding of their anatomical organization is essential to concepts of functional organization of the region. This account describes those neurons found with cell body and major dendritic spread within the thalamic recipient zone of lamina 4C and its border zone with lamina 5A. The neurons are grouped firstly in terms of in which laminar division the soma occurred--4C beta, 4C alpha or the border zone of 5A-4C beta--and secondly, into varieties on the basis of the interlaminar projection patterns of their axons. Most, if not all, of the local circuit neurons of these divisions have interlaminar axon projections as well as an arbor local to their cell body and dendritic field. These interlaminar projections are highly specific, targeting from one to five laminar divisions depending on the variety of neuron; on this basis 17 varieties of local circuit neuron are described. While the number of varieties appears dauntingly large in terms of understanding the functional circuitry of the region, the clear-cut organization of the interlaminar links may provide clues as to the information processing that concerns each neuron. The local circuit neuron axon projections can be related to a wealth of information already available concerning the laminar organization of afferent axons and efferent cell groups, the organization of spiny neuron intrinsic relays (presumed to be excitatory), and physiological properties of different laminar divisions. It is hoped that the information derived from this study can serve as a guide for correlated physiological-anatomical studies on single cells of the region.     

在大鼠大脑皮质发育过程中5—HT受体亚型的改变

５－ＨＴ灌流幼年组及成年组大鼠脑片。幼年组６６．７％额叶后部Ⅳ层神经元的兴奋性突触后电位（ＥＰＳＰ）幅度降低７３．９％，膜电位和膜电阻无变化；此作用为５－ＨＴ１β激动剂ＴＦＭＰＰ模拟，为５－ＨＴ１Ａ／１β拮抗剂ｐｉｎｄｏｌｏｌ阻抑；５－ＨＴ不降低低钙高镁液中谷氨酸钠的去极化反应。提示幼年期５－ＨＴ经突触前膜５－ＨＴ１β受体抑制突触传递。５－ＨＴ灌流使成年组６０．９％神经ＥＰＳＰ降低３６．２％，伴随     

大鼠马桑内酯急性局灶型癫痫大脑运动皮质的形态计量研究

用微量马桑内酯注入Ｗｉｓｔａｒ大鼠左侧前肢运动皮质，造成急性局灶型癫痫。用光镜、电镜和体视学方法研究其运动皮质第Ｖ层结构的改变。结果显示：癫痫大鼠运动皮质灶区、灶旁区的神经细胞数和胶质细胞数均分别比对照大鼠灶区和灶旁区显著减少；灶区神经毡中突触性终末数，显著减少；突触性终末的面积分数明显减少，而树突的面积分数无变化；神经胶质突起的面积分数增加。     

Interocular mismatch in spatial frequency and directionality characteristics of striate cortical neurones

Summary Spatial-frequency dependence of directional tuning and directional bias was compared, for both eyes, in four previously established discrete classes of binocular feline striate cortical neurones. Two classes (respectively direction-selective or bidirectional at optimal spatial frequency) were directionality invariant at all spatial frequencies. In the remaining two classes, both directionbiased at optimal spatial frequency, directional bias either altered or reversed with change in spatial frequency. In all four classes, the directional tuning of a majority of neurones sharpened at high spatial frequency through either eye, although the bandpass characteristics were sometimes dissimilar for the two eyes. All neurones were of the same type through either eye. Amongst the two classes of direction-biased neurones, the strength of bias was commonly different through the two eyes. Where reversal of bias occurred, that reversal took place at different spatial frequencies for each eye. Thus, the direction and orientation preferences of cortical neurones are fixed at optimal spatial frequency, but their envelope of tuning to a gamut of spatial frequencies is not. These differences are potentially related to binocular coding of visual perspective, including dynamic object rotation in visual space.     

Voluntary head stabilization in space during oscillatory trunk movements in the frontal plane performed in weightlessness

 The ability voluntarily to stabilize the head in space during lateral rhythmic oscillations (0.59±0.09 Hz) of the trunk has been investigated during microgravity (μG) and normal gravity (nG) conditions (parabolic flights). Five healthy young subjects, who gave informed consent, were examined. The movements were performed with eyes open or eyes closed, during phases of either μG or nG. The main result was that head orientation with respect to vertical may be stabilized about the roll axis under μG with, as well as without vision, despite the reduction in vestibular afferent and muscle proprioceptive inputs. Moreover, the absence of head stabilization about the yaw axis confirms that the degrees of freedom of the neck can be independently controlled, as was previously reported. These results seem to indicate that voluntary head stabilization does not depend crucially upon static vestibular afferents. Head stabilization in space may in fact be organized on the basis of either dynamic vestibular afferents or a short-term memorized postural body schema. Received: 4 October 1995 / Accepted: 30 September 1996     

Effects of nerve growth factor on cortical and striatal acetylcholine and dopamine release in rats with cortical devascularizing lesions

The effects of intraventricular nerve growth factor (NGF) or saline treatments on extracellular acetylcholine (ACh), dopamine (DA) and adenosine (Ade) levels in the cortex and striatum of rats with unilateral devascularizing cortical lesions were studied in vivo with microdialysis. The devascularizing cortical lesion produced a decrease in extracellular ACh levels in both cortex and striatum as compared to those in normal rats, while the NGF treatment produced a significant increase in ACh levels in both regions. NGF could even increase cortical ACh levels in normal rats. The cortical lesion produced a decrease in extracellular DA in the cortex, while the NGF treatment appeared to reverse this effect. No significant changes in DA were observed in the striatum. The present study gives evidence that a unilateral cortical devascularizing lesion leads to changes in extracellular ACh and DA levels in cortex and striatum and that these changes could be reversed with intraventricular NGF treatment.     

Acetylcholine produces stimulus-specific receptive field alterations in cat auditory cortex

Frequency receptive fields (RFs) were determined before and after pairing iontophorectic administration of acetylcholine (ACh) with a repeated single-frequency stimulus in the auditory cortex of barbiturate-anesthesized cats. In 58% of the cells, the paired ACh + tone treatment produced subsequent alterations of frequency RFs. In half of these cases, the RF modifications were highly specific to the frequency that had been paired with ACh. Atropine antagoized the frequency-effects of ACh, suggesting that they were mediated via muscarinic cholinergic receptors.     

Neuroplastic effects of neonatal capsaicin on barrel cortex of adult rat. An electrophysiological and autoradiographic study

Capsaicin (50 mg/kg s.c./25 μl) was administered to rats on the 2nd and 5th days after birth. The animals were raised, and from the age of 3 months the properties of the evoked activity were tested in the contralateral barrelfield. This neonatal capsaicin treatment was found to induce profound changes in the responsiveness of the barrel cortex in the adult rats: (1) the receptive field of the neurons in the Cl barrel was expanded; units within a particular barrel were driven by a significantly larger number of vibrissae than in the controls. (2) The rate of discharge evoked by the related vibrissa deflection was enhanced, while (3) the angular sensitivity of the neurons was decreased. (4) The most prominent change in cortical activity was observed by autoradiography: capsaicin-treated rats exhibited an enhanced labelling of different types of neurons throughout the hemisphere (surpassing the cortical representation of stimulated vibrissae). The present observations indicate that neonatal capsaicin affects the functional activity of the rat somatosensory cortex. It is suggested that unmyelinated sensory afferents play a role in the development of the rat somatosensory system.     

经尿道非接触式激光前列腺切除技术的应用与改进

１９９３年１１月至１９９６年５月应用改进的经尿道非接触式激光治疗前列腺增生１２０例，并对病人进行术前术后的症状评分，尿动力学，残余尿检查，随访病人１－２４个月，结果显示病人无论是症状评分，还是尿流率，残余尿等各项指标均有明显的改善，此种手术具有简单，安全，副作用小，术后恢复快，治疗效果好等优点。