Seeing or not seeing where your hands are

Previous findings have demonstrated the existence of a visual peripersonal space centered on the hand in humans and its modulatory effects on tactile perception. A strong modulatory effect of vision on touch perception was found when a visual stimulus was presented near the hand. In contrast, when the visual stimulus was presented far from the hand, only a weak modulatory effect was found. The aim of the present study was to verify whether such cross-modal links between touch and vision in the peripersonal space centered on the hand could be mediated by proprioceptive signals specifying the current hand positions or if they directly reflect an interaction between two sensory modalities, i.e., vision and touch. To this aim, cross-modal effects were studied in two different experiments: one in which patients could see their hands and one in which vision of their hands was prevented. The results showed strong modulatory effects of vision on touch perception when the visual stimulus was presented near the seen hand and only mild effects when the vision of the hand was prevented. These findings are explained by referring to the activity of bimodal neurons in premotor and parietal cortex of macaque, which have tactile receptive fields on the hand, and corresponding visual receptive fields in the space immediately adjacent to the tactile fields. One important feature of these bimodal neurons is that their responsiveness to visual stimuli delivered near the body part is reduced or even extinguished when the view of the body part is prevented. This implies that, at least for the hand, the vision of the hand is crucial for determining the spatial mapping between vision and touch that takes place in the peripersonal space. In contrast, the proprioceptive signals specifying the current hand position in space do not seem to be relevant in determining the cross-modal interaction between vision and touch.     

多参数信息融合实现非脑电的睡眠结构分期

目前临床睡眠分析的主要手段是多导睡眠图（Polysomnograph,PSG）,用仪器记录被测者整晚的脑电、眼动电和颏肌电等生理参数,计算机进行自动睡眠分期,再由技术人员依据国际标准进行校正.几十年来PSG保持着睡眠分期金标准的地位.提出在不使用脑电的条件下,利用较易获得的心动周期、呼吸、体动等基本生理参数,提取其中与睡眠过程及其变化有关的规律和信息,建立知识规则库,采用不确定推理的证据理论进行多参数睡眠信息融合计算,实现睡眠结构分期.50余例与PSG对照试验结果表明：醒睡的平均符合率达90%以上,基本睡眠结构的平均符合率达75%以上,证明该技术达到了应用的要求.     

Perceptual Speed and IQ Are Associated Through Common Genetic Factors

Individual differences in inspection time explain about 20% of IQ test variance. To determine whether the association between inspection time and IQ is mediated by common genes or by a common environmental factor, inspection time and IQ were assessed in an extended twin design. Data from 688 participants from 271 families were collected as part of a large ongoing project on the genetics of adult brain function and cognition. The sample consisted of a young adult cohort (mean age 26.2 years) and an older adult cohort (mean age 50.4 years). IQ was assessed with the Dutch version of the WAIS-3R. Inspection time was measured in the so-called -paradigm, in which a subject is asked to decide which leg of the -figure is longest at varying display times of the -figure. The number of correct inspections per second (i.e., the reciprocal of inspection time) was used to index perceptual speed. For Verbal IQ and Performance IQ, heritabilities were 85% and 69%, respectively. For perceptual speed, 46% of the total variance was explained by genetic variance. No differences in heritability estimates across age cohorts or sexes were found. Across the whole sample, a significant phenotypic correlation was found between perceptual speed and Verbal IQ (0.19) and between perceptual speed and Performance IQ (0.27). These correlations were entirely due to a common genetic factor that accounted for 10% of the genetic variance in verbal IQ and for 22% of the genetic variance in performance IQ. This factor is hypothesized to reflect the influence of genetic factors that determine axonal myelination in the central nervous system.     

Systems biology: integrating technology,biology, and computation

The Human Genome Project has changed the worlds of biology and medicine-helping to catalyze two major paradigm changes: systems biology and predictive, preventive and personalized medicine. These two themes will dominate 21st century biology and medicine. I will discuss these changes and indicate how they may interface with with the process of aging.     

近红外信息辐照对免疫抑制大鼠体液免疫功能的影响

本实验观察了近红外信息辐照(辐照)对免疫抑制大鼠体液免疫功能的调整作用。取大鼠54只随机分为三组:甲组各鼠腹腔注射环磷酰胺(CY,75mg/kg)和伤寒沙门氏菌鞭毛抗原(HAg,7×10~8菌体/只),同时各鼠每天全身辐照1h,共4周;乙组腹腔注射CY和HAg丙组仅腹腔注射HAg。结果甲、乙、丙三组于第四周末的存活率分别为83.3％、38.1％和66.7％(甲与乙组比较P<0.05);第四周末血清总IgG含量分别为141.4±17.6U/ml,120.3±16.6U/ml和117.0±22.9U/ml(甲组与其它两组比较P<0.01);第二周末抗H抗体效价分别为1:91.9、1:46.6和1:149.3(甲与乙组比较P<0.05;乙与丙组比较P<0.01)。结果表明,辐照对免疫功能低下的机体有增强免疫功能的作用。     

Firing of inferior colliculus neurons in response to low-frequency sound stimulation during sleep and waking

SUMMARY  In vivo extracellular recordings of 102 units in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (IC), were made in chronically implanted guinea-pigs during the sleep/wake cycle. During wakefulness, the units were classified according to their response characteristics. Most neurons (63%) recorded showed changes, increasing or decreasing in the number of evoked discharges during the animal's transitions between wakefulness and slow-wave sleep. In the paradoxical sleep phase, the result was similar; changes were observed in most neurons, while only 11% of units did not shift their discharge pattern during ipsilateral sound stimulation.
The post-stimulus time histogram of the overall evoked pattern of discharge showed sleep/wake dependency, i.e. changed in 35% of the units recorded during the 50 ms of sound stimulation.
Fifty-five percent of auditory neurons did not show any change in the spontaneous firing rate during slow-wave sleep as compared to the previous waking period, while 22% exhibited a discharge increase and 23% decreased their firing. During paradoxical sleep, 14 out of 17 cells increased their spontaneous firing rate. The IC auditory neurons send descending connections to regions such as the dorsal pontine nuclei, known to mediate sleep processes. Thus, for constant auditory input, the firing rate or number of discharge variations are due to functional shifts in the sleeping brain. Auditory processing is present during sleep and differs from that observed during wakefulness. Differences were observed in the evoked firing number and/or spontaneous rate, as well as in the pattern of discharge. The ultimate reason for auditory unit shifts during sleep remains yet unexplained.     

The suppression of cervico-ocular response by the haptokinetic information about the contact with a rigid,immobile object

Horizontal eye movements were recorded in eight healthy subjects during super-slow trunk rotation with respect to the space-stationary head. In some trials, subjects simultaneously indicated their perception of selfmotion by means of a joystick. Over the frequency range employed (0.007–0.05 cycles per second, ±20°), all subjects perceived the relative motion of head and trunk as a head rotation with respect to the stationary trunk. Eye movements were observed which were in phase with imaginary head rotation; their amplitude exceeded the amplitude of actual body rotation. The grasping of a rigid ground-based handle (1) produced a sensation of trunk rotation in space, (2) suppressed the sensation of imaginary head rotation in space and (3) gave rise to a significant decrease in amplitude of eye movements. The grasping of a stiff rod with non-zero compliance did not produce these effects. It is concluded that eye movements in response to body rotation with respect to the fixed head are not purely reflex reactions, but are influenced by the internal representation of body motion.     

The inversion effect on gaze perception reflects processing of component information

When faces are turned upside-down they are much more difficult to recognize than other objects. This "face inversion effect" has often been explained in terms of configural processing, which is impaired when faces are rotated away from the upright. Here we report a "gaze inversion effect" and discuss whether it is related to configural face processing of the whole face. Observers reported the gaze locations of photographed upright or inverted faces. When whole faces were presented, we found an inversion effect both for constant errors and observer sensitivity. These results were closely replicated when only the eyes were visible. Together, our findings suggest that gaze processing is largely based on component-based information from the eye region. Processing this information is orientation-sensitive and does not seem to rely on configural processing of the whole face.     

药品数量管理与医保系统的关系

原因信息系统与医保系统实现有效接口,促进了药品的数量管理和医生工作站的推广,降低了错误处方的发生率,使医院服务更加顺畅。     

大鼠三叉神经脊束间质核内接受内脏伤害性信息的含CB神经元向孤束核的投射

目的 探讨大鼠三叉神经脊束间质核(INV)内接受内脏伤害性信息的含calbindin D-28K(CB)神经元与孤束核(NTS)的投射联系。方法 用福尔马林刺激上消化道，应用荧光金(FG)逆行束路追踪结合Fos和CB的免疫荧光组织化学三重标记法。结果 INV的背侧边缘旁核(PaMd)和三叉旁核(PaV)内可见到大量FG逆标细胞，以注射FG的同侧为主。大部分FG逆标细胞(约71.2％)为CB免疫反应阳性。部分FG和CB双标记神经元(约31．5％)同时呈Fos免疫反应阳性的三重标记。结论 INV内部分接受内脏伤害性刺激的CB神经元可直接投射至NTS，含CB的神经元在内脏伤害性信息经INV向NTS的传导通路中，可能发挥重要作用.