Response of neurons in primary somatosensory cortex of cat following prolonged exposure to strong sinusoidal mechanical stimuli

Psychophysical studies in humans have demonstrated adaptation of the mechanoreceptive submodalities of flutter and vibration after prolonged presentation of a strong adapting, or conditioning, stimulus. In our studies we recorded from single neurons in cat primary somatosensory cortex, and followed a paradigm in which the response of a single unit was measured before and after the presentation of a strong conditioning stimulus. Our findings show no adaptive response in the 30 sec period immediately after cessation of the conditioning stimulus, and suggest that other parallel ascending pathways or somatosensory cortical areas other than SI account for these psychophysical observations.     

Relations between platelet and plasma-coagulative components of hemostasis in health and disease

The adhesive-aggregative activity of the platelets and the rate of blood clotting were compared in 125 healthy subjects during an emergency adaptation reaction (emotional stress, ACTH loading) and in 157 patients with heart and circulatory diseases during the period of crisis, and also during acute drug therapy. Changes in the platelets and plasma-coagulative components of hemostasis were found to be opposite in direction, and on this basis new ideas were put forward to explain the hemostatic function of the platelets.Department of Internal Medicine, Kuban Red Army Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR N. A. Fedorov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 88, No. 12, pp. 669–672, December, 1979.     

Effects of prolonged uniocular dark adaptation on the direct-current electroretinogram of pigmented and albino rabbits

The direct-current electroretinogram of seven pigmented and seven albino rabbits was recorded from both eyes for almost 4 h in response to repeated identical light stimuli. Stimulus duration was 10 s, light intensity was 6.8 × 10² lux, and the interval between the beginning of succeeding light stimuli was 3 min. The dark-adaptation period preceding light stimulation was 30 min for one of the eyes (unoccluded eye) and 150 min for the contralateral eye (occluded eye), which was patched during the first part (117 min) of the experiment. In pigmented animals, the b- and c-wave amplitudes of the unoccluded eye slowly increased during the first part of the experiment but not significantly during the second. The a-wave amplitude was not significantly changed. After removal of the cover, the a- and b-wave amplitudes of the occluded eye immediately attained but did not exceed the level of those in the unoccluded eye, irrespective of the light adaptation induced by the stimulus flashes previously presented to the unoccluded eye. (Control experiments on six pigmented rabbits confirmed that stimuli identical to those used in the main part of the study caused a light adaptation, since a decrease in a- and b-wave amplitudes occurred after the first light stimulus following an initial dark-adaptation period of 2 h for both eyes.) In albino rabbits, electroretinogram responses were clearly discernible in the occluded eye also during the first part of the experiment, probably because of transillumination of the head. In other respects, the results were essentially similar to those of pigmented animals. The observation that occluded eyes did not dark adapt better, as judged by the electroretinogram responses, than contralateral eyes given repeated light adaptive stimuli may indicate the presence of a mechanism for transfer of adaptation information between the eyes.     

Control of resolution and perception in working memory

Mechanisms underlying and controlling resolution and perception in working memory are studied by means of a pulse-coupled network model. It is shown that the adaptivity, i.e. the degree to which previous activity affects the ability to fire, of the excitatory units can control several aspects of the network dynamics in a coordinated way to enable multiple items to be resolved and perceived in working memory. One basic aspect is the complexity of the dynamics that regulates the temporal resolution of several items. The slow NMDA-receptor-mediated component of synaptic couplings to excitatory units facilitates successive activations of a given item. The dimension of the activated subspace of the complete available neural representation space is gradually decreased as adaptivity is reduced. It is also shown that the formation of perception by sufficiently intense and coherent activation of different features of an object can be controlled concurrently with resolution by the adaptivity. The mechanisms derived can account for the observed capacity of working memory with respect to number of items consciously resolved and also for the observed temporal separation of different items. Numerous observations link neuromodulators to cognitive functions and to various brain disorders involving working memory. Based on the influence of various neuromodulators on neuronal adaptivity, the model can also account for neuromodulatory regulation of working memory functions.     

Light-adaptive effects of retinoic acid on receptive field properties of retinal horizontal cells

Besides its role in ocular development, retinoic acid (RA), which is a light-correlated byproduct of the phototransduction cycle, was recently shown to affect light-driven synaptic plasticity in the outer plexiform layer of the adult fish retina. Tuning by ambient light conditions of the retinal network properties is very prominent in outer plexiform layer circuits, and we therefore examined whether RA could affect cone horizontal cell physiology similar to ambient light. Performing intracellular recordings and dye injections in the dark-adapted inverted eyecup preparation of the carp, we found that RA reduced the receptive fields of horizontal cell somata and impaired gap junctional communication. This action was not observed among coupled axon terminals of horizontal cells and appeared to be stereospecific because it could only be attributed to all-trans and 13-cis RA but not to the 9-cis isomer and photoisomerized all-trans RA. Modulation of receptive field size occurred independently of the dopaminergic system. Furthermore, RA affected the light responsiveness of cone horizontal cells. Compared to the dark-adapted condition, responsiveness to intense light stimulation was enhanced but decreased when low intensities were used. Moreover, following RA treatment H2-type horizontal cells of dark-adapted retinae which do not give rise to colour-opponent light properties became colour-opponent and performed depolarizing responses to long-wavelength stimulation. In all these cases RA perfectly matched the effects of light adaptation, supporting the notion that RA acts as an endogenous neuromodulator.     

论虚寒证基因芯片及生物信息的高起点切入研究——分子中医研究系列报道(1)

从辨证论治的 3点不足 ,前瞻现代数理思维的重要性 ,引进前沿生物科技的必要性 ;从虚寒证的研究基础和寒的本义论述了虚寒证现代研究的优势 ;对于虚寒证等中医复杂证候的研究 ,必须多学科的交叉 ,尤其是目前可利用的利器 :基因芯片、生物信息等 ,可望从虚寒证的基因组研究切入 ,突破“证”的瓶颈     

体温筛选寒热体鼠自然模型的可靠性及对子代的影响

目的:观察体温筛选寒热体鼠自然模型的可靠性及对子代的影响.方法:通过测定大鼠肛温将其分为"寒体""热体"组,测定血糖、尿儿茶酚胺含量,雌雄鼠交配,检测子代肛温、血糖、尿儿茶酚胺、胰岛素及丙二醛含量.结果:热体鼠血糖、尿儿茶酚胺含量均高于寒体鼠,热体组子代肛温、尿儿茶酚胺、血糖及丙二醛含量均高于寒体组.结论:体温筛选寒热体鼠自然模型可靠,寒热体鼠体温、血糖呈遗传态势,热体鼠氧化过激反应显著.