Action Potentials

A neuron's phase response curve (PRC) shows how inputs arriving at different times during the spike cycle differentially affect the timing of subsequent spikes. Using a full morphological model of a globus pallidus (GP) neuron, we previously demonstrated that dendritic conductances shape the PRC in a spike frequency-dependent manner, suggesting different functional roles of perisomatic and distal dendritic synapses in the control of patterned network activity.

A scalable hardware/software hybrid module--called Ubidule--endowed with bio-inspired ontogenetic and epigenetic features is configured to run a neural networks simulation with developmental and evolvable capabilities. We simulated the activity of hierarchically organized spiking neural networks characterized by an initial developmental phase featuring cell death followed by spike timing dependent synaptic plasticity in presence of background noise.

Recent advances in somatic cell reprogramming have highlighted the plasticity of the somatic epigenome, particularly through demonstrations of direct lineage reprogramming of adult mouse and human fibroblasts to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and induced neurons (iNs) under defined conditions. However, human cells appear to be less plastic and have a higher epigenetic hurdle for reprogramming to both iPSCs and iNs. Here, we show that SH2B adaptor protein 1?

Recent studies have identified impairments in neural induction and in striatal and cortical neurogenesis in Huntington's disease (HD) knock-in mouse models and associated embryonic stem cell lines. However, the potential role of these developmental alterations for HD pathogenesis and progression is currently unknown. To address this issue, we used BACHD:CAG-Cre(ERT2) mice, which carry mutant huntingtin (mHtt) modified to harbor a floxed exon 1 containing the pathogenic polyglutamine expansion (Q97).

Any mental/emotional state or process (MESP) which is considered highly desirable (e.g., sustained concentration, memorization of important facts, empathy) or undesirable (e.g., paranoid delusionalism, delirium) could be, respectively, facilitated or deterred by means of an external (i.e., extracranial, or at least extracerebral, and extracorporal) brain stimulation circuit designed in such a way as to deliver rewarding stimulation as often and only as often as and for as long and only for as long as an electroencephalographic or other kind of brain function characteristic, which uniquely i

A study was made of brain bioelectric activity in patients with secondarily generalized epilepsy under hypnosis. The disease manifestations were dependent on whether the site of the focus was in the right or in the left hemisphere. Hypnotic trance changes the neurodynamics of the focus and the level of interhemispheric relations, which depends on the focus lateralization.

Multineuron activity was recorded from the sensorimotor cortex of the right and left hemispheres during immobilization catatonia in rabbits. The first session of immobilization of the animals was followed by changes in spike frequency in 47% of neurons in the sensorimotor cortex of the right hemisphere. Of these, 30% showed decreases in spike frequency and 17% showed increases. Spike frequency in the sensorimotor cortex of the left hemisphere changed in only 18% of cells, of which 13% showed decreases in spike frequency and 5% showed increases.

Dependence in the activity of sensorimotor cortex neurons recorded simultaneously in the left and right hemispheres was detected in rabbits in baseline conditions, during the state of immobilization ("animal hypnosis"), and recovery of animals from this state. In baseline conditions, the total percentage of dependent relationships between close-lying (within 50 microm) neurons in the left hemisphere was significantly smaller than in the right hemisphere and did not change either in the state of immobilization or on recovery from it.