Extracellular Stimulation of a Target Neuron in Micro-Patterned Neuronal Circuits Using a Pair of Needle Electrodes

The gill withdrawal reflex (GWR) and its subsequent habituation can be evoked by tactile stimulation of the siphon or gill when the CNS is either intact or removed. It has been suggested that the neural circuits that mediate the GWR evoked at these two loci are parallel and independent. We provide three lines of evidence which show that these circuits interact and, therefore, comprise a single integrated system. Firtly, siphon and gill stimulation evoked similar excitatory responses in the central gill motor neurones. Secondly, the GWR habituated by repetitive stimulation at one locus was dishabituated by stimulation of the other locus. Thirdly, transfer of habituation occurred. Although the transfer was seen neurally at the level of central gill motor neurones, transfer of habituation also occurred after the CNS was removed. Therefore, the neuronal circuits mediating the reflexes evoked at the siphon and gill interact within both the CNS and PNS. The PNS is largely responsible for mediating this gill behaviour that is based on such interactions, while the CNS provides suppressive and facilitatory plasticity to these responses to enable Aplysia to better adapt to a changing environment.

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Peripheral chemoreceptors tune inspiratory drive via tonic expiratory neuron hubs in the medullary ventral respiratory column network

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00542.2014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 113 (1) ◽

pp. 352-368 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

L. S. Segers ◽

S. C. Nuding ◽

M. M. Ott ◽

J. B. Dean ◽

D. C. Bolser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multielectrode Arrays ◽

Spike Synchrony ◽

Peripheral Chemoreceptors ◽

Gravitational Clustering ◽

Target Neuron ◽

Pairwise Correlations ◽

Inspiratory Neuron ◽

Adult Cats ◽

Expiratory Neuron ◽

Stimulation Of

Models of brain stem ventral respiratory column (VRC) circuits typically emphasize populations of neurons, each active during a particular phase of the respiratory cycle. We have proposed that “tonic” pericolumnar expiratory (t-E) neurons tune breathing during baroreceptor-evoked reductions and central chemoreceptor-evoked enhancements of inspiratory (I) drive. The aims of this study were to further characterize the coordinated activity of t-E neurons and test the hypothesis that peripheral chemoreceptors also modulate drive via inhibition of t-E neurons and disinhibition of their inspiratory neuron targets. Spike trains of 828 VRC neurons were acquired by multielectrode arrays along with phrenic nerve signals from 22 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, artificially ventilated adult cats. Forty-eight of 191 t-E neurons fired synchronously with another t-E neuron as indicated by cross-correlogram central peaks; 32 of the 39 synchronous pairs were elements of groups with mutual pairwise correlations. Gravitational clustering identified fluctuations in t-E neuron synchrony. A network model supported the prediction that inhibitory populations with spike synchrony reduce target neuron firing probabilities, resulting in offset or central correlogram troughs. In five animals, stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors evoked changes in the firing rates of 179 of 240 neurons. Thirty-two neuron pairs had correlogram troughs consistent with convergent and divergent t-E inhibition of I cells and disinhibitory enhancement of drive. Four of 10 t-E neurons that responded to sequential stimulation of peripheral and central chemoreceptors triggered 25 cross-correlograms with offset features. The results support the hypothesis that multiple afferent systems dynamically tune inspiratory drive in part via coordinated t-E neurons.

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The Virtual Electrode Recording Tool for EXtracellular Potentials (VERTEX) Version 2.0: Modelling in vitro electrical stimulation of brain tissue

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15058.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 20

Author(s):

Christopher Thornton ◽

Frances Hutchings ◽

Marcus Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Brain Tissue ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Long Term Potentiation ◽

Neuronal Circuits ◽

Electrode Recording ◽

Extracellular Potentials ◽

Stimulation Of ◽

Virtual Electrode

Neuronal circuits can be modelled in detail allowing us to predict the effects of stimulation on individual neurons. Electrical stimulation of neuronal circuits in vitro and in vivo excites a range of neurons within the tissue and measurements of neural activity, e.g the local field potential (LFP), are again an aggregate of a large pool of cells. The previous version of our Virtual Electrode Recording Tool for EXtracellular Potentials (VERTEX) allowed for the simulation of the LFP generated by a patch of brain tissue. Here, we extend VERTEX to simulate the effect of electrical stimulation through a focal electric field. We observe both direct changes in neural activity and changes in synaptic plasticity. Testing our software in a model of a rat neocortical slice, we determine the currents contributing to the LFP, the effects of paired pulse stimulation to induce short term plasticity (STP), and the effect of theta burst stimulation (TBS) to induce long term potentiation (LTP).

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Effects of 5-5'-Diphenyl-2-thiohydantoin (DPTH) and Thyroxine on the Ultrastructure and Chemical Composition of Rat Liver

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100066917 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 570-571

Author(s):

E. A. Elfont ◽

R. B. Tobin ◽

D. G. Colton ◽

M. A. Mehlman

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Rat Liver ◽

Future Study ◽

Mode Of Action ◽

Liver Mitochondria ◽

Rat Liver Mitochondria ◽

Effective Inhibitor ◽

Biochemical Effects ◽

Glycerophosphate Dehydrogenase ◽

Stimulation Of

Summary5,-5'-diphenyl-2-thiohydantoin (DPTH) is an effective inhibitor of thyroxine (T4) stimulation of α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase in rat liver mitochondria. Because this finding indicated a possible tool for future study of the mode of action of thyroxine, the ultrastructural and biochemical effects of DPTH and/or thyroxine on rat liver mere investigated.Rats were fed either standard or DPTH (0.06%) diet for 30 days before T4 (250 ug/kg/day) was injected. Injection of T4 occurred daily for 10 days prior to sacrifice. After removal of the liver and kidneys, part of the tissue was frozen at -50°C for later biocheailcal analyses, while the rest was prefixed in buffered 3.5X glutaraldehyde (390 mOs) and post-fixed in buffered 1Z OsO4 (376 mOs). Tissues were embedded in Araldlte 502 and the sections examined in a Zeiss EM 9S.Hepatocytes from hyperthyroid rats (Fig. 2) demonstrated enlarged and more numerous mitochondria than those of controls (Fig. 1). Glycogen was almost totally absent from the cytoplasm of the T4-treated rats.

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Gap junctions in the prothoracic glands of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100123933 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 706-707

Author(s):

Ji-da Dai ◽

M. Joseph Costello ◽

Lawrence I. Gilbert

Keyword(s):

Gap Junctions ◽

Small Molecules ◽

Manduca Sexta ◽

Freeze Fracture ◽

Cell Communication ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Prothoracic Glands ◽

Polyhydroxylated Steroids ◽

Stimulation Of

Insect molting and metamorphosis are elicited by a class of polyhydroxylated steroids, ecdysteroids, that originate in the prothoracic glands (PGs). Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulation of steroidogenesis by the PGs at the cellular level involves both calcium and cAMP. Cell-to-cell communication mediated by gap junctions may play a key role in regulating signal transduction by controlling the transmission of small molecules and ions between adjacent cells. This is the first report of gap junctions in the PGs, the evidence obtained by means of SEM, thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas.

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