Temporal Coding by Populations of Auditory Receptor Neurons

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 1614-1621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sabourin ◽  
Gerald S. Pollack

Auditory receptor neurons of crickets are most sensitive to either low or high sound frequencies. Earlier work showed that the temporal coding properties of first-order auditory interneurons are matched to the temporal characteristics of natural low- and high-frequency stimuli (cricket songs and bat echolocation calls, respectively). We studied the temporal coding properties of receptor neurons and used modeling to investigate how activity within populations of low- and high-frequency receptors might contribute to the coding properties of interneurons. We confirm earlier findings that individual low-frequency-tuned receptors code stimulus temporal pattern poorly, but show that coding performance of a receptor population increases markedly with population size, due in part to low redundancy among the spike trains of different receptors. By contrast, individual high-frequency-tuned receptors code a stimulus temporal pattern fairly well and, because their spike trains are redundant, there is only a slight increase in coding performance with population size. The coding properties of low- and high-frequency receptor populations resemble those of interneurons in response to low- and high-frequency stimuli, suggesting that coding at the interneuron level is partly determined by the nature and organization of afferent input. Consistent with this, the sound-frequency-specific coding properties of an interneuron, previously demonstrated by analyzing its spike train, are also apparent in the subthreshold fluctuations in membrane potential that are generated by synaptic input from receptor neurons.

BMC Genetics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian

Abstract Background It is well known that the effective size of a population (Ne) is one of the major determinants of the amount of genetic variation within the population. However, it is unclear whether the types of genetic variations are also dictated by the effective population size. To examine this, we obtained whole genome data from over 100 populations of the world and investigated the patterns of mutational changes. Results Our results revealed that for low frequency variants, the ratio of AT→GC to GC→AT variants (β) was similar across populations, suggesting the similarity of the pattern of mutation in various populations. However, for high frequency variants, β showed a positive correlation with the effective population size of the populations. This suggests a much higher proportion of high frequency AT→GC variants in large populations (e.g. Africans) compared to those with small population sizes (e.g. Asians). These results imply that the substitution patterns vary significantly between populations. These findings could be explained by the effect of GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC), which favors the fixation of G/C over A/T variants in populations. In large population, gBGC causes high β. However, in small populations, genetic drift reduces the effect of gBGC resulting in reduced β. This was further confirmed by a positive relationship between Ne and β for homozygous variants. Conclusions Our results highlight the huge variation in the types of homozygous and high frequency polymorphisms between world populations. We observed the same pattern for deleterious variants, implying that the homozygous polymorphisms associated with recessive genetic diseases will be more enriched with G or C in populations with large Ne (e.g. Africans) than in populations with small Ne (e.g. Europeans).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian

Abstract Domestication of wild animals results in a reduction in the effective population size and this could affect the deleterious mutation load of domesticated breeds. Furthermore, artificial selection will also contribute to accumulation deleterious mutations due to the increased rate of inbreeding among these animals. The process of domestication, founder population size, and artificial selection differ between cattle breeds, which could lead to a variation in their deleterious mutation loads. We investigated this using the whole genome data from 432 animals belonging to 54 cattle breeds of the world. Our analysis revealed a negative correlation between the genomic heterozygosity and the ratio of amino acid changing diversity to silent diversity. This suggests a proportionally higher amino acid changing Single Nucleotide variants (SNVs) in breeds with low diversity. Our results also showed that breeds with low diversity had more high-frequency (DAF > 0.51) deleterious SNVs than those with high diversity. A reverse trend was observed for the low-frequency (DAF ≤ 0.51) deleterious SNVs. Overall, taurine cattle breeds had more high-frequency deleterious SNVs than indicine (or taurine-indicine hybrid) breeds. However, within taurine breeds European or Northeast Asian taurines had more high-frequency deleterious SNVs than East Asian or African taurine breeds. Similarly, within indicine breeds South Asian indicines had more high-frequency deleterious SNVs than East Asian indicine breeds. All the above observed patterns were reversed for low frequency deleterious SNVs. Some of the variation in the deleterious mutation load observed between different breeds could be attributed to the population sizes of the wild progenitors before domestication. However, the variations observed withing taurine and within indicine breeds could be due to the difference in the extent of inbreeding, strength of artificial selection and/or founding population size. The findings of this study imply that the rate of incidence of genetic diseases might vary between cattle breeds.


2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 939-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Marsat ◽  
G. S. Pollack

The omega neuron 1 (ON1) of the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus responds to conspecific signals (4.5 kHz) and to the ultrasonic echolocation sounds used by hunting, insectivorous bats. These signals differ in temporal structure as well as in carrier frequency. We show that ON1's temporal coding properties vary with carrier frequency, allowing it to encode both of these behaviorally important signals. Information-transfer functions show that coding of 4.5 kHz is limited to the range of amplitude-modulation components that occur in cricket songs (<32 Hz), whereas coding of 30-kHz stimuli extends to the higher pulse rates that occur in bat sounds (∼100 Hz). Nonlinear coding contributes to the information content of ON1's spike train, particularly for 30-kHz stimuli with high intensities and large modulation depths. Phase locking to sinusoidal amplitude envelopes also extends to higher AM frequencies for ultrasound stimuli. ON1s frequency-specific behavior cannot be ascribed to differences in the shapes of information-transfer functions of low- and high-frequency-tuned receptor neurons, both of which are tuned more broadly to AM frequencies than ON1. Coding properties are nearly unaffected by contralateral deafferentation. ON1's role in auditory processing is to increase binaural contrast through contralateral inhibition. We hypothesize that its frequency-specific temporal coding properties optimize binaural contrast for sounds with both the spectral and temporal features of behaviorally relevant signals.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian

AbstractIt is well known that the effective size of a population (Ne) is one of the major determinants of the amount of genetic variation within the population. Here, we examined whether the types of genetic variations are dictated by the effective population size. Our results revealed that for low frequency variants, the ratio of AT→GC to GC→AT variants (β) was similar across populations, suggesting the similarity of the pattern of mutation in various populations. However, for high frequency variants, β showed a positive correlation with the effective population size of the populations. This suggests a much higher proportion of high frequency AT→GC variants in large populations (e.g. Africans) compared to those with small population sizes (e.g. Asians). These results imply that the substitution patterns vary significantly between populations. These findings could be explained by the effect of GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC), which favors the fixation of G/C over A/T variants in populations. In large population, gBGC causes high β. However, in small populations, genetic drift reduces the effect of gBGC resulting in reduced β. This was further confirmed by a positive relationship between Ne and β for homozygous variants. Our results highlight the huge variation in the types of homozygous and high frequency polymorphisms between world populations. We observed the same pattern for deleterious variants, implying that the homozygous polymorphisms associated with recessive genetic diseases will be more enriched with G or C in populations with large Ne (e.g. Africans) than in populations with small Ne (e.g. Europeans).


Author(s):  
G. Y. Fan ◽  
J. M. Cowley

It is well known that the structure information on the specimen is not always faithfully transferred through the electron microscope. Firstly, the spatial frequency spectrum is modulated by the transfer function (TF) at the focal plane. Secondly, the spectrum suffers high frequency cut-off by the aperture (or effectively damping terms such as chromatic aberration). While these do not have essential effect on imaging crystal periodicity as long as the low order Bragg spots are inside the aperture, although the contrast may be reversed, they may change the appearance of images of amorphous materials completely. Because the spectrum of amorphous materials is continuous, modulation of it emphasizes some components while weakening others. Especially the cut-off of high frequency components, which contribute to amorphous image just as strongly as low frequency components can have a fundamental effect. This can be illustrated through computer simulation. Imaging of a whitenoise object with an electron microscope without TF limitation gives Fig. 1a, which is obtained by Fourier transformation of a constant amplitude combined with random phases generated by computer.


Author(s):  
M. T. Postek ◽  
A. E. Vladar

Fully automated or semi-automated scanning electron microscopes (SEM) are now commonly used in semiconductor production and other forms of manufacturing. The industry requires that an automated instrument must be routinely capable of 5 nm resolution (or better) at 1.0 kV accelerating voltage for the measurement of nominal 0.25-0.35 micrometer semiconductor critical dimensions. Testing and proving that the instrument is performing at this level on a day-by-day basis is an industry need and concern which has been the object of a study at NIST and the fundamentals and results are discussed in this paper.In scanning electron microscopy, two of the most important instrument parameters are the size and shape of the primary electron beam and any image taken in a scanning electron microscope is the result of the sample and electron probe interaction. The low frequency changes in the video signal, collected from the sample, contains information about the larger features and the high frequency changes carry information of finer details. The sharper the image, the larger the number of high frequency components making up that image. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of an SEM image can be employed to provide qualitiative and ultimately quantitative information regarding the SEM image quality.


1992 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail L. MacLean ◽  
Andrew Stuart ◽  
Robert Stenstrom

Differences in real ear sound pressure levels (SPLs) with three portable stereo system (PSS) earphones (supraaural [Sony Model MDR-44], semiaural [Sony Model MDR-A15L], and insert [Sony Model MDR-E225]) were investigated. Twelve adult men served as subjects. Frequency response, high frequency average (HFA) output, peak output, peak output frequency, and overall RMS output for each PSS earphone were obtained with a probe tube microphone system (Fonix 6500 Hearing Aid Test System). Results indicated a significant difference in mean RMS outputs with nonsignificant differences in mean HFA outputs, peak outputs, and peak output frequencies among PSS earphones. Differences in mean overall RMS outputs were attributed to differences in low-frequency effects that were observed among the frequency responses of the three PSS earphones. It is suggested that one cannot assume equivalent real ear SPLs, with equivalent inputs, among different styles of PSS earphones.


1971 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman P. Erber

Two types of special hearing aid have been developed recently to improve the reception of speech by profoundly deaf children. In a different way, each special system provides greater low-frequency acoustic stimulation to deaf ears than does a conventional hearing aid. One of the devices extends the low-frequency limit of amplification; the other shifts high-frequency energy to a lower frequency range. In general, previous evaluations of these special hearing aids have obtained inconsistent or inconclusive results. This paper reviews most of the published research on the use of special hearing aids by deaf children, summarizes several unpublished studies, and suggests a set of guidelines for future evaluations of special and conventional amplification systems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Maria Lina Silva Leite
Keyword(s):  

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os efeitos do Método Pilates sobre a variabilidade da frequência cardíaca, na flexibilidade e nas variáveis antropométricas em indivíduos sedentários. O presente estudo contou com 14 voluntárias do sexo feminino, na faixa etária entre 40 e 55 anos, que realizaram 20 sessões de exercícios do Método Pilates, duas vezes por semana, com duração de 45 minutos cada sessão, dividida em três fases: repouso, exercício e recuperação. As variáveis estudadas foram: os dados antropométricos, flexibilidade avaliada utilizando o teste de sentar-e-alcançar com o Banco de Wells, e intervalos R-R usando um cardiotacômetro. O processamento dos sinais da frequência cardíaca foi efetuado em ambiente MatLab 6.1®, utilizando a TWC. Os dados coletados foram submetidos ao teste de normalidade de Shapiro Wilk e foi utilizado o teste de Wilcoxon e Anova One Way (α = 0,05). Nos resultados, observou-se que não houve diferenças significativas entre os valores antropométricos e de frequência cardíaca, porém houve aumento da flexibilidade com o treinamento. Comparando a primeira e a vigésima sessão com relação aos parâmetros low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), e relação LF/HF, não houve diferença na fase de repouso e foram constatadas diferenças significativas de LF (p = 0,04) e HF (p = 0,04) na fase de exercício e diferença significativa de LF/HF (p = 0,05) na fase de recuperação. Comparando os parâmetros nos períodos de repouso, exercícios e recuperação durante a primeira sessão e durante a vigésima sessão, não houve diferença significativa nos parâmetros LF, HF e LF/HF. Pode-se concluir que, em relação à flexibilidade, foi observada uma melhora significativa, enquanto a análise da frequência cardíaca caracterizou a intensidade do exercício de 50% da capacidade funcional das voluntárias. Em relação aos parâmetros LF, HF e LF/HF foram observados um aumento da variabilidade da frequência cardíaca, provavelmente produto da atividade do Método Pilates. A Transformada Wavelet (TWC) mostrou-se um Método adequado para as análises da variabilidade da frequência cardíaca.Palavras-chave: frequência cardíaca, Transformada Wavelet, Pilates.


1998 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 115-122
Author(s):  
Donatas Švitra ◽  
Jolanta Janutėnienė

In the practice of processing of metals by cutting it is necessary to overcome the vibration of the cutting tool, the processed detail and units of the machine tool. These vibrations in many cases are an obstacle to increase the productivity and quality of treatment of details on metal-cutting machine tools. Vibration at cutting of metals is a very diverse phenomenon due to both it’s nature and the form of oscillatory motion. The most general classification of vibrations at cutting is a division them into forced vibration and autovibrations. The most difficult to remove and poorly investigated are the autovibrations, i.e. vibrations arising at the absence of external periodic forces. The autovibrations, stipulated by the process of cutting on metalcutting machine are of two types: the low-frequency autovibrations and high-frequency autovibrations. When the low-frequency autovibration there appear, the cutting process ought to be terminated and the cause of the vibrations eliminated. Otherwise, there is a danger of a break of both machine and tool. In the case of high-frequency vibration the machine operates apparently quiently, but the processed surface feature small-sized roughness. The frequency of autovibrations can reach 5000 Hz and more.


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