scholarly journals A multi-scale computational model of the effects of TMS on motor cortex

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeon Seo ◽  
Natalie Schaworonkow ◽  
Sung Chan Jun ◽  
Jochen Triesch

The detailed biophysical mechanisms through which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) activates cortical circuits are still not fully understood. Here we present a multi-scale computational model to describe and explain the activation of different pyramidal cell types in motor cortex due to TMS. Our model determines precise electric fields based on an individual head model derived from magnetic resonance imaging and calculates how these electric fields activate morphologically detailed models of different neuron types. We predict neural activation patterns for different coil orientations consistent with experimental findings. Beyond this, our model allows us to calculate activation thresholds for individual neurons and precise initiation sites of individual action potentials on the neurons’ complex morphologies. Specifically, our model predicts that cortical layer 3 pyramidal neurons are generally easier to stimulate than layer 5 pyramidal neurons, thereby explaining the lower stimulation thresholds observed for I-waves compared to D-waves. It also shows differences in the regions of activated cortical layer 5 and layer 3 pyramidal cells depending on coil orientation. Finally, it predicts that under standard stimulation conditions, action potentials are mostly generated at the axon initial segment of cortical pyramidal cells, with a much less important activation site being the part of a layer 5 pyramidal cell axon where it crosses the boundary between grey matter and white matter. In conclusion, our computational model offers a detailed account of the mechanisms through which TMS activates different cortical pyramidal cell types, paving the way for more targeted application of TMS based on individual brain morphology in clinical and basic research settings.

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeon Seo ◽  
Natalie Schaworonkow ◽  
Sung Chan Jun ◽  
Jochen Triesch

The detailed biophysical mechanisms through which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) activates cortical circuits are still not fully understood. Here we present a multi-scale computational model to describe and explain the activation of different pyramidal cell types in motor cortex due to TMS. Our model determines precise electric fields based on an individual head model derived from magnetic resonance imaging and calculates how these electric fields activate morphologically detailed models of different neuron types. We predict neural activation patterns for different coil orientations consistent with experimental findings. Beyond this, our model allows us to calculate activation thresholds for individual neurons and precise initiation sites of individual action potentials on the neurons’ complex morphologies. Specifically, our model predicts that cortical layer 3 pyramidal neurons are generally easier to stimulate than layer 5 pyramidal neurons, thereby explaining the lower stimulation thresholds observed for I-waves compared to D-waves. It also shows differences in the regions of activated cortical layer 5 and layer 3 pyramidal cells depending on coil orientation. Finally, it predicts that under standard stimulation conditions, action potentials are mostly generated at the axon initial segment of cortical pyramidal cells, with a much less important activation site being the part of a layer 5 pyramidal cell axon where it crosses the boundary between grey matter and white matter. In conclusion, our computational model offers a detailed account of the mechanisms through which TMS activates different cortical pyramidal cell types, paving the way for more targeted application of TMS based on individual brain morphology in clinical and basic research settings.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeon Seo ◽  
Natalie Schaworonkow ◽  
Sung Chan Jun ◽  
Jochen Triesch

AbstractThe detailed biophysical mechanisms through which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) activates cortical circuits are still not fully understood. Here we present a multi-scale computational model to describe and explain the activation of different cell types in motor cortex due to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Our model determines precise electric fields based on an individual head model derived from magnetic resonance imaging and calculates how these electric fields activate morphologically detailed models of different neuron types. We predict detailed neural activation patterns for different coil orientations consistent with experimental findings. Beyond this, our model allows us to predict activation thresholds for individual neurons and precise initiation sites of individual action potentials on the neurons’ complex morphologies. Specifically, our model predicts that cortical layer 3 pyramidal neurons are generally easier to stimulate than layer 5 pyramidal neurons, thereby explaining the lower stimulation thresholds observed for I-waves compared to D-waves. It also predicts differences in the regions of activated cortical layer 5 and layer 3 pyramidal cells depending on coil orientation. Finally, it predicts that under standard stimulation conditions, action potentials are mostly generated at the axon initial segment of corctial pyramidal cells, with a much less important activation site being the part of a layer 5 pyramidal cell axon where it crosses the boundary between grey matter and white matter. In conclusion, our computational model offers a detailed account of the mechanisms through which TMS activates different cortical cell types, paving the way for more targeted application of TMS based on individual brain morphology in clinical and basic research settings.


F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 1945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeon Seo ◽  
Natalie Schaworonkow ◽  
Sung Chan Jun ◽  
Jochen Triesch

The detailed biophysical mechanisms through which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) activates cortical circuits are still not fully understood. Here we present a multi-scale computational model to describe and explain the activation of different cell types in motor cortex due to transcranial magnetic stimulation. Our model determines precise electric fields based on an individual head model derived from magnetic resonance imaging and calculates how these electric fields activate morphologically detailed models of different neuron types. We predict detailed neural activation patterns for different coil orientations consistent with experimental findings. Beyond this, our model allows us to predict activation thresholds for individual neurons and precise initiation sites of individual action potentials on the neurons’ complex morphologies. Specifically, our model predicts that cortical layer 3 pyramidal neurons are generally easier to stimulate than layer 5 pyramidal neurons, thereby explaining the lower stimulation thresholds observed for I-waves compared to D-waves. It also predicts differences in the regions of activated cortical layer 5 and layer 3 pyramidal cells depending on coil orientation. Finally, it predicts that under standard stimulation conditions, action potentials are mostly generated at the axon initial segment of corctial pyramidal cells, with a much less important activation site being the part of a layer 5 pyramidal cell axon where it crosses the boundary between grey matter and white matter. In conclusion, our computational model offers a detailed account of the mechanisms through which TMS activates different cortical cell types, paving the way for more targeted application of TMS based on individual brain morphology in clinical and basic research settings.


1983 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1197-1219 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Berger ◽  
P. C. Rinaldi ◽  
D. J. Weisz ◽  
R. F. Thompson

Extracellular single-unit recordings from neurons in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the dorsal hippocampus were monitored during classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response. Neurons were classified as different cell types using response to fornix stimulation (i.e., antidromic or orthodromic activation) and spontaneous firing characteristics as criteria. Results showed that hippocampal pyramidal neurons exhibit learning-related neural plasticity that develops gradually over the course of classical conditioning. The learning-dependent pyramidal cell response is characterized by an increase in frequency of firing within conditioning trials and a within-trial pattern of discharge that correlates strongly with amplitude-time course of the behavioral response. In contrast, pyramidal cell activity recorded from control animals given unpaired presentations of the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus (CS and UCS) does not show enhanced discharge rates with repeated stimulation. Previous studies of hippocampal cellular electrophysiology have described what has been termed a theta-cell (19-21, 45), the activity of which correlates with slow-wave theta rhythm generated in the hippocampus. Neurons classified as theta-cells in the present study exhibit responses during conditioning that are distinctly different than pyramidal cells. theta-Cells respond during paired conditioning trials with a rhythmic bursting; the between-burst interval occurs at or near 8 Hz. In addition, two different types of theta-cells were distinguishable. One type of theta-cell increases firing frequency above pretrial levels while displaying the theta bursting pattern. The other type decreases firing frequency below pretrial rates while showing a theta-locked discharge. In addition to pyramidal and theta-neurons, several other cell types recorded in or near the pyramidal cell layer could be distinguished. One cell type was distinctive in that it could be activated with a short, invariant latency following fornix stimulation, but spontaneous action potentials of such neurons could not be collided with fornix shock-induced action potentials. These neurons exhibit a different profile of spontaneous firing characteristics than those of antidromically identified pyramidal cells. Nevertheless, neurons in this noncollidable category display the same learning-dependent response as pyramidal cells. It is suggested that the noncollidable neurons represent a subpopulation of pyramidal cells that do not project an axon via the fornix but project, instead, to other limbic cortical regions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1461-1472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshifumi Ueta ◽  
Jaerin Sohn ◽  
Fransiscus Adrian Agahari ◽  
Sanghun Im ◽  
Yasuharu Hirai ◽  
...  

In the neocortex, both layer 2/3 and layer 5 contain corticocortical pyramidal cells projecting to other cortices. We previously found that among L5 pyramidal cells of the secondary motor cortex (M2), not only intratelencephalic projection cells but also pyramidal tract cells innervate ipsilateral cortices and that the two subtypes are different in corticocortical projection diversity and axonal laminar distributions. Layer 2/3 houses intratelencephalically projecting pyramidal cells that also innervate multiple ipsilateral and contralateral cortices. However, it remained unclear whether layer 2/3 pyramidal cells can be divided into projection subtypes each with distinct innervation to specific targets. In the present study we show that layer 2 pyramidal cells are organized into subcircuits on the basis of corticocortical projection targets. Layer 2 corticocortical cells of the same projection subtype were monosynaptically connected. Between the contralaterally and ipsilaterally projecting corticocortical cells, the monosynaptic connection was more common from the former to the latter. We also found that ipsilaterally and contralaterally projecting corticocortical cell subtypes differed in their morphological and physiological characteristics. Our results suggest that layer 2 transfers separate outputs from M2 to individual cortices and that its subcircuits are hierarchically organized to form the discrete corticocortical outputs. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Pyramidal cell subtypes and their dependent subcircuits are well characterized in cortical layer 5, but much less is understood for layer 2/3. We demonstrate that in layer 2 of the rat secondary motor cortex, ipsilaterally and contralaterally projecting corticocortical cells are largely segregated. These layer 2 cell subtypes differ in dendrite morphological and intrinsic electrophysiological properties, and form subtype-dependent connections. Our results suggest that layer 2 pyramidal cells form distinct subcircuits to provide discrete corticocortical outputs.


Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Felix ◽  
Daniel Ziemens ◽  
Gerald Seifert ◽  
Christine Rose

In the neonate forebrain, network formation is driven by the spontaneous synchronized activity of pyramidal cells and interneurons, consisting of bursts of electrical activity and intracellular Ca2+ oscillations. By employing ratiometric Na+ imaging in tissue slices obtained from animals at postnatal day 2–4 (P2–4), we found that 22% of pyramidal neurons and 43% of astrocytes in neonatal mouse hippocampus also exhibit transient fluctuations in intracellular Na+. These occurred at very low frequencies (~2/h), were exceptionally long (~8 min), and strongly declined after the first postnatal week. Similar Na+ fluctuations were also observed in the neonate neocortex. In the hippocampus, Na+ elevations in both cell types were diminished when blocking action potential generation with tetrodotoxin. Neuronal Na+ fluctuations were significantly reduced by bicuculline, suggesting the involvement of GABAA-receptors in their generation. Astrocytic signals, by contrast, were neither blocked by inhibition of receptors and/or transporters for different transmitters including GABA and glutamate, nor of various Na+-dependent transporters or Na+-permeable channels. In summary, our results demonstrate for the first time that neonatal astrocytes and neurons display spontaneous ultraslow Na+ fluctuations. While neuronal Na+ signals apparently largely rely on suprathreshold GABAergic excitation, astrocytic Na+ signals, albeit being dependent on neuronal action potentials, appear to have a separate trigger and mechanism, the source of which remains unclear at present.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastiaan van der Veen ◽  
Sampath K. T. Kapanaiah ◽  
Kasyoka Kilonzo ◽  
Peter Steele-Perkins ◽  
Martin M. Jendryka ◽  
...  

AbstractPathological impulsivity is a debilitating symptom of multiple psychiatric diseases with few effective treatment options. To identify druggable receptors with anti-impulsive action we developed a systematic target discovery approach combining behavioural chemogenetics and gene expression analysis. Spatially restricted inhibition of three subdivisions of the prefrontal cortex of mice revealed that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) regulates premature responding, a form of motor impulsivity. Probing three G-protein cascades with designer receptors, we found that the activation of Gi-signalling in layer-5 pyramidal cells (L5-PCs) of the ACC strongly, reproducibly, and selectively decreased challenge-induced impulsivity. Differential gene expression analysis across murine ACC cell-types and 402 GPCRs revealed that - among Gi-coupled receptor-encoding genes - Grm2 is the most selectively expressed in L5-PCs while alternative targets were scarce. Validating our approach, we confirmed that mGluR2 activation reduced premature responding. These results suggest Gi-coupled receptors in ACC L5-PCs as therapeutic targets for impulse control disorders.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim W. Kay ◽  
W. A. Phillips ◽  
Jaan Aru ◽  
Bruce P. Graham ◽  
Matthew E. Larkum

AbstractPyramidal cells in layer 5 of the neocortex have two distinct integration sites. These cells integrate inputs to basal dendrites in the soma while integrating inputs to the tuft in a site at the top of the apical trunk. The two sites communicate by action potentials that backpropagate to the apical site and by backpropagation-activated calcium spikes (BAC firing) that travel from the apical to the somatic site. Six key messages arise from the probabilistic information-theoretic analyses of BAC firing presented here. First, we suggest that pyramidal neurons with BAC firing could convert the odds in favour of the presence of a feature given the basal data into the odds in favour of the presence of a feature given the basal data and the apical input, by a simple Bayesian calculation. Second, the strength of the cell’s response to basal input can be amplified when relevant to the current context, as specified by the apical input, without corrupting the message that it sends. Third, these analyses show rigorously how this apical amplification depends upon communication between the sites. Fourth, we use data on action potentials from a very detailed multi-compartmental biophysical model to study our general model in a more realistic setting, and demonstrate that it describes the data well. Fifth, this form of BAC firing meets criteria for distinguishing modulatory from driving interactions that have been specified using recent definitions of multivariate mutual information. Sixth, our general decomposition can be extended to cases where, instead of being purely driving or purely amplifying, apical and basal inputs can be partly driving and partly amplifying to various extents. These conclusions imply that an advance beyond the assumption of a single site of integration within pyramidal cells is needed, and suggest that the evolutionary success of neocortex may depend upon the cellular mechanisms of context-sensitive selective amplification hypothesized here.Author summaryThe cerebral cortex has a key role in conscious perception, thought, and action, and is predominantly composed of a particular kind of neuron: the pyramidal cells. The distinct shape of the pyramidal neuron with a long dendritic shaft separating two regions of profuse dendrites allows them to integrate inputs to the two regions separately and combine the results non-linearly to produce output. Here we show how inputs to this more distant site strengthen the cell’s output when it is relevant to the current task and environment. By showing that such neurons have capabilities that transcend those of neurons with the single site of integration assumed by many neuroscientists, this ‘splitting of the neuronal atom’ offers a radically new viewpoint from which to understand the evolution of the cortex and some of its many pathologies. This also suggests that approaches to artificial intelligence using neural networks might come closer to something analogous to real intelligence, if, instead of basing them on processing elements with a single site of integration, they were based on elements with two sites, as in cortex.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 2167-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Scharfman

1. Simultaneous intracellular recordings of area CA3 pyramidal cells and dentate hilar “mossy” cells were made in rat hippocampal slices to test the hypothesis that area CA3 pyramidal cells excite mossy cells monosynaptically. Mossy cells and pyramidal cells were differentiated by location and electrophysiological characteristics. When cells were impaled near the border of area CA3 and the hilus, their identity was confirmed morphologically after injection of the marker Neurobiotin. 2. Evidence for monosynaptic excitation of a mossy cell by a pyramidal cell was obtained in 7 of 481 (1.4%) paired recordings. In these cases, a pyramidal cell action potential was followed immediately by a 0.40 to 6.75 (mean, 2.26) mV depolarization in the simultaneously recorded mossy cell (mossy cell membrane potentials, -60 to -70 mV). Given that pyramidal cells used an excitatory amino acid as a neurotransmitter (Cotman and Nadler 1987; Ottersen and Storm-Mathisen 1987) and recordings were made in the presence of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (25 microM), it is likely that the depolarizations were unitary excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs). 3. Unitary EPSPs of mossy cells were prone to apparent “failure.” The probability of failure was extremely high (up to 0.72; mean = 0.48) if the effects of all presynaptic action potentials were examined, including action potentials triggered inadvertently during other spontaneous EPSPs of the mossy cell. Probability of failure was relatively low (as low as 0; mean = 0.24) if action potentials that occurred during spontaneous activity of the mossy cell were excluded. These data suggest that unitary EPSPs produced by pyramidal cells are strongly affected by concurrent synaptic inputs to the mossy cell. 4. Unitary EPSPs were not clearly affected by manipulation of the mossy cell's membrane potential. This is consistent with the recent report that area CA3 pyramidal cells innervate distal dendrites of mossy cells (Kunkel et al. 1993). Such a distal location also may contribute to the high incidence of apparent failures. 5. Characteristics of unitary EPSPs generated by pyramidal cells were compared with the properties of the unitary EPSPs produced by granule cells. In two slices, pyramidal cell and granule cell inputs to the same mossy cell were compared. In other slices, inputs to different mossy cells were compared. In all experiments, unitary EPSPs produced by granule cells were larger in amplitude but similar in time course to unitary EPSPs produced by pyramidal cells. Probability of failure was lower and paired-pulse facilitation more common among EPSPs triggered by granule cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 2349-2354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ansalan Stewart ◽  
Robert C. Foehring

Our previous studies of calcium (Ca2+) currents in cortical pyramidal cells revealed that the percentage contribution of each Ca2+ current type to the whole cell Ca2+ current varies from cell to cell. The extent to which these currents are modulated by neurotransmitters is also variable. This study was directed at testing the hypothesis that a major source of this variability is recording from multiple populations of pyramidal cells. We used the whole cell patch-clamp technique to record from dissociated corticocortical, corticostriatal, and corticotectal projecting pyramidal cells. There were significant differences between the three pyramidal cell types in the mean percentage of L-, P-, and N-type Ca2+ currents. For both N- and P-type currents, the range of percentages expressed was small for corticostriatal and corticotectal cells as compared with cells which project to the corpus callosum or to the general population. The variance was significantly different between cell types for N- and P-type currents. These results suggest that an important source of the variability in the proportions of Ca2+ current types present in neocortical pyramidal neurons is recording from multiple populations of pyramidal cells.


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