Interactional expertise through the looking glass: a peek at mirror neurons

Interactional expertise is here to stay. Undoubtedly, in some sense of the word, one can attain a linguistic expert level within a field without full scale practical immersion. In the context of the idea of embodied cognition, the claim is provocative. How can an interactional expert acquire full linguistic competence without the simultaneous bodily engagement and real life interaction needed to get the language right? How can one understand the concept of hammering if one has never seen a hammer or felt the weight of the iron head on a fragile thumb? Here I will explore a strange and second-hand way in which bodily engagement could have an impact on our linguistic abilities; this is via the so called mirror neuron system. Since the mirror neuron system blurs the distinction between first and third person activity it can help us understand some of the enigmatic aspects of interactional expertise and pose further questions for research.     

Effect of thrombin on the apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in vitro

Hippocampal neurons were treated by thrombin and thrombin receptor activating peptides (TRAP). Cell survival rate was decreased in a dose-dependent manner by MTT assay. The numbers of apoptotic cell and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons treated by different concentrations of thrombin were increased in a dose-dependent manner by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method and Flow Cytometry. When the concentration of thrombin is 40 U/mL, TUNEL positive cells and apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons reached peak value, were 27.3±4.0 and (29.333±4.633)%, respectively. Immunocytochemistry assay show that Bcl-2 protein expression was down-regulated and Bax protein expression was up-regulated with the concentration of thrombin increased. TRAP can mimic the effect of thrombin to induce apoptosis on hippocampal neurons. These data demonstrated that thrombin induced hippocampal neuron apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner through activating protease-activated protein-1 (PAR-1). The change in expression of Bcl-2 and Bax was related with the effect of high concentration thrombin induced apoptosis on hippocampal neurons. Foundation item: Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province (N30215) Biography: YANG Wen-qiong (1968-), female, Ph.D. candidate, research direction: cerebrovascular disease.     

鸣禽前脑鸣啭控制核团内胆碱能神经元的分布

高级发声中枢（HVC）和古纹状体粗核（RA）是位于鸣禽前脑的两个主要鸣啭控制核团，以中国北方地区常见的两种鸣禽栗鹂（Emberiza rutila)和燕雀（Fingilla montifringilla）为材料，应用免疫组化方法，对两种鸣禽HVC和RA内胆碱能神经元的胞体大小和密度进行了观察、发现ChAT样免疫反应具有性别差异。这一结果提示胆碱能神经元可能在鸣啭的产生和学习过程中发挥着重要的作用。     

血竭对大鼠背根神经节细胞钠通道电流的影响

研究血竭对大鼠背根神经节细胞电压门控性钠通道电流的影响。方法：采用全细胞膜片钳记录法，在新鲜分离的大鼠背根神经节细胞上观察血竭对钠通道电流幅值的影响。结果：血竭剂量依赖地抑制单个DRG细胞电压门控性钠通道电流，高剂量的血竭抑制作用不可逆。结论：血竭对背根神经节细胞钠通道电流的这种抑制作用，可能是其产生躯体镇痛作用的药理机制之一。     

低信噪比神经元锋电位信号的分类方法

基于离散序列小波变换和主元分析，对低信噪比的神经元锋电位信号提出了新的分类方法。通过对原始信号进行尖峰检测，获得尖峰信号样本，对每个样本进行离散序列小波变换之后，再对小波变换系数进行主元分析，选取主元进行聚类，实现对原始信号的分类。将该方法应用于多电极细胞外记录的小鸡视网膜神经节细胞电活动信号分析，并据此推断出某电极附近的神经节细胞的个数。仿真结果表明，在低信噪比情况下，该方法比单纯通过小波变换进行分类的方法更有效。     

大鼠背根神经节分离细胞离子单通道记录技术

本文探讨了在大鼠背根神经节(DRG)细胞上记录离子单通道电流的方法,研究了膜片钳实验的各个环节,研究了提高封接电阻的方法。研究结果表明,单通道记录的背景噪声取决于电极与细胞的封接水平。文中还讨论了实验系统的组装,电极制备和细胞分离等技术。     

诊断超声波对人中孕胎儿大脑皮质神经细胞超微结构影响的初步研究

目的；研究B超定点扫描是否对人中孕胎儿大脑皮质神经细胞超微结构造成影响。方法：将8名健康因避孕失败而自愿要求引产的单胎中孕妊娠（18～25周）的妇女随机分成两组，每组各4例，行水囊引产术，对照组在引产前不作B眼扫描；实验组在引产前30min用频率3.5MHz70%的输出B超（I-SPTA=124.1mW/cm^2）经孕双腹部定点扫描胎儿大脑颞叶皮质10min，引产术后胎儿娩出即取大脑颞叶皮质作透射电镜标本的常规制备与观察。结果：与对照组相比，B超定点扫描10min，胎儿大脑皮质神经细胞的主要变化：（1）细胞核染色质分布不均，成团块状浓缩或边聚；（2）核周质（胞质）内糖原与游离核糖体稀疏；（3）部分线粒体肿胀，呈空泡化；（4）次级溶酶体多见。结论：B超定点扫描10min，胎儿大脑皮质细胞开始有变性改变，由于受损神经细胞不易再生，因此，B超用于产前胎儿颅脑检查尤其早，中孕检查时不应超过10min为宜。     

Intermediate targets and segmental pathfinding

Neurons must often extend axons over fairly long distances, making multiple changes in their trajectory of growth before arriving at their final target. It has become clear that as growth cones navigate these complex projections, they typically extend toward a number of intermediate targets before they contact their final target. Recent work from a variety of systems has identified intermediate targets that seem to play similar roles in vertebrate and invertebrate nervous system development. From these examples it appears that a general model of axon guidance can be proposed whereby neurons are guided to their targets segmentally. Within each segment, an intermediate target appears to be the primary target for growth cone recognition and thus the completion of the journey to the final target is determined by a series of successful segmental pathfinding decisions.     

枣仁皂甙A对海马神经细胞的影响

在实验室建立了体外培养新生大鼠海马神经细胞方法，观察和研究枣仁皂甙A（JuA）对海马神经细胞生长的影响，用免疫组化和免疫荧光法鉴定神经细胞，M1rr检测神经细胞存活率。试验结果表明，培养细胞为高纯度的海马神经细胞，JuA组的海马神经细胞存活率明显高于对照组（p〈0．01），且呈现一定剂量相关性，提示JuA对体外培养的新生大鼠海马神经细胞的生长有一定的促进作用