短时程突触可塑性的简化模型

给出了一类包含抑制和易化的短时程突触可塑性的简化模型.分别讨论了突触前发放为周期和Poisson电位脉冲串时,突触后的神经元的抑制和易化机制,并给出了定性分析和数值结果的比较.进一步发现在相同的突触前发放频率下,随机模型使得突触后神经元发放的易化和抑制的参数范围比周期模型的参数范围大.     

损毁LMAN逆转去势引起的成年雄鸟鸣曲变化

以成年雄性斑胸草雀为研究对象,去势后成年雄鸟鸣曲空间结构显著改变,平均频率和峰频率下降,主题曲相似度降低,鸣曲稳定性下降;损毁LMAN后,平均频率、峰频率、主题曲相似度都恢复到去势前水平.去势引起鸣曲结构和稳定性变化.损毁LMAN逆转鸣曲的变化表明LMAN对雄激素(睾酮)调节鸣曲变化至关重要.     

经颅磁声电刺激下皮层钙信号及突触传递特性的仿真与实验分析

为了探究经颅磁声电刺激(transcranial magneto-acoustic-electrical stimulation, TMAES)不同磁场强度和超声功率强度对工作记忆信息编码相关的皮层神经元钙信号及突触传递特性的影响,首先通过搭建基于磁声电效应改进的皮层锥体神经元模型,引入钙依赖神经递质释放的计算方法以计算TMAES引起的兴奋性突触后电位(excitatory postsynaptic potential, EPSP),以EPSP作为评价指标来评估不同TMAES磁场强度和超声功率强度下突触传递的短时程可塑性.随后使用光纤光度检测技术实时记录TMAES下小鼠前额叶皮层神经集群的钙信号,以揭示TMAES下钙依赖神经信息传递机制.仿真结果表明：TMAES不同磁场强度和超声功率强度对突触后响应的大小具有双向调节作用,其中,突触传递产生的短时程增强和抑制是由于TMAES下胞内钙浓度的变化引起的囊泡释放和囊泡耗竭.实验结论表明：TMAES对前额叶皮层神经元集群钙信号幅度和频率均有明显的调节作用,TMAES可以通过调节神经钙浓度进而影响突触间的信息传递.     

βCaMKII过量表达损害小鼠海马齿状回区长时程抑制

采用海马齿状回（dentate gyrus, DG）区域特异性过量表达βCaMKII的蛋白修饰转基因小鼠,通过离体电生理技术,研究了βCaMKII高表达对该区域突触可塑性的影响.与对照组相比,转基因小鼠海马齿状回双脉冲抑制反应（paired-pulse depression, PPD）和颗粒细胞的电压—电流曲线（voltage-current curve）没有发生变化,而该区域的长时程抑制（long-term depression, LTD）明显被减弱.实验结果提示,βCaMKII的过量表达不影响小鼠海马齿状回区的突触前递质释放能力和颗粒细胞的被动属性,但损害其长时程抑制.这为进一步研究βCaMKII在学习记忆和突触可塑性中的作用提供了电生理学依据.     

去势对成年雄性斑胸草雀HVC神经元电生理特性的影响

鸣唱控制系统的高级发声中枢HVC（high vocal center）是发声运动通路和前端脑通路的始端，是发声行为的起始控制脑区，亦可接受听觉信号的输入及反馈，是鸣禽鸣唱调控最为重要的脑区.以往研究表明,雄激素及其代谢产物对鸣禽鸣唱控制有重要作用.去势显著改变鸣禽体内激素含量，进而影响鸣禽鸣曲稳定性，但其具体机制尚未阐明.我们运用全细胞膜片钳记录法，在离体细胞水平研究了去势引起的雄激素水平降低对HVC不同神经元电生理特性的影响.研究结果显示,去势组与对照组相比，投射神经元HVCRA，HVCX膜输入电阻减小，膜时间常数降低，动作电位后超极化幅值升高及达到峰值时间延长，表明雄激素可以提高两类投射神经元的兴奋性. 综上所述，雄激素可以一定程度上提高HVC神经元的兴奋性，雄激素可增强HVC对发声运动通路（vocal motor pathway,VMP)的控制，抑制前端脑通路(anterior forebrain pathway,AFP)来实现维持鸣曲的稳定.     

酒精对大鼠外侧穿通纤维-CA3区LTP诱导的影响

目的:研究酒精对大鼠外侧穿通纤维(lateral perforant path,LPP)-CA3区(LPP-CA3)长时程增强(long-term potentiation,LTP)诱导阶段的影响及可能的机制.方法:用细胞外电生理记录方法,通过向海马CA3区分别微量注射酒精(Alcohol)、阿片受体拮抗剂纳洛酮(naloxone)和GABAA受体拮抗剂荷包牡丹碱(bicucul-line,BIC),以海马CA3区群体兴奋性突触后电位(field excitory postsynaptic potentials,fEPSP)斜率改变为指标,观察高频刺激引起的LTP诱导的变化.结果:①酒精剂量依赖性地抑制LTP的诱导;②纳洛酮和BIC均可以部分减轻酒精对LTP诱导的抑制作用.结论:内源性阿片系统和GABA能系统参与了酒精对LPP-CA3通路LTP诱导的调制.     

去势对成年雄性斑胸草雀鸣曲的影响

性激素在调节鸣禽鸣唱稳定性方面发挥关键作用.通过去势观察成年雄性斑胸草雀鸣曲变化.去势手术之后,去势组雄性斑胸草雀血浆中睾酮水平降低,衡量鸣曲稳定性的几个参数发生改变,即鸣曲相似度降低,熵值升高,基频、调频的变异系数增大.提示雄激素有助于稳定鸣禽的鸣曲结构.     

突触可塑性与学习记忆

以LTP为例,通过综述前人实验及理论,对突触可塑性的两种表现形式:即结构可塑性和 传递效能可塑性与学习记忆的关系进行了研究.突触可塑性被认为是学习记忆的神经学基础,而其 中最受人们关注、研究最多的是突触传递的长时程增强(LTP).     

去势对成年雄性斑胸草雀LMAN神经元电生理特性的影响

以成年雄性斑胸草雀为研究对象，利用膜片钳技术观察去势前后LMAN（lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum）的电生理活动，进一步探究AFP通路与鸣曲的关系. 实验分为正常组和去势组. 去势后，LMAN神经元的膜时间常数变短，膜电阻减小，动作电位潜伏期缩短，动作电位后超极化幅值变低同时动作电位发放频率变快. 结果表明，去势后LMAN神经元兴奋性增强，使AFP通路更加活跃，去势引起的鸣曲不稳定可能是AFP通路活动增强所致.     

Long-term potentiation of prefrontal cortex in NR1 knockout mice

利用前脑特异性NR1基因敲除小鼠,采用离体脑片场电位技术,研究了NR1亚基在前额叶脑区突触可塑性中的作用.刺激强度—反应( input-output curve)和双脉冲抑制反应(paired pulse depression,PPD)的结果表明,与同窝对照组小鼠相比,NR1基因敲除小鼠前额叶脑区的基本突触传递无明显变化.采用高频刺激(100 Hz,1 000 ms×2,间隔30 s)在小鼠的前额叶脑区诱导长时程增强( long-term potentiation,LTP),与对照组小鼠相比,NR1基因敲除小鼠前额叶脑区的LTP明显受损.以上数据提示,NR1亚基在前额叶脑区LTP的诱导中起着重要的作用.     

钙激活的大电导钾离子通道在成年斑胸草雀脑中的分布

BK 通道，即钙离子激活的大电导钾离子通道，它通过产生快速的后超极化（fA HP）来控制动作电位的持续时间、发放频率。为研究BK通道在鸣禽鸣唱学习中的作用提供形态学依据，用免疫组化法观察了BK通道在成年雄性斑胸草雀脑中的分布。证实了其在端脑、基底节纹状体、中脑、小脑等脑区都有广泛的表达，其中 RA、HVC、LM AN、X区、DM 等与鸣唱系统相关的核团都有显著的表达。这暗示了BK通道可能与鸣禽鸣唱信息整合、听觉反馈、鸣曲可塑性和稳定性以及呼吸调节都有密不可分的联系。     

Projection neurons within a vocal motor pathway are born during song learning in zebra finches

Many birds learn song during a restricted 'sensitive' period. Juveniles memorize a song model, and then learn the pattern of muscle contractions necessary to reproduce the song. Of the neural changes accompanying avian song learning, perhaps the most remarkable is the production of new neurons which are inserted into the hyperstriatum ventralis pars caudalis (HVc), a region critical for song production. We report here that in young male zebra finches many of the new neurons incorporated into the HVc innervate the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA) which projects to motor neurons controlling the vocal musculature. Furthermore, far fewer of these new neurons are incorporated into the HVc of either adult males that are beyond the sensitive learning period, or young females (who do not develop song). Thus, a major portion of the vocal motor pathway is actually created during song learning. This may enable early sensory experience and vocal practice to not only modify existing neuronal circuits, but also shape the insertion and initial synaptic contacts of neurons controlling adult song.     

Decrystallization of adult birdsong by perturbation of auditory feedback.

Young birds learn to sing by using auditory feedback to compare their own vocalizations to a memorized or innate song pattern; if they are deafened as juveniles, they will not develop normal songs. The completion of song development is called crystallization. After this stage, song shows little variation in its temporal or spectral properties. However, the mechanisms underlying this stability are largely unknown. Here we present evidence that auditory feedback is actively used in adulthood to maintain the stability of song structure. We found that perturbing auditory feedback during singing in adult zebra finches caused their song to deteriorate slowly. This 'decrystallization' consisted of a marked loss of the spectral and temporal stereotypy seen in crystallized song, including stuttering, creation, deletion and distortion of song syllables. After normal feedback was restored, these deviations gradually disappeared and the original song was recovered. Thus, adult birds that do not learn new songs nevertheless retain a significant amount of plasticity in the brain.     

The role of sex steroids in the acquisition and production of birdsong

Male birdsong is generally regarded as a secondary sexual characteristic under the control of gonadal steroids. Song typically waxes and wanes with the seasonal cycle of testicular growth and regression and decreases after adult castration. Testosterone therapy reinstates song, induces it in females, augments it in intact males, and spring testosterone profiles correlate with seasonal song production. Thus, testosterone has been viewed as a major factor in song acquisition and production acting either directly, or after aromatization within the brain. We show here, however, that song learning and early phases of the development of singing both take place in castrated male birds with no significant levels of testosterone in their blood plasma. Testosterone seems to be required for song crystallization, however. Oestradiol was unexpectedly still present after castration, evidently from a non-testicular source, throughout the period of male song acquisition.     

斑胸草雀鸣肌的形态观察

运用解剖学技术对斑胸草雀的左右侧鸣肌进行解剖,并对其进行测量.结果表明,斑胸草雀有2对外鸣肌和4对内鸣肌.两侧鸣肌质量差异显著,右侧较重.两侧NX IIts的直径差异显著,右侧较粗.在形态学上验证了鸣肌和NX IIts的右侧优势.初步分析了鸣肌各部分的结构及功能,为进一步研究鸣肌在鸣禽鸣唱过程中的作用提供了基础资料.     

成年斑胸草雀弓状皮质栎核投射神经元电生理特性的性别差异

利用离体脑片膜片钳技术检测RA投射神经元电生理活动的主动和被动特性，对其性别差异进行探讨.结果发现鸣禽RA投射神经元电生理特性在发放频率和诱发动作电位幅值方面存在明显的性别差异.     

Interruption of a basal ganglia-forebrain circuit prevents plasticity of learned vocalizations

Birdsong, like speech, is a learned vocal behaviour that relies greatly on hearing; in both songbirds and humans the removal of auditory feedback by deafening leads to a gradual deterioration of adult vocal production. Here we investigate the neural mechanisms that contribute to the processing of auditory feedback during the maintenance of song in adult zebra finches. We show that the deleterious effects on song production that normally follow deafening can be prevented by a second insult to the nervous system--the lesion of a basal ganglia-forebrain circuit. The results suggest that the removal of auditory feedback leads to the generation of an instructive signal that actively drives non-adaptive changes in song; they also suggest that this instructive signal is generated within (or conveyed through) the basal ganglia-forebrain pathway. Our findings provide evidence that cortical-basal ganglia circuits may participate in the evaluation of sensory feedback during calibration of motor performance, and demonstrate that damage to such circuits can have little effect on previously learned behaviour while conspicuously disrupting the capacity to adaptively modify that behaviour.