An ultra-sparse code underlies the generation of neural sequences in a songbird

Sequences of motor activity are encoded in many vertebrate brains by complex spatio-temporal patterns of neural activity; however, the neural circuit mechanisms underlying the generation of these pre-motor patterns are poorly understood. In songbirds, one prominent site of pre-motor activity is the forebrain robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), which generates stereotyped sequences of spike bursts during song and recapitulates these sequences during sleep. We show that the stereotyped sequences in RA are driven from nucleus HVC (high vocal centre), the principal pre-motor input to RA. Recordings of identified HVC neurons in sleeping and singing birds show that individual HVC neurons projecting onto RA neurons produce bursts sparsely, at a single, precise time during the RA sequence. These HVC neurons burst sequentially with respect to one another. We suggest that at each time in the RA sequence, the ensemble of active RA neurons is driven by a subpopulation of RA-projecting HVC neurons that is active only at that time. As a population, these HVC neurons may form an explicit representation of time in the sequence. Such a sparse representation, a temporal analogue of the 'grandmother cell' concept for object recognition, eliminates the problem of temporal interference during sequence generation and learning attributed to more distributed representations.     

A new cellular mechanism for coupling inputs arriving at different cortical layers

Pyramidal neurons in layer 5 of the neocortex of the brain extend their axons and dendrites into all layers. They are also unusual in having both an axonal and a dendritic zone for the initiation of action potentials. Distal dendritic inputs, which normally appear greatly attenuated at the axon, must cross a high threshold at the dendritic initiation zone to evoke calcium action potentials but can then generate bursts of axonal action potentials. Here we show that a single back-propagating sodium action potential generated in the axon facilitates the initiation of these calcium action potentials when it coincides with distal dendritic input within a time window of several milliseconds. Inhibitory dendritic input can selectively block the initiation of dendritic calcium action potentials, preventing bursts of axonal action potentials. Thus, excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials arising in the distal dendrites can exert significantly greater control over action potential initiation in the axon than would be expected from their electrotonically isolated locations. The coincidence of a single back-propagating action potential with a subthreshold distal excitatory postsynaptic potential to evoke a burst of axonal action potentials represents a new mechanism by which the main cortical output neurons can associate inputs arriving at different cortical layers.     

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.     

P物质对大鼠星状神经节细胞的除极化

应用细胞内生物电记录技术,观察神经肽P物质(SP)对大鼠星状神经节细胞的影响.SP在1 μmol～10 μmol或更高的浓度范围内,供试35个细胞, 有28个细胞发生膜除极反应.用低钙(0.25 mm)或用含河豚毒素(TTX,1 μmol)克氏液灌流神经节,不影响SP引起的除极反应的幅度和时程.SP引起除极反应的同时常伴有膜电阻增大.当膜电位增大时,除极化反应幅度变小,反转电位为-80 mV至-100 mV.研究表明,SP对部分星状神经节细胞具有兴奋作用,使通过这些细胞的信息传递增强;SP对细胞膜的除极作用是由于其引起细胞膜钾导降低所致.     

Detection of bursts in neuronal spike trains by the mean inter-spike interval method

Bursts are electrical spikes firing with a high frequency, which are the most important property in synaptic plasticity and information processing in the central nervous system. However, bursts are difficult to identify because bursting activities or patterns vary with physiological conditions or external stimuli. In this paper, a simple method automatically to detect bursts in spike trains is described. This method auto-adaptively sets a parameter (mean inter-spike interval) according to intrinsic properties of the detected burst spike trains, without any arbitrary choices or any operator judgment. When the mean value of several successive inter-spike intervals is not larger than the parameter, a burst is identified. By this method, bursts can be automatically extracted from different bursting patterns of cultured neurons on multi-electrode arrays, as accurately as by visual inspection. Furthermore, significant changes of burst variables caused by electrical stimulus have been found in spontaneous activity of neuronal network. These suggest that the mean inter-spike interval method is robust for detecting changes in burst patterns and characteristics induced by environmental alterations.     

Perception of sniff phase in mouse olfaction

Olfactory systems encode odours by which neurons respond and by when they respond. In mammals, every sniff evokes a precise, odour-specific sequence of activity across olfactory neurons. Likewise, in a variety of neural systems, ranging from sensory periphery to cognitive centres, neuronal activity is timed relative to sampling behaviour and/or internally generated oscillations. As in these neural systems, relative timing of activity may represent information in the olfactory system. However, there is no evidence that mammalian olfactory systems read such cues. To test whether mice perceive the timing of olfactory activation relative to the sniff cycle ('sniff phase'), we used optogenetics in gene-targeted mice to generate spatially constant, temporally controllable olfactory input. Here we show that mice can behaviourally report the sniff phase of optogenetically driven activation of olfactory sensory neurons. Furthermore, mice can discriminate between light-evoked inputs that are shifted in the sniff cycle by as little as 10 milliseconds, which is similar to the temporal precision of olfactory bulb odour responses. Electrophysiological recordings in the olfactory bulb of awake mice show that individual cells encode the timing of photoactivation in relation to the sniff in both the timing and the amplitude of their responses. Our work provides evidence that the mammalian olfactory system can read temporal patterns, and suggests that timing of activity relative to sampling behaviour is a potent cue that may enable accurate olfactory percepts to form quickly.     

Movement selection in advance of action in the superior colliculus.

The primate superior colliculus contains a map of saccadic eye movements. Saccades are high-velocity eye movements to selected targets in the visual field, but little is known about the neural mechanisms responsible for target selection or the related problem of choosing a particular movement from the oculomotor repertoire. Two classes of neurons have been described in the superior colliculus which show bursts of activity before the saccade: discrete bursters display a vigorous pre-saccadic burst and prelude bursters show low-frequency activity as a prelude to burst onset. We have designed experiments to test whether prelude activity is related to saccade selection. Our tasks use a cue to specify which of two physically identical visual stimuli is the goal of an impending saccade. This cue is spatially and temporally isolated from the potential targets as well as from visual cues signalling movement initiation. Our results show that prelude activity occurs shortly after information is available for correct saccade selection and, more importantly, the activity is predictive of saccade choice. The results thus suggest that the superior colliculus participates in the process of saccade selection.     

Preliminary results from Solrad 11 gamma-burst detectors

We present here temporal and 0.2-2 MeV spectral data from two gamma bursts observed on 12 June and 16 August 1976, by detectors on the Solrad 11A and 11B satellites. The 12 June burst showed evidence for structure on time scales down to approximately 10 ms throughout its lifetime, whereas the 16 August burst varied only with characteristic times longer than a few tenths of a second. A search for both slow and fast spectral variability gave negative results. Accurate absolute burst times are, however, not yet available, but since both bursts were also observed by at least one Vela satellite, positions are calculable and will be reported.     

Neuronal pacemaker for breathing visualized in vitro.

Breathing movements in mammals arise from a rhythmic pattern of neural activity, thought to originate in the pre-B?tzinger complex in the lower brainstem. The mechanisms generating the neural rhythm in this region are unknown. The central question is whether the rhythm is generated by a network of bursting pacemaker neurons coupled by excitatory synapses that synchronize pacemaker activity. Here we visualized the activity of inspiratory pacemaker neurons at single-cell and population levels with calcium-sensitive dye. We developed methods to label these neurons retrogradely with the dye in neonatal rodent brainstem slices that retain the rhythmically active respiratory network. We simultaneously used infrared structural imaging to allow patch-clamp recording from the identified neurons. After we pharmacologically blocked glutamatergic synaptic transmission, a subpopulation of inspiratory neurons continued to burst rhythmically but asynchronously. The intrinsic bursting frequency of these pacemaker neurons depended on the baseline membrane potential, providing a cellular mechanism for respiratory frequency control. These results provide evidence that the neuronal kernel for rhythm generation consists of a network of synaptically-coupled pacemaker neurons.     

Temporal integration by a slowly inactivating K+ current in hippocampal neurons

A central aspect of neuronal function is how each nerve cell translated synaptic input into a sequence of action potentials that carry information along the axon, coded as spike frequency. When transduction from a graded depolarizing input to spikes is studied by injecting a depolarizing current, there is often a remarkably long delay to the first action potential, both in mammalian and molluscan neurons. Here, I report that the delayed excitation in rat hippocampal neurons is due to a slowly inactivating potassium current, ID. ID co-exists with other voltage-gated K+ currents, including a fast A current and a slow delayed rectifier current. As ID activates in the subthreshold range, and takes tens of seconds to recover from inactivation, it enables the cell to integrate separate depolarizing inputs over long times. ID also makes the encoding properties of the cell exceedingly sensitive to the prevailing membrane potential.     

粒子群优化-BP神经网络对岩爆的预测

岩爆是典型高地应力区主要地质灾害之一,其预测理论和发生机制的研究目前并不成熟.本文通过选择合适的影响岩爆程度的主要因素,应用BP神经网络对岩爆样本进行训练并利用预测样本进行检验,由于BP神经网络的初始权值和阀值对网络学习效率和预测结果有影响,因此其对检验样本的预测结果往往不够理想.利用粒子群算法(PSO)对BP网络的初始权值和阀值进行优化,将改进后的BP神经网络算法应用于预测,预测的结果优于BP神经网络.表明利用PSO-BP神经网络算法对实际工程中的岩爆进行预测是可行的.     

鸣禽鸣啭控制核团内GABA能神经元的分布研究

应用免疫组化方法对鸣禽粟鹀(Emberiza rutila)鸣啭控制核团内GABA能神经元的分布进行了研究，在高级发声中枢(HVC，high vocal center)，古纹状体粗核(RA，the robust nucleus of the archistrialum)，X区(Arca X)3个前脑核团内有GABA样免疫反应出现．HVC和RA中GABA能神经元胞体大小存在性别和季节间的差异．结果提示GABA能神经元可能参与了鸣禽鸣啭的产生和鸣啭学习。     

A basal ganglia pacemaker formed by the subthalamic nucleus and external globus pallidus.

The subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia (STN) is important for normal movement as well as in movement disorders. Lesioning or deep-brain stimulation of the STN can alleviate resting tremor in Parkinson's disease. The STN and its target nuclei display synchronized oscillatory burst discharge at low frequencies, some of which correlate with tremor, but the mechanism underlying this synchronized bursting is unknown. Here we show that the excitatory STN and inhibitory, external globus pallidus (GPe) form a feedback system that engages in synchronized bursting. In mature organotypic cortex-striatum-STN-GPe cultures, neurons in the STN and GPe spontaneously produce synchronized oscillating bursts at 0.4, 0.8 and 1.8 Hz. Pallidal lesion abolishes this bursting, whereas cortical lesion favours bursting at 0.8 Hz. Pallidal bursts, although weaker than STN bursts, were required for synchronized oscillatory burst generation by recruitment of subthalmic rebound excitation. We propose that the STN and GPe constitute a central pacemaker modulated by striatal inhibition of GPe neurons. This pacemaker could be responsible for synchronized oscillatory activity in the normal and pathological basal ganglia.     

成年雄性斑胸草雀脑多巴胺D1受体的分布

多巴胺是脑内关键的神经递质,它通过与多巴胺受体的作用及其下游的一系列反应来影响基因表达、神经调节和行为活动.在成年鸣禽中,中脑多巴胺能神经元投射到X区、HVC和RA等鸣唱相关核团,释放多巴胺的量受一定社会情境的影响,从而表现出directed song和undirected song等不同鸣唱行为.获得斑胸草雀脑中多巴胺受体的表达情况,为与社会情境有关的鸣唱行为及其他和多巴胺相关的行为活动的神经机制探究提供了基础,并可促进行为学、电生理等方面的研究.我们发现D1受体在斑胸草雀脑中的分布与其mRNA的分布基本一致:在脑的绝大部分区域都有分布;主要鸣唱核团HVC和RA有表达,与其周围区域差异不明显;LMAN中表达量较少;DLM中的表达量较高,并与其周围区域差异明显.但是纹状体内的表达与其周围区域的差异性没有mRNA明显;GCT中的表达量较多,与周围区域差异明显.     

The signature of supernova ejecta in the X-ray afterglow of the gamma-ray burst 011211

Now that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been determined to lie at cosmological distances, their isotropic burst energies are estimated to be as high as 1054 erg (ref. 2), making them the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. The nature of the progenitors responsible for the bursts remains, however, elusive. The favoured models range from the merger of two neutron stars in a binary system to the collapse of a massive star. Spectroscopic studies of the afterglow emission could reveal details of the environment of the burst, by indicating the elements present, the speed of the outflow and an estimate of the temperature. Here we report an X-ray spectrum of the afterglow of GRB011211, which shows emission lines of magnesium, silicon, sulphur, argon, calcium and possibly nickel, arising in metal-enriched material with an outflow velocity of the order of one-tenth the speed of light. These observations strongly favour models where a supernova explosion from a massive stellar progenitor precedes the burst event and is responsible for the outflowing matter.     

深井硬岩矿山岩爆灾害防治研究

采用室内试验、数值计算和现场岩爆研究相结合的综合研究方法,以冬瓜山矿床开采为对象,对深井矿床开采岩爆防治进行了系统的研究.由矿岩力学试验,采用岩爆综合评判指标确定了矿岩的岩爆倾向性,指出岩爆倾向性具有本源性和诱导性两种属性;电镜试验、物理模型试验和现场岩爆研究发现岩爆主要由张拉断裂引起,具有明显的岩石破坏和工程施工异常性前兆;现场岩爆研究和数值计算表明岩爆危险区位于应力集中、能量贮存大及具有快速释放能力和条件的区域;从岩爆预防角度,采用数值分析方法以能量释放率为衡量指标,对采场结构参数、开采步骤等进行了优化;从减少能量贮存、控制能量释放、采用柔性支护和建立岩爆监测系统4个方面,得出了具体的岩爆防治措施.图3,表2,参11.     

Organization of cell assemblies in the hippocampus

Neurons can produce action potentials with high temporal precision. A fundamental issue is whether, and how, this capability is used in information processing. According to the 'cell assembly' hypothesis, transient synchrony of anatomically distributed groups of neurons underlies processing of both external sensory input and internal cognitive mechanisms. Accordingly, neuron populations should be arranged into groups whose synchrony exceeds that predicted by common modulation by sensory input. Here we find that the spike times of hippocampal pyramidal cells can be predicted more accurately by using the spike times of simultaneously recorded neurons in addition to the animals location in space. This improvement remained when the spatial prediction was refined with a spatially dependent theta phase modulation. The time window in which spike times are best predicted from simultaneous peer activity is 10-30 ms, suggesting that cell assemblies are synchronized at this timescale. Because this temporal window matches the membrane time constant of pyramidal neurons, the period of the hippocampal gamma oscillation and the time window for synaptic plasticity, we propose that cooperative activity at this timescale is optimal for information transmission and storage in cortical circuits.     

微尺寸单晶金属应变突变现象的随机有限元分析

微米尺寸单晶柱体的压缩实验发现,在其塑性变形过程中应变会发生突变,致使塑性流动呈现明显的间歇性. 通过随机有限元方法,分析了微米尺寸和块体镍单晶柱体在混合加载方式下的间歇性塑性流动行为. 同时,结合镍单晶柱体的实验数据以及基于经典晶体塑性理论的有限元方法,对近期新建立的理论模型进行了分析研究. 结果表明:新理论模型能够捕捉应变突变的发生;对于块体材料,新模型计算结果与常规晶体塑性有限元结果以及实验结果均比较吻合;当单晶柱体尺寸减小至几十μm左右时,新模型预测结果仍然能够与实验结果保持一致;微柱体的塑性流动是通过一系列的应变突变行为实现的.     

Cloned neuronal IK(A) channels reopen during recovery from inactivation

The kinetic behaviour and functional role of potassium ion (K+) channels mediating a fast-inactivating K+ current (IK(A)) has been widely discussed. Activating in the subthreshold range of excitation, IK(A) channels are assumed to reduce the excitatory effect of depolarizing membrane currents in a time-dependent manner. Here we report that IK(A) channels not only open in response to a depolarization but open again after repolarization of the membrane. Although the current in response to the depolarization is rapidly inactivating, the current elicited by repolarization declines slowly and produces long-lasting afterhyperpolarizations under current-clamp conditions. This implies an additional physiological role for IK(A) channels, particularly those that activate positive to the threshold of excitation. The underlying biophysical mechanism was studied by fast-application of peptides corresponding to the N-terminal end of the IK(A) channel proteins. It was found to be a voltage-dependent release of the inactivation gate.     

Membrane potential has no direct role in evoking neurotransmitter release

Neurons communicate by secreting a transmitter that excites or inhibits other neurons at synapses. The role of presynaptic membrane potential in triggering transmitter release is still controversial. In one view, presynaptic action potentials trigger the release by the entry of calcium ions into presynaptic terminals through voltage-dependent calcium channels. Calcium acts at high local concentrations at release sites near channel mouths to cause neurosecretion. An opposing view is that, in addition to elevating presynaptic calcium, presynaptic potential stimulates transmitter release by a distinct direct action. The relative importance of depolarization and calcium entry in neurosecretion cannot be determined because the two events are tightly linked. To delineate the roles of presynaptic potential and calcium entry in transmitter release, we have used nitr-5, a photolabile calcium chelator, and a voltage-clamp technique to control intracellular calcium and membrane potential independently at a synapse formed between cell bodies of cultured neurons of the fresh water snail Helisoma trivolvis. We found transmitter release occurred when presynaptic calcium levels were elevated to concentrations of a few micromolar, and that presynaptic voltage had no direct effect on neurosecretion.