Fetal occipital cortical neurones transplanted to the rostral cortex can extend and maintain a pyramidal tract axon

In adult rats, cortical neurones that send axons through the pyramidal tract are confined to layer V, over the rostral two-thirds of the cerebral hemisphere. However, during the first postnatal week, many neurones in layer V in the occipital cortex (including the visual cortex) also extend axon collaterals through the pyramidal tract and into the spinal cord. These occipital corticospinal collaterals are completely eliminated over the subsequent 2 weeks, although their cells of origin do not die. We now report that when portions of the occipital cortex from fetal rats are transplanted to more rostral cortical regions of newborn rats, some of the transplanted neurones not only extend axons through the pyramidal tract, but also maintain these axons beyond the stage at which they are normally eliminated. These results suggest that normally-eliminated cortical axons can be 'rescued' and, in the case of pyramidal tract neurones, the position of the neurones within the tangential plane of the cortex is a critical factor in determining which neurones retain and which lose their pyramidal tract collaterals.     

广东汉族人群TLR9基因单核苷酸多态性及其单倍型(英文)

采用PCR扩增和直接测序法对191例健康且无血缘关系的广东汉族人群筛查了TLR9全基因序列,包括调控区、5′非翻译区、第1,2外显子、内含子及3′非翻译区上所有的单核苷酸多态性(SNP)位点.共检出五个SNP位点,分别为调控区的-1 486 T/C和-1 421 C/T、内含子区的+1174 A/G、第2外显子的+1 387 T/C和+2848 G/A,其中-1421 C/T和+1 387 T/C为首次发现的新位点.连锁不平衡分析表明-486 T/C,1174 A/G以及2848 G/A之间存在紧密连锁,并且涵盖了整个基因区域,形成了一个单倍域.在此基础上运用Hhase软件构建了TLR9基因的单倍型,共得到七种单倍型并模拟了它们可能的分布频率.进一步的中性检验表明TLR9基因在广东汉族人群中符合中性进化模式.     

Functional neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus

There is extensive evidence indicating that new neurons are generated in the dentate gyrus of the adult mammalian hippocampus, a region of the brain that is important for learning and memory. However, it is not known whether these new neurons become functional, as the methods used to study adult neurogenesis are limited to fixed tissue. We use here a retroviral vector expressing green fluorescent protein that only labels dividing cells, and that can be visualized in live hippocampal slices. We report that newly generated cells in the adult mouse hippocampus have neuronal morphology and can display passive membrane properties, action potentials and functional synaptic inputs similar to those found in mature dentate granule cells. Our findings demonstrate that newly generated cells mature into functional neurons in the adult mammalian brain.     

谷氨酸、褪黑素导致海马脑薄片诱发群体峰电位的变化过程研究

在大鼠海马脑薄片上电刺激海马Schaffer侧支纤维 ,胞外记录CA1区锥体细胞层诱发群体峰电位 (PopulationSpike ,PS) ,观察灌流谷氨酸 (Glu)和褪黑素 (MEL) 40min ,人工脑脊液冲洗30min对PS的影响 ,结果显示 :不同浓度 ( 1 .0、1 .2 5、2 .5和 5.0mmol/L)的Glu作用下 ,70min末PS值百分比分别为 1 560 .5%、1 50 .7%、1 3.1 %、4.1 % ;并且Glu浓度高时 ( 2 .5或 5.0mmol/L) ,恢复期末增加刺激强度均不能使PS值升高 .不同浓度MEL( 0 .4μmol/L、0 .5μmol/L、0 .6μmol/L、0 .7μmol/L)作用下PS值在 70min内波动幅度随浓度升高而变小 ,70min末PS值百分比分别为1 93.8%、1 2 9%、75.2 % (恢复期末增大刺激强度 ,则可恢复到 1 0 0 % )、97.1 % .上述结果提示 :低浓度Glu( 1mmol/L ,1 .2 5mmol/L)对神经元具有兴奋作用 ;高浓度Glu( 2 .5mmol/L ,5mmol/L)具有神经毒性作用 ;MEL对神经元具有兴奋和抑制双重作用 ,因MEL浓度不同 ,其作用形式会有不同     

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.     

Oxytocin-immunoreactive terminals synapse on oxytocin neurones in the supraoptic nucleus

The neuropeptide oxytocin, synthesized by magnocellular neurones in the hypothalamus, is well known for its peripheral action during lactation and parturition after its release into the bloodstream from axons in the neurohypophysis. However, it may also be released centrally to control the activity of oxytocinergic neurones themselves. Oxytocin release has been measured from isolated magnocellular nuclei in vitro and in the cerebrospinal fluid. When injected into the third ventricle, the peptide increases the basal firing rate of oxytocinergic neurones as well as the frequency and amplitude of the bursts of action potentials they normally show before each reflex milk ejection. Oxytocin also excites magnocellular neurones when applied microiontophoretically. I now report that immunocytochemical staining reveals synapses in the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus where both the pre- and postsynaptic elements contain oxytocin. These oxytocinergic synapses, impinging on their own neurones, may represent the anatomical basis for the hypothalamic release of this peptide and for the facilitatory action on its own secretion.     

Theta-paced flickering between place-cell maps in the hippocampus

The ability to recall discrete memories is thought to depend on the formation of attractor states in recurrent neural networks. In such networks, representations can be reactivated reliably from subsets of the cues that were present when the memory was encoded, at the same time as interference from competing representations is minimized. Theoretical studies have pointed to the recurrent CA3 system of the hippocampus as a possible attractor network. Consistent with predictions from these studies, experiments have shown that place representations in CA3 and downstream CA1 tolerate small changes in the configuration of the environment but switch to uncorrelated representations when dissimilarities become larger. However, the kinetics supporting such network transitions, at the subsecond timescale, is poorly understood. Here we show in rats that instantaneous transformation of the spatial context does not change the hippocampal representation all at once but is followed by temporary bistability in the discharge activity of CA3 ensembles. Rather than sliding through a continuum of intermediate activity states, the CA3 network undergoes a short period of competitive flickering between preformed representations of the past and present environment before settling on the latter. Network flickers are extremely fast, often with complete replacement of the active ensemble from one theta cycle to the next. Within individual cycles, segregation is stronger towards the end, when firing starts to decline, pointing to the theta cycle as a temporal unit for expression of attractor states in the hippocampus. Repetition of pattern-completion processes across successive theta cycles may facilitate error correction and enhance discriminative power in the presence of weak and ambiguous input cues.     

NMDA application potentiates synaptic transmission in the hippocampus

The NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) class of glutamate receptor plays a critical role in a variety of forms of synaptic plasticity in the vertebrate central nervous system. One extensively studied example of plasticity is long-term potentiation (LTP), a remarkably long-lasting enhancement of synaptic efficiency induced in the hippocampus by brief, high-frequency stimulation of excitatory synapses. LTP is a strong candidate for a cellular mechanism of learning and memory. The site of LTP induction appears to be the postsynaptic cell and induction requires both activation of NMDA receptors by synaptically released glutamate and depolarization of the postsynaptic membrane. It is proposed that this depolarization relieves a voltage-dependent Mg2+ block of the NMDA receptor channel, resulting in increased calcium influx which is the trigger for the induction of LTP. This model predicts that application of a large depolarizing dose of NMDA should be sufficient to evoke LTP. In agreement with a previous study, we have found that NMDA or glutamate application does potentiate synaptic transmission in the hippocampus. This agonist-induced potentiation is, however, decremental and short-lived, unlike LTP. It is occluded shortly after the induction of LTP and a similar short-term potentiation can be evoked by synaptically released glutamate. We thus propose that LTP has two components, a short-term, decremental component which can be mimicked by NMDA receptor activation, and a long-lasting, non-decremental component which, in addition to requiring activation of NMDA receptors, requires stimulation of presynaptic afferents.     

Presynaptic mechanism for long-term potentiation in the hippocampus

Experiments analysing the statistical properties of synaptic transmission, before and after the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), suggest that expression of LTP largely arises in a presynaptic mechanism--an increased probability of transmitter release.     

River discharge changes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

THE QINGHAI-TIBET PLATEAU IS SENSITIVE TO GLOBAL CLI- MATE CHANGES, AND ITS MEAN WARMING AMPLITUDE DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS IS GREATER THAN THAT OF THE NORTHERNHEMISPHERE AND OTHER REGIONS IN THE SAME LATITUDE[1,2]. DUE TO ITS SPECIFIC GEOMORPHIC CONDITIO…