Involvement of visual cortex in tactile discrimination of orientation.

The primary sense modalities (vision, touch and so on) are generally thought of as distinct. However, visual imagery is implicated in the normal tactile perception of some object properties, such as orientation, shape and size. Furthermore, certain tactile tasks, such as discrimination of grating orientation and object recognition, are associated with activity in areas of visual cortex. Here we show that disrupting function of the occipital cortex using focal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) interferes with the tactile discrimination of grating orientation. The specificity of this effect is illustrated by its time course and spatial restriction over the scalp, and by the failure of occipital TMS to affect either detection of an electrical stimulus applied to the fingerpad or tactile discrimination of grating texture. In contrast, TMS over the somatosensory cortex blocked discrimination of grating texture as well as orientation. We also report that, during tactile discrimination of grating orientation, an evoked potential is recorded over posterior scalp regions with a latency corresponding to the peak of the TMS interference effect (about 180 ms). The findings indicate that visual cortex is closely involved in tactile discrimination of orientation. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that visual cortical processing is necessary for normal tactile perception.     

基于重复经颅磁刺激的脑功能网络分析

基于脑功能网络探究重复经颅磁刺激对大脑皮层神经交互作用的影响.利用基于图论的复杂网络理论,进行了经颅磁刺激作用于皮层所诱发脑电信号的脑功能网络分析.采用重复刺激对大脑运动区进行刺激,分别构建了安静状态下、磁刺激运动区状态下的脑电信号的脑功能网络,对脑功能网络全局参数和局部参数进行了图像直观表述和统计学分析.结果发现,磁刺激运动区状态下相比于安静状态下的脑功能网络全局参数和局部参数都发生了明显改变,经统计学分析对比具有显著性差异.     

Reversing pathological neural activity using targeted plasticity

Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma can generate pathological neural activity that is believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus. Several studies have reported that the severity of chronic pain and tinnitus is correlated with the degree of map reorganization in somatosensory and auditory cortex, respectively. Direct electrical or transcranial magnetic stimulation of sensory cortex can temporarily disrupt these phantom sensations. However, there is as yet no direct evidence for a causal role of plasticity in the generation of pain or tinnitus. Here we report evidence that reversing the brain changes responsible can eliminate the perceptual impairment in an animal model of noise-induced tinnitus. Exposure to intense noise degrades the frequency tuning of auditory cortex neurons and increases cortical synchronization. Repeatedly pairing tones with brief pulses of vagus nerve stimulation completely eliminated the physiological and behavioural correlates of tinnitus in noise-exposed rats. These improvements persisted for weeks after the end of therapy. This method for restoring neural activity to normal may be applicable to a variety of neurological disorders.     

小脑经颅直流电刺激技术提升运动表现的应用

小脑是脑皮层下的一个重要运动调节中枢,它与大脑不同皮层区域在解剖和功能上紧密连接,配合大脑皮层完成机体的运动功能和运动学习。经颅直流电刺激(transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS)是一种非侵入性的脑刺激技术,通过电极将微弱的电流作用于小脑能有效地提升皮层脊髓兴奋性和调控小脑与大脑皮层间的功能连接。本文系统梳理近20年国内外关于tDCS刺激小脑对提升人类运动表现影响的相关文献,研究结果表明tDCS刺激小脑可以改善人体的运动表现,如姿势控制、运动适应与运动学习、肌肉力量表现等。然而,tDCS刺激小脑的生理机制和刺激强度、刺激时间、刺激时间间隔等参数的选择有待进一步研究。未来的体育科学研究中,如何将tDCS刺激小脑的技术应用于运动训练,帮助运动员突破现有的运动能力仍有待深入探究。     

多导脑部磁刺激仪的设计与仿真

大脑神经系统可由外部的时变磁场加以无创刺激，考虑到要对大脑多个不同部位同时进行刺激的情况，提出了一种由多线圈组成的多导脑部磁刺激系统．用有限元分析软件ANSYS模拟了线圈阵列工作时所产生的磁场，并与实验测得的磁场进行了比较．结果表明，软件仿真的数据精度误差在6％以内，并总结出变化规律：随着刺激线圈个数的增加，中心线圈轴线上同位置处的磁感应强度逐渐加大，与单线圈工作时相比，磁刺激深度得到了有效改善．     

基于脑电的磁刺激神门穴脑功能网络研究

研究磁刺激神门穴状态下与静息状态下9名健康被试的脑电信号样本,分别构建两种状态下的脑功能网络,并对不同的网络测度进行分析.首次从复杂网络角度探索神门穴的治病机理,期望为穴位磁刺激疗法提供实验参考.分析结果表明磁刺激神门穴时脑电信号之间的关联系数值相比静息状态下降低,平均聚类系数、平均最短特征路径长度以及平均度在阈值区间均发生显著变化,小世界属性指标增强,并存在显著性差异(P<0.01).磁刺激神门穴状态下各节点通道间的紧密程度降低、连接情况较为松散、网络中各节点同步能力减弱、效率降低、网络规模减小,这时的大脑很可能处于一种比较镇静的状态而有利于睡眠的产生.     

Direct control of paralysed muscles by cortical neurons

A potential treatment for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury is to route control signals from the brain around the injury by artificial connections. Such signals could then control electrical stimulation of muscles, thereby restoring volitional movement to paralysed limbs. In previously separate experiments, activity of motor cortex neurons related to actual or imagined movements has been used to control computer cursors and robotic arms, and paralysed muscles have been activated by functional electrical stimulation. Here we show that Macaca nemestrina monkeys can directly control stimulation of muscles using the activity of neurons in the motor cortex, thereby restoring goal-directed movements to a transiently paralysed arm. Moreover, neurons could control functional stimulation equally well regardless of any previous association to movement, a finding that considerably expands the source of control signals for brain-machine interfaces. Monkeys learned to use these artificial connections from cortical cells to muscles to generate bidirectional wrist torques, and controlled multiple neuron-muscle pairs simultaneously. Such direct transforms from cortical activity to muscle stimulation could be implemented by autonomous electronic circuitry, creating a relatively natural neuroprosthesis. These results are the first demonstration that direct artificial connections between cortical cells and muscles can compensate for interrupted physiological pathways and restore volitional control of movement to paralysed limbs.     

磁刺激促进睡眠方法研究

提出一种磁刺激促进睡眠的方法，据此进行的动物实验表明：与对照组比较，这种磁刺激能有效地影响，调节脑电活动，促进睡眠（P＜0．01）。     

基于复杂网络的磁刺激穴位特异性研究

关于穴位特异性的存在目前尚存争议.首次从复杂网络角度,研究磁刺激合谷穴与磁刺激外关穴作用功效的异同.采集两组健康被试静息态与刺激态下的脑电信号并进行预处理;采用皮尔逊统计指标相关系数考察通道间的关联程度,并对每组10个被试静息态与刺激态近18 000对关联强度值进行统计学分析;计算网络指标节点强度值、介数值,并进行统计学分析.研究结果发现,与合谷穴组相比,外关穴组显著影响的连接不仅包括左额叶与顶叶及枕叶的连接,还包括右额叶与左中央区的连接;网络指标在不同穴位刺激下的变化存有显著差异.本文在证实磁刺激穴位能够改变皮质可塑性的同时,也为进一步证明穴位特异性的存在提供了理论依据.     

Co-release of glutamate and aspartate from cholinergic and GABAergic synaptosomes

Glutamate and aspartate are known to be released in a calcium-dependent fashion by depolarizing stimulation of mammalian brain synaptosomes (isolated nerve endings), an observation which strengthens their claims to be neurotransmitter candidates. The source of these compounds has been interpreted as the exclusively glutamatergic or aspartatergic synaptosome sub-populations assumed to be present in the standard heterogeneous preparations from mammalian brain. Several neurotransmitter-specific synaptosomal surface markers have recently been identified by immunolysis studies and these have allowed separation of subpopulations of synaptosomes by an affinity purification method. These markers appear to be closely related to the biosynthetic enzyme for the principal neurotransmitter released by each sub-category of synaptosome. We have isolated highly purified, metabolically active, GABAergic and cholinergic synaptosomes from cerebral cortex using antisera recognizing either glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) or choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), in conjunction with magnetic microspheres covalently coupled to Protein A (ref. 8), and now report that these synaptosomes release both glutamate and aspartate, in addition to their principal neurotransmitter, when treated with chemical depolarizing agents.     

经颅磁刺激电磁场分析系统设计

为了对经颅磁刺激下大脑内部磁场分布和变化规律进行准确分析,并对刺激线圈进行个性化设计,设计了经颅磁刺激电磁场分析系统.利用有限元方法,建立真实头模型,对线圈产生的脉冲磁场整个过程做全面的电路磁场混合分析,仿真不同线圈参数在脑内产生的效果.同时,根据临床磁刺激需要,结合数据库技术对磁刺激线圈参数进行自动优化选择.实验表明,该系统分析准确,为实际刺激线圈的制作和临床刺激强度的选择提供了依据.     

A general mechanism for perceptual decision-making in the human brain

Findings from single-cell recording studies suggest that a comparison of the outputs of different pools of selectively tuned lower-level sensory neurons may be a general mechanism by which higher-level brain regions compute perceptual decisions. For example, when monkeys must decide whether a noisy field of dots is moving upward or downward, a decision can be formed by computing the difference in responses between lower-level neurons sensitive to upward motion and those sensitive to downward motion. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging and a categorization task in which subjects decide whether an image presented is a face or a house to test whether a similar mechanism is also at work for more complex decisions in the human brain and, if so, where in the brain this computation might be performed. Activity within the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is greater during easy decisions than during difficult decisions, covaries with the difference signal between face- and house-selective regions in the ventral temporal cortex, and predicts behavioural performance in the categorization task. These findings show that even for complex object categories, the comparison of the outputs of different pools of selectively tuned neurons could be a general mechanism by which the human brain computes perceptual decisions.     

动物交变磁诱导系统的实验设计

交变磁场的生物效应是近年医学领域研究的热点课题之一。进行了交变磁场调节人大脑精神状态的研究,设计了一套适用于动物的经颅磁诱导系统,采用环形单线圈作为磁场的产生装置,利用单片机产生不同模式的模拟信号,并通过功率放大电路,驱动线圈产生所需磁场,从而在动物颅脑中心感兴趣的区域产生500Gs的磁场。测试表明,该系统性能稳定,满足动物实验的要求。     

Early consolidation in human primary motor cortex.

Behavioural studies indicate that a newly acquired motor skill is rapidly consolidated from an initially unstable state to a more stable state, whereas neuroimaging studies demonstrate that the brain engages new regions for performance of the task as a result of this consolidation. However, it is not known where a new skill is retained and processed before it is firmly consolidated. Some early aspects of motor skill acquisition involve the primary motor cortex (M1), but the nature of that involvement is unclear. We tested the possibility that the human M1 is essential to early motor consolidation. We monitored changes in elementary motor behaviour while subjects practised fast finger movements that rapidly improved in movement acceleration and muscle force generation. Here we show that low-frequency, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of M1 but not other brain areas specifically disrupted the retention of the behavioural improvement, but did not affect basal motor behaviour, task performance, motor learning by subsequent practice, or recall of the newly acquired motor skill. These findings indicate that the human M1 is specifically engaged during the early stage of motor consolidation.     

Interocular rivalry revealed in the human cortical blind-spot representation

To understand conscious vision, scientists must elucidate how the brain selects specific visual signals for awareness. When different monocular patterns are presented to the two eyes, they rival for conscious expression such that only one monocular image is perceived at a time. Controversy surrounds whether this binocular rivalry reflects neural competition among pattern representations or monocular channels. Here we show that rivalry arises from interocular competition, using functional magnetic resonance imaging of activity in a monocular region of primary visual cortex corresponding to the blind spot. This cortical region greatly prefers stimulation of the ipsilateral eye to that of the blind-spot eye. Subjects reported their dominant percept while viewing rivalrous orthogonal gratings in the visual location corresponding to the blind spot and its surround. As predicted by interocular rivalry, the monocular blind-spot representation was activated when the ipsilateral grating became perceptually dominant and suppressed when the blind-spot grating became dominant. These responses were as large as those observed during actual alternations between the gratings, indicating that rivalry may be fully resolved in monocular visual cortex. Our findings provide the first physiological evidence, to our knowledge, that interocular competition mediates binocular rivalry, and indicate that V1 may be important in the selection and expression of conscious visual information.     

低频调制磁场对脑电节律的影响机理

神经细胞Ca2 内流及脑内5 HT、NE、DA等神经递质的变化影响了神经细胞放电速率,从而影响脑电节律.为揭示低频调制磁场对脑电节律产生影响的微观作用机理,检测了Wistar大鼠脑内神经递质的释放,电镜下观察了其神经突触形态的变化.实验结果显示,低频调制磁场作用引起大鼠脑内去甲肾上腺素(NE)、多巴胺(DA)、5 羟色胺(5 HT)释放显著增加(P<0.05),并观察到大鼠神经细胞内钙颗粒及释放神经递质的突触小泡数明显增加,提示低频调制磁场对人脑电节律的影响机理是其改变了Ca2 内流及脑内神经递质的释放量.     

氟哌啶醇镇痛及协同阈下剂量吗啡镇痛作用的实验研究

氟哌啶醇是特异性多巴胺受体阻断剂,可降低脑内多巴胺能神经元的功能,并影响吗啡的镇痛效应。实验中观测到,氟哌啶醇可显著地提高小鼠抗热刺激的痛阈,并与阈下镇痛剂量的吗啡产生显著的协同镇痛效应,说明降低脑内多巴胺能神经元功能可增强吗啡的镇痛。氟哌啶醇镇痛强度和镇痛持续时间明显强于吗啡。     

Bold claims for optogenetics

In a recent Letter to Nature, Lee and colleagues combined optogenetic stimulation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (ofMRI) to examine the relationship between pyramidal-cell spiking and the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal. To do so, they injected an adeno-associated viral vector into the primary motor cortex (M1) of adult rats to drive the expression of channelrhodopsin (ChR2) in cortical projection neurons, thus making them sensitive to light. The authors then used combined light stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the effects of selective activation of the light-sensitive pyramidal cells on the BOLD signal, as well as to probe the value of this methodology for mapping brain connectivity. They found that excitation of these neurons induced positive BOLD signals both in the injected M1 region and in remote target thalamic nuclei receiving direct projections from that region, and concluded that ofMRI reliably links positive BOLD signals with increased local neuronal excitation. However, their analysis neglects the almost immediate activation of other circuits that could lead to the generation of BOLD signals through local perisynaptic rather than spiking activity. Their experiments therefore do not pin down the identity of the specific neuronal signals that give rise to the BOLD signal.     

静息态脑区的活动特征研究

静息态脑区的活动处于一种相对稳定的状态。但是,静息态机能性磁共振成像(functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,fMRI)实验中,被试者可能会受到各种噪声的影响,因此,统计分析所得到的静息态脑区的活动强度和体素数都可能受此影响。为了更进一步研究静息态脑区的活动特点,分别对16名被试采集了8′14″的静息态fMRI数据,将这些数据按照时间等分为5个部分,对每个部分分别采用低频振幅方法进行分析。实验结果显示:楔前叶和后扣带皮层包含活动体素的个数随时间变化较小,处于一种相对稳定的状态;额内侧皮层和顶下小叶中活动体素个数随时间变化差异较大,处于不是很稳定的状态。实验结果表明,静息态脑区中,楔前叶和后扣带皮层对于外界噪声的干扰不敏感,额内侧皮层和顶下小叶对于外界噪声比较敏感。     

Modulation of lateral geniculate neurone excitability by noradrenaline microiontophoresis or locus coeruleus stimulation

The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) receives afferents from the brainstem which regulate its capacity to transmit visual information from the retina to the striate cortex. One such pathway consists of noradrenaline (NA)-containing fibres originating in the locus coeruleus (LC). These provide a dense, uniform, noradrenergic innervation of the LGNd. Electrical stimulation in the LC region has been reported to enhance the responsiveness of LGNd neurones to afferent excitation. Although this effect was abolished when brain NA stores were pharmacologically depleted, it was not established as a direct action of NA on LGNd neurones because of the widespread distribution of LC fibres to many parts of the brain and the long latency of the response. Recently, we observed that NA, applied locally by microiontophoresis with low ejection currents, produced a delayed increase in the firing rate of most spontaneously active LGNd neurones, an effect selectively blocked by alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists. We show here that microiontophoretic NA can mimic the ability of LC stimulation to enhance the synaptic excitation of LGNd neurones. As neither NA nor LC stimulation activated LGNd neurones in the absence of synaptic or glutamate-induced excitation, both appear to act through a neuromodulatory mechanism. The postsynaptic alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist WB-4101 blocks the facilitation produced by locally applied NA and by coeruleo-geniculate pathway stimulation, providing evidence for pharmacological identity of the two effects.