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.     

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。     

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     

一种神经元网络控制器及仿真

该文给了了一种自适应神经元的控制方法，设计了神经元网络作为控制器的智能控制系统，给出了学习规则，在交流伺服系统中的仿真结果表明了此方法的有效性及优越性。     

Behavioral and neuronal mechanisms of cricket phonotaxis

Summary The auditory communication of crickets provides a model system for the analysis of the neuronal mechanisms underlying complex behavior. The song of male crickets attracts females. The necessary and sufficient parameter of the song for the female phonotaxis has been determined by a quantified behavioral analysis. Neuronal correlates of this pattern recognition exist in the cricket brain and give rise to a hypothesis on the mechanism of song pattern recognition. Causal relationships between the orientation of a cricket during phonotaxis and the activity of single identified neurons were found by monitoring and deactivating single neurons during behavior. The different roles of various identifield neurons for sound localization have been tested by this method. The plasticity of the auditory system at both the behavioral and at the neuronal level has been studied after ampytation of one ear, and a mechanism for sound localization with only one ear is proposed.     

Effect of ytterbium on sodium current and its kinetics in rat hippocampal neurons

This study addressed the effects of Yb3＋ on voltage-gated sodium currents in rat hippocampal neurons using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Voltage-clamp recordings in single neurons were filtered and stored in a computer. Yb3＋ increased the amplitude of sodium currents in a concentration-dependent and voltage-dependent man- ner. The 50 % enhancement concentration of Yb3＋ on sodium currents was about 8.97 μmol/L, which was dif- ferent from the inhibitory effects of Yb3＋ on potassium current. The analysis on the activation and inactivation kinetics of Na＋ current showed that 100 μmol/L Yb3＋ did not change the process of activation and inactivation. In addition, the times reaching the peak of current （t） and inactivated time constant （τ） were voltage dependent. 100 μmol/L Yb3＋ significantly prolonged the time to peak at -70 and -80 mV. The effect disappeared at the positive direction of -70 mV. Furthermore, Yb3＋ decreased r val- ues to more positive values than -80 mV. In total, Yb3＋ did not change the process of activation, but impelled inacti- vated process. Yb3＋ mainly increased the Na＋ current through changing its conductance. It might be one of the mechanisms that Yb3＋ affected the hippocampal neurons.     

神经元的几何形态分类

为了对不同神经元进行区分,采用L-Measure软件对神经元的几何形态进行特征提取,通过主成分分析对提取的特征降维进行处理.采用概率神经网络、BP(Back Propagation)神经网络和模糊分类器组成的分类器“投票”,对锥体神经元、普肯野神经元、运动神经元、感觉神经元、双级神经元、三级神经元和多级神经元7种神经元...