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。     

多不饱和脂肪酸对谷氨酸诱导的大鼠海马神经细胞损伤的双重影响

通过测定原代培养的谷氨酸诱导的受损海马神经的细胞存活率,谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活性,以及谷胱甘肽和一氧化氮的水平,研究多不饱和脂肪酸,如二十二碳六烯酸(docosahexaenoic acid,DHA)、花生四烯酸(arachidonic acid,AA),对大鼠海马神经细胞损伤的影响.海马神经元用神经特异性烯醇化酶进行鉴定.研究发现:(1)DHA 5～50 mg/L能有效的对抗谷氨酸诱导的海马神经细胞的损害作用.表现在细胞存活率、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶的活性较谷氨酸处理组明显提高,NO水平降低,谷胱甘肽含量与对照组相比变化不大.(2)5 mg/LAA对损伤没有影响,而30和50 mg/LAA对损伤具有加重作用,其细胞存活率、GSH-Px活性、GSH水平较谷氨酸处理组明显降低.结果表明,多不饱和脂肪酸对谷氨酸诱导的神经细胞损伤具有双重作用.     

Effect of New O-Superfamily Conotoxin on Voltage-Activated Currents of Hippocampal Neurons

The effects of a new O-superfamily conotoxin, SO3, on sodium current (INa), transient A-type potassium currents (IA), and delayed rectified potassium currents (IK), were examined in cultured rat hippocampal neurons using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Addition of SO3 caused a concentration-dependent, rapidly developing, and reversible inhibition of voltage-activated currents. The IC50 values for the blockage of INa, IA, and IK were calculated as 0.49, 33.9, and 7.6 μmol/L, respectively. The determined Hill coefficients were 1.7, 0.6, and 1.2, respectively. These results indicate that SO3 can selectively inhibit neuronal sodium and potassium currents.     

双稳反应扩散系统的棱锥形行波解

研究了双稳型反应扩散系统在空间Rm (m4)中的棱锥形行波解的存在性.主要的方法是使用比较原理和构造适当的上下解.     

卡尔曼滤波器在海马场电位ripple节律分析中的应用

利用自适应自回归(adaptive autoregressive,AAR)模型和卡尔曼滤波器算法,分析小鼠海马CA1区场电位ripple高频振荡的时频特性.研究发现,与传统的基于短时傅立叶变换的实时频谱分析方法相比,利用AAR模型以及卡尔曼滤波器算法的参数化方法在对ripple高频振荡信号进行实时频谱分析时,具有更高的...     

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