Migraine: Calcium Channels and Glia

Migraine is a common neurological disease that affects about 11% of the adult population. The disease is divided into two main clinical subtypes: migraine with aura and migraine without aura. According to the neurovascular theory of migraine, the activation of the trigeminovascular system (TGVS) and the release of numerous neuropeptides, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) are involved in headache pathogenesis. TGVS can be activated by cortical spreading depression (CSD), a phenomenon responsible for the aura. The mechanism of CSD, stemming in part from aberrant interactions between neurons and glia have been studied in models of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), a rare monogenic form of migraine with aura. The present review focuses on those interactions, especially as seen in FHM type 1, a variant of the disease caused by a mutation in CACNA1A, which encodes the α1A subunit of the P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel.     

Comment on Greenwood (2007): Solving the puzzle of structure/function relations in the aging brain?

Neuroimaging experiments have shown that prefrontal regions of the brain, which have the most age-related volume loss, are also the regions most likely to be more active in older adults than in younger adults. In an attempt to solve this puzzle, P. M. Greenwood (see record 2007-15625-001) has proposed a cascade that flows from age-related atrophy in the brain to changed processing strategies that result in plastic changes in regions adjacent and contralateral to the atrophic areas, culminating in greater functional activity. This hypothesis should stimulate research into these mechanisms and hopefully will ultimately inform researchers' ability to rehabilitate cognitive disorders in the elderly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural components of social evaluation.

Evaluative responses appear to involve 2 seemingly distinct sets of processes: those that are automatically activated and others that are more consciously controlled. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the authors investigated the brain systems associated with automatic and controlled evaluative processing. Participants made either evaluative (good-bad) or nonevaluative (past-present) judgments about famous names. Greater amygdala activity was observed for names rated as "bad" relative to those rated as "good," regardless of whether the task directly involved an evaluative judgment (good-bad) or not (past-present). Good-bad judgments resulted in greater medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity than past-present judgments. Furthermore, there was greater ventrolateral PFC activity in good-bad judgments marked by greater ambivalence. Together, these findings indicate a neural distinction between processes engaged for automatic and controlled evaluation. Whereas automatic processes are sensitive to simple valence, controlled processes are sensitive to attitudinal complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于样本熵与时频分析的手部抓握运动意图预测

针对上肢外骨骼控制信号产生与外部设备响应存在时间滞后导致脑机接口(BCI)系统实时性差的问题,采集被试手部自主抓握前运动相关皮质电位(MRCP) ,提出基于非线性复杂度特征样本熵 (SampEn)与线性幅值特征融合算法的手部运动意图预测方法. 从时频、神经复杂度分析不同大脑状态之间存在的差异,通过特征融合实现对手部抓握运动意图的预测. 基于特征融合意图离线预测准确率最高可达88.46%,可以在人体手部自主运动发生时刻?1 400 ms实现对手部运动预测. 与平静时期手部静止状态相比,被试产生手部抓握运动意图时脑电信号的功率谱与复杂度均产生明显变化,为基于手部运动意图预测提前驱动机器人实现人机协同提供控制策略.     

基于交叉皮质模型的单幅图像阴影检测算法

图像中含有阴影区域对后续处理任务影响较大, 根据阴影特性, 提出基于交叉皮质模型(Intersecting cortical model, ICM)的单幅图像阴影检测算法. 通过在点火连接矩阵构造上考虑邻域像素值依赖关系, 融入局部二值模式(Local binary pattern, LBP)表征的纹理信息形成了Te-ICM模型. 根据阴影检测流程,利用模型迭代特性, 通过设计停止条件自动检测本影, 在本影修复后生成附着半影. 同时优化模型参数, 设计了基于分层聚类直方图划分的阈值下降策略. 仿真结果表明: 对于典型影像集, Te-ICM模型及相应参数设计可以较好地实现阴影检测, 输出阴影掩模准确度高, 为后续阴影去除提供了基础.     

超声导波频散曲线反演皮质骨参数的研究

皮质骨参数的变化可以反映骨质的健康状况,因此文章提出了一种频散能量匹配算法来反演皮质骨参数。首先,通过频散特性方程计算出预定义参数下的频散曲线数据库;其次,利用时域有限差分算法建立皮质骨声场模型,将仿真的时域信号通过功率谱估计得到频散能量信息,并与数据库进行匹配,通过分析匹配结果的能量从而得到皮质骨的厚度、纵波速度和横波速度。仿真结果显示：与理论值相比,厚度的平均相对误差为3.8%,纵波速度与横波速度的平均相对误差分别为0.6%、0.9%。对三组离体牛胫骨皮质骨进行反演,离体实验结果显示：与真实值相比,厚度相对误差为4.9%,且实验频散曲线与反演得到的理论频散曲线吻合。因此文中所提出的反演算法可以有效获取皮质骨的厚度,横波速度和纵波速度,从而为评价骨质的健康状况提供可靠的依据。     

一个具有拟神经组织的边缘检测模型

基于视皮层简单细胞的Gabor函数模型,仿照视皮层的朝向柱结构,并辅以模式增 强和处理网络,构造了一个具有拟神经组织的边缘检测模型.模拟结果显示,其检测能力与 平滑-空间导数型边缘检测算法相当.分析表明,这个基于早期边缘检测器概念的模型与平 滑-空间导数型算法在检测机理上是一致的.模型为用光学-电子方法和人工神经网络实现 边缘检测提供了一个原型.     

用模糊神经网络构造煤粉流量模型

提出了用模糊神经神经的方法来建立煤粉流量模型。针对煤粉喷吹系统，模糊神经网络可以把它的工作空间分成若干个模糊区间，在每个区间中，用一局部模型来代表此系统；此方法克服了神经网络无法解释其他产接权物理意义的不足，利用现场采集的数据进行实验，发现此方法不仅提高准确度，而且可充分运用工作经验、专家知识、具有很大的工程应用价值。     

Opposing Effects of D? and D? Receptor Activation on Odor Discrimination Learning.

Dopaminergic modulation of cortical activity has been implicated in the formation of reward associations. There is abundant evidence for dopaminergic effects on olfactory processing. Using an olfactory discrimination task, the authors show that D? and D? dopamine receptors can regulate rats' olfactory discrimination capacities and that the effects of receptor activation functionally oppose one another. Injection of either the D? agonist SKF 38393 (10 mg/kg) or the D? antagonist spiperone (0.62 mg/kg) facilitated the discrimination of similar odorants but had no effect on the discrimination of dissimilar odorants, whereas both the D, antagonist SCH 23390 (0.025 mg/kg) and the D? agonist quinpirole (0.2 mg/kg) significantly impaired rats' ability to discriminate similar and dissimilar odorants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)