Field Potential Profiles Research Articles

Tuning Intermediate Band Solar Cell Efficiency: The Interplay of Electric Fields, Composition, Impurities, and Confinement

In this study, we investigated the influence of structural parameters, including active region dimensions, electric field intensity, In-composition, impurity position, and potential profiles, on the energy levels, sub-gap transitions, and photovoltaic characteristics of a p-GaN/i-(In, Ga)N/GaN-n (p-QW-n) structure. The finite element method (FEM) has been used to solve numerically the Schrödinger equation. We found that particle and sub-gap energy levels are susceptible to well width, electric field, and impurity position. Particle energy decreases with increasing well size and electric field intensity, while impurity position affects energy based on proximity to the well center. Potential profile shapes, such as rectangular (RQW) and parabolic (PQW), also play a significant role, with PQW profiles providing stronger particle confinement. IB width increases with electric field intensity and saturates at higher In-content. Voc increases with field strength but decreases with In-content, and the parabolic profile yields higher efficiency than the rectangular one. Photovoltaic efficiency is improved with an appropriately oriented electric field and decreases with higher In-content and field intensity. These findings highlight the critical role of structural parameters in optimizing QW-IBSC performance.

Electronic Barriers Behavioral Analysis of a Schottky Diode Structure Featuring Two-Dimensional MoS2

This research presents a comprehensive study of a Schottky diode fabricated using a gold wafer and a bilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) film. Through detailed simulations, we investigated the electric field distribution, potential profile, carrier concentration, and current–voltage characteristics of the device. Our findings confirm the successful formation of a Schottky barrier at the Au/MoS2 interface, characterized by a distinct nonlinear I–V relationship. Comparative analysis revealed that the Au/MoS2 diode significantly outperforms a traditional W/Si structure in terms of rectification performance. The Au/MoS2 diode exhibited a current density of 1.84 × 10−9 A/cm2, substantially lower than the 3.62 × 10−5 A/cm2 in the W/Si diode. Furthermore, the simulated I–V curves of the Au/MoS2 diode closely resembled the ideal diode curve, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of approximately 0.9991, indicating an ideality factor near 1. A key factor contributing to the superior rectification performance of the Au/MoS2 diode is its higher Schottky barrier height of 0.9 eV compared to the 0.67 eV of W/Si. This increased barrier height is evident in the band diagram analysis, which further elucidates the underlying physics of Schottky barrier formation in the Au/MoS2 junction. This research provides insights into the electronic properties of Schottky contacts based on two-dimensional MoS2, particularly the relationship between electronic barriers, system dimensions, and current flow. The demonstration of high-ideality-factor Au/MoS2 diodes contributes to the design and optimization of future electronic and optoelectronic devices based on 2D materials. These findings have implications for advancements in semiconductor technology, potentially enabling the development of smaller, more efficient, and flexible devices.

Laminar pattern of sensory-evoked dynamic high-frequency oscillatory activity in the macaque auditory cortex.

High-frequency (>60Hz) neuroelectric signals likely have functional roles distinct from low-frequency (<30Hz) signals. While high-gamma activity (>60Hz) does not simply equate to neuronal spiking, they are highly correlated, having similar information encoding. High-gamma activity is typically considered broadband and poorly phase-locked to sensory stimuli and thus is typically analyzed after transformations into absolute amplitude or spectral power. However, those analyses discard signal polarity, compromising the interpretation of neuroelectric events that are essentially dipolar. In the spectrotemporal profiles of field potentials in auditory cortex, we show high-frequency spectral peaks not phase-locked to sound onset, which follow the broadband peak of phase-locked onset responses. Isolating the signal components comprising the high-frequency peaks reveals narrow-band high-frequency oscillatory events, whose instantaneous frequency changes rapidly from >150 to 60Hz, which may underlie broadband high-frequency spectral peaks in previous reports. The laminar amplitude distributions of the isolated activity had two peak positions, while the laminar phase patterns showed a counterphase relationship between those peaks, indicating the formation of dipoles. Our findings suggest that nonphase-locked HGA arises in part from oscillatory or recurring activity of supragranular-layer neuronal ensembles in auditory cortex.

Information content and temporal structure of face selective local field potentials frequency bands in IT cortex.

Sensory stimulation triggers synchronized bioelectrical activity in the brain across various frequencies. This study delves into network-level activities, specifically focusing on local field potentials as a neural signature of visual category representation. Specifically, we studied the role of different local field potential frequency oscillation bands in visual stimulus category representation by presenting images of faces and objects to three monkeys while recording local field potential from inferior temporal cortex. We found category selective local field potential responses mainly for animate, but not inanimate, objects. Notably, face-selective local field potential responses were evident across all tested frequency bands, manifesting in both enhanced (above mean baseline activity) and suppressed (below mean baseline activity) local field potential powers. We observed four different local field potential response profiles based on frequency bands and face selective excitatory and suppressive responses. Low-frequency local field potential bands (1-30Hz) were more prodominstaly suppressed by face stimulation than the high-frequency (30-170Hz) local field potential bands. Furthermore, the low-frequency local field potentials conveyed less face category informtion than the high-frequency local field potential in both enhansive and suppressive conditions. Furthermore, we observed a negative correlation between face/object d-prime values in all the tested local field potential frequency bands and the anterior-posterior position of the recording sites. In addition, the power of low-frequency local field potential systematically declined across inferior temporal anterior-posterior positions, whereas high-frequency local field potential did not exhibit such a pattern. In general, for most of the above-mentioned findings somewhat similar results were observed for body, but not, other stimulus categories. The observed findings suggest that a balance of face selective excitation and inhibition across time and cortical space shape face category selectivity in inferior temporal cortex.

Local Anesthetic Cardiac Toxicity Is Mediated by Cardiomyocyte Calcium Dynamics.

Long-lasting local anesthetic use for perioperative pain control is limited by possible cardiotoxicity (e.g., arrhythmias and contractile depression), potentially leading to cardiac arrest. Off-target cardiac sodium channel blockade is considered the canonical mechanism behind cardiotoxicity; however, it does not fully explain the observed toxicity variability between anesthetics. The authors hypothesize that more cardiotoxic anesthetics (e.g., bupivacaine) differentially perturb other important cardiomyocyte functions (e.g., calcium dynamics), which may be exploited to mitigate drug toxicity. The authors investigated the effects of clinically relevant concentrations of racemic bupivacaine, levobupivacaine, or ropivacaine on human stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte tissue function. Contractility, rhythm, electromechanical coupling, field potential profile, and intracellular calcium dynamics were quantified using multielectrode arrays and optical imaging. Calcium flux differences between bupivacaine and ropivacaine were probed with pharmacologic calcium supplementation or blockade. In vitro findings were correlated in vivo using an anesthetic cardiotoxicity rat model (females; n = 5 per group). Bupivacaine more severely dysregulated calcium dynamics than ropivacaine in vitro (e.g., contraction calcium amplitude to 52 ± 11% and calcium-mediated repolarization duration to 122 ± 7% of ropivacaine effects, model estimate ± standard error). Calcium supplementation improved tissue contractility and restored normal beating rhythm (to 101 ± 6%, and 101 ± 26% of control, respectively) for bupivacaine-treated tissues, but not ropivacaine (e.g., contractility at 80 ± 6% of control). Similarly, calcium pretreatment mitigated anesthetic-induced arrhythmias and cardiac depression in rats, improving animal survival for bupivacaine by 8.3 ± 2.4 min, but exacerbating ropivacaine adverse effects (reduced survival by 13.8 ± 3.4 min and time to first arrhythmia by 12.0 ± 2.9 min). Calcium channel blocker nifedipine coadministration with bupivacaine, but not ropivacaine, exacerbated cardiotoxicity, supporting the role of calcium flux in differentiating toxicity. Our data illustrate differences in calcium dynamics between anesthetics and how calcium may mitigate bupivacaine cardiotoxicity. Moreover, our findings suggest that bupivacaine cardiotoxicity risk may be higher than for ropivacaine in a calcium deficiency context.

MEA-integrated cantilever platform for comparison of real-time change in electrophysiology and contractility of cardiomyocytes to drugs

Drug-induced cardiotoxicity is a potentially severe side effect that can alter the contractility and electrophysiology of the cardiomyocytes. Cardiotoxicity is generally assessed through animal models using conventional drug screening platforms. Despite significant developments in drug screening platforms, the difficulty in measuring electrophysiology and contractile profile together affects the investigation of cardiotoxicity in potential drugs. Some drugs can prove to be more toxic to contractility than electrophysiology, which demands the need for a reliable, dual, and simultaneous drug screening platform. Herein, we propose the microelectrode array integrated SU-8 cantilever for dual and simultaneous measurement of electrophysiology and contractility of cardiomyocytes. The SU-8 cantilever is integrated with microelectrode array (C-MEA) using conventional photolithographic techniques. Drug tests are conducted to verify the feasibility of the C-MEA platform using three cardiovascular drugs. Clinically recognized drugs, quinidine and verapamil, are used to activate both the hERG channel and the contractile characteristics of cardiomyocytes. The effect of ion channel blockers on the field potential duration (FPD) of the cardiomyocytes is compared with several contractility-based parameters. The contraction-relaxation duration (CRD) profile is relatively close to that of FPD in tested drugs (half-maximal (IC50) toxicities are 1.093 μM (FPD) and 1.924 μM (CRD) for quinidine and 166.2 nM (FPD) and 459.4 nM (CRD) for verapamil). Blebbistatin, a known myosin II inhibitor, primarily affects the contractile profile of cardiomyocytes but not their field potential, with no evident correlation between contractility and field potential profiles. The proposed cantilever-based mechano-electrophysiology measurements platform provides a promising and accurate means to assess cardiotoxicity.

The Heavy-Ion Beam Diagnostic of the ISTTOK Tokamak-Highlights and Recent Developments.

The unique arrangement of the heavy-ion beam diagnostic in ISTTOK enables one to measure the evolution of temperature, density and pressure-like profiles in normal and AC discharges. The fast chopping beam technique provided the possibility to reduce the noise on the measurements of the plasma pressure-like profile and for the precise control of the plasma column position in real time. The consequent improvements in S/N levels allowed the observation of the effects of runaway beam magnetic energy conversion into plasma local heating. In addition, it made it possible to follow the evolution of the quiescent plasma maintained during AC transitions when the plasma current is null. The use of a new operation mode in the cylindrical energy analyzer provided an improved resolution up to five times in determining the fluctuations of the plasma potential as compared to the normal operation mode. Such analyzer is extremely compact (250 mm × 250 mm × 120 mm) and provides a unique geometry in order to cover the whole plasma diameter. The detector configuration choice gives the possibility for the simultaneous measurements of plasma poloidal magnetic field, plasma pressure-like and plasma potential profiles together with their fluctuations.

Potential field modelling and U–Pb geochronology reveal the pluton emplacement dynamics of the Lower Devonian Tarnagulla Granodiorite, southeast Australia

The Tarnagulla Granodiorite in the western Lachlan Fold Belt is poorly exposed; however, magnetic data reveal its distinct U shape (in plan view) and patterns characterised by multiple nested cusp-shaped anomalies of contrasting magnetic intensity. We interpret this magnetic response to reflect incremental assembly of the pluton above a persistent magma point source that migrated laterally. Here, we use potential field data, geophysical modelling and high-precision zircon U–Pb dating to constrain the shape of the intrusion at depth and deduce the migration path of the magmatism epicentre. Potential field profile modelling across three traverses, constrained by petrophysics, resolves the subsurface geometry of the Tarnagulla Granodiorite. In cross-section, the intrusion is funnel-shaped, with a lower boundary that varies from ∼2 km depth in the north to ∼6 km depth in the southwest, reaching a maximum depth of ∼8 km, which may coincide with a magma feeder zone. New precise U–Pb geochronology provides ages that confirm the interpreted magnetic phases were emplaced sequentially along a clockwise intrusion path that progressed stepwise from the north to the southwest between 406.62 ± 0.27 Ma and 399.3 ± 1.1 Ma. We attribute migration of the epicentre of magmatism within the Tarnagulla Granodiorite to syn-intrusion (Early Devonian) reactivations of the underlying Tarnagulla Fault, with relative displacements between the fault hanging wall (which hosts the pluton) and footwall (which we interpret to have hosted a persistent point-source magma feeder zone during pluton emplacement). Our model explains the intrusion’s U-shaped magnetic response and reveals critical information about the paleo-stress and paleo-strain conditions during emplacement, characterised by three main displacement vectors and fault slip magnitudes. The geophysical characteristics, path of emplacement and mineralisation distribution all suggest that progressive fractional crystallisation contributed to the formation of an enriched final pulse of magma that resulted in Mo, Cu and W mineralisation hosted in the Moliagul Granodiorite. KEY POINTS High-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology reveal that the Tarnagulla Granodiorite was emplaced along a clockwise pathway from the northeast to the southwest between 406.62 ± 0.27 Ma and 399.3 ± 1.1 Ma. Active faulting during pluton emplacement is the suggested explanation for the Tarnagulla Granodiorites’ U-shaped magnetic response. Fractional crystallisation throughout pluton emplacement produced the varying internal geophysical response of the pluton as well as the enrichment of Mo and W at Mt Moliagul.

Rapid development of strong, persistent, spatiotemporally extensive cortical synchrony and underlying oscillations following acute MCA focal ischemia

Stroke is a leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term disability, but its electrophysiological basis is poorly understood. Characterizing acute ischemic neuronal activity dynamics is important for understanding the temporal and spatial development of ischemic pathophysiology and determining neuronal activity signatures of ischemia. Using a 32-microelectrode array spanning the depth of cortex, electrophysiological recordings generated for the first time a continuous spatiotemporal profile of local field potentials (LFP) and multi-unit activity (MUA) before (baseline) and directly after (0–5 h) distal, permanent MCA occlusion (pMCAo) in a rat model. Although evoked activity persisted for hours after pMCAo with minor differences from baseline, spatiotemporal analyses of spontaneous activity revealed that LFP became spatially and temporally synchronized regardless of cortical depth within minutes after pMCAo and extended over large parts of cortex. Such enhanced post-ischemic synchrony was found to be driven by increased bursts of low multi-frequency oscillations and continued throughout the acute ischemic period whereas synchrony measures minimally changed over the same recording period in surgical sham controls. EEG recordings of a similar frequency range have been applied to successfully predict stroke damage and recovery, suggesting clear clinical relevance for our rat model.

Performance Comparison of Stacked Dual-Metal Gate Engineered Cylindrical Surrounding Double-Gate MOSFET

In this research work, a Cylindrical Surrounding Double-Gate (CSDG) MOSFET design in a stacked-Dual Metal Gate (DMG) architecture has been proposed to incorporate the ability of gate metal variation in channel field formation. Further, the internal gate's threshold voltage ( V TH1 ) could be reduced compared to the external gate ( V TH2 ) by arranging the gate metal work-function in Double Gate devices. Therefore, a device design of CSDG MOSFET has been realized to instigate the effect of Dual Metal Gate (DMG) stack architecture in the CSDG device. The comparison of device simulation shown optimized electric field and surface potential profile. The gradual decrease of metal work function towards the drain also improves the Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) and subthreshold characteristics. The physics-based analysis of gate stack CSDG MOSFET that operates in saturation involving the analogy of cylindrical dual metal gates has been considered to evaluate the performance improvements. The insights obtained from the results using the gate-stack dual metal structure of CSDG are quite promising, which can serve as a guide to further reduce the threshold voltage roll-off, suppress the Hot Carrier Effects (HCEs) and Short Channel Effects (SCEs).

Analytic modeling of breakdown voltage shift in the CMOS buried multiple junction detector

We propose an analytical model for the CMOS Buried Multiple Junction (BMJ) detector exhibiting breakdown voltage shift depending on adjacent junction’s bias. The device’s singular behavior has been observed when two adjacent junctions are in reach-through (RT) condition. The breakdown current has been identified to be predominated by thermionic emission. The proposed model determines, for a given BMJ structure with uniform or Gaussian doping distributions under bias conditions, whether two adjacent junctions are in RT condition. In this case, it calculates the merged depletion limits, electric field and electrostatic potential profile. The potential barrier height of each merged depletion region can then be extracted and the thermionic current be computed.Model computations have been compared with TCAD simulations and measurements on the BMJ detector. Good agreements have been observed for different structures in different bias conditions at different temperatures.

Slow-Wave Activity in the S1HL Cortex Is Contributed by Different Layer-Specific Field Potential Sources during Development.

Spontaneous correlated activity in cortical columns is critical for postnatal circuit refinement. We used spatial discrimination techniques to explore the late maturation of synaptic pathways through the laminar distribution of the field potential (FP) generators underlying spontaneous and evoked activities of the S1HL cortex in juvenile (P14–P16) and adult anesthetized rats. Juveniles exhibit an intermittent FP pattern resembling Up/Down states in adults, but with much reduced power and different laminar distribution. Whereas FPs in active periods are dominated by a layer VI generator in juveniles, in adults a developing multipart generator takes over, displaying current sinks in middle layers (III–V). The blockade of excitatory transmission in upper and middle layers of adults recovered the juvenile-like FP profiles. In addition to the layer VI generator, a gamma-specific generator in supragranular layers was the same in both age groups. While searching for dynamical coupling among generators in juveniles we found significant cross-correlation in ∼one-half of the tested pairs, whereas excessive coherence hindered their efficient separation in adults. Also, potentials evoked by tactile and electrical stimuli showed different short-latency dipoles between the two age groups, and the juveniles lacked the characteristic long latency UP state currents in middle layers. In addition, the mean firing rate of neurons was lower in juveniles. Thus, cortical FPs originate from different intra-columnar segments as they become active postnatally. We suggest that although some cortical segments are active early postnatally, a functional sensory-motor control relies on a delayed maturation and network integration of synaptic connections in middle layers.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Early postnatal activity in the rodent cortex is mostly endogenous, whereas it becomes driven by peripheral input at later stages. The precise schedule for the maturation of synaptic pathways is largely unknown. We explored this in the somatosensory hindlimb cortex at an age when animals begin to use their limbs by uncovering the laminar distribution of the field potential generators underlying the dominant delta waves in juveniles and adults. Our results suggest that field potentials are mostly generated by a pathway in deep layers, whereas other pathways mature later in middle layers and take over in adults. We suggest that a functional sensory-motor control relies on a delayed maturation and network integration of synaptic connections in middle layers.

Laminar responses in the auditory cortex using a multielectrode array substrate for simultaneous stimulation and recording

Here, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of a multielectrode array (MEA) substrate for the use of simultaneous stimulation and recording in vivo. The fabricated substrate has two sharp shanks in which we arranged multiple electrode arrays with surface areas of 50 × 50 µm2 in one shank for stimulation (interelectrode interval, 150 µm) and 15 × 15 µm2 in the other for recording (interelectrode interval, 100 µm). Our impedance measurements show that the electrode values are in good agreement with specified values for silicon‐based commercially available devices or slightly smaller‐sized electrode devices. After electrode characterization, the MEAs were evaluated for simultaneous stimulation and acute neural recording in the mouse auditory cortex in vivo. Using MEA substrates, we recorded spatiotemporal local field potential profiles driven by short local electrical stimulation, particularly to layer 4 of the mouse auditory cortex. Our results demonstrate successful simultaneous stimulation and recordings using the devices in vivo. Indeed, the device may contribute to understanding similarities and differences in local network activity driven by sound stimulation and electric microstimulation in near future work. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc.

Local sensor based on nanowire field effect transistor from inhomogeneously doped silicon on insulator

We present the original method for fabricating a sensitive field/charge sensor based on field effect transistor (FET) with a nanowire channel that uses CMOS-compatible processes only. A FET with a kink-like silicon nanowire channel was fabricated from the inhomogeneously doped silicon on insulator wafer very close (∼100 nm) to the extremely sharp corner of a silicon chip forming local probe. The single e-beam lithographic process with a shadow deposition technique, followed by separate two reactive ion etching processes, was used to define the narrow semiconductor nanowire channel. The sensors charge sensitivity was evaluated to be in the range of 0.1–0.2 e/Hz from the analysis of their transport and noise characteristics. The proposed method provides a good opportunity for the relatively simple manufacture of a local field sensor for measuring the electrical field distribution, potential profiles, and charge dynamics for a wide range of mesoscopic objects. Diagnostic systems and devices based on such sensors can be used in various fields of physics, chemistry, material science, biology, electronics, medicine, etc.

Acute and chronic pain affects local field potential of the medial prefrontal cortex in different band neural oscillations.

The medial prefrontal cortex is involved in the process of sensory discrimination. In this study, we examined the local field potential activity response to the different stages of pain in the prelimbic cortex (PrL) which is a sub-region of the medial prefrontal cortex. Recent studies revealed extensive information about neural oscillations, but there is limited information on the local field potential profiles for acute or chronic pain, particularly in freely moving animals. This study showed that acute mechanical pain increases alpha oscillation and decreases beta and gamma oscillations before spared nerve injury surgery. Delta oscillation was decreased by chronic pain and gamma oscillation varied with time. However, acute mechanical pain stimulus had no effects on local field potential in rats under mechanical allodynia. Together, our findings provide novel insights into the role of medial prefrontal cortex local field potential activity response to pain stimulus.

Electrostatics of lateral p-n junctions in atomically thin materials

The lack of analytical expressions for the electrostatics of asymmetrically doped 2D lateral junctions complicates the design and analysis of devices based on atomically thin materials. In this work, we provide analytical expressions for the electric field, electrostatic potential, and depletion width across 2D lateral p-n junctions with arbitrary, but spatially uniform doping configurations. We also extend these expressions for use in lateral 3D metal-2D semiconductor junctions and lateral 2D heterojunctions. The results show a significantly larger depletion width (∼2 to 20×) for our 2D method compared to a conventional 3D approach due to the presence of a large out-of-plane electric field. For asymmetrically doped p-n junctions, the 2D depletion width shows a logarithmic dependence on the doping density of the highly doped side, in sharp contrast with conventional electrostatics for 3D junctions. Further, we show that 2D lateral depletion widths can be significantly modulated by changing the surrounding dielectric environment and, hence, can be tuned to realize optimum device structures. Finally, we show that even though the long depletion tails in 2D lateral p-n junctions carry a significant amount of total net charge, they do not significantly affect the electric field and electrostatic potential profiles, supporting the validity of the depletion approximation in analytical modeling of 2D lateral p-n junctions.

Effects of Lipid Composition on Bilayer Membranes Quantified by All-Atom Molecular Dynamics.

Biological bilayer membranes typically contain varying amounts of lamellar and nonlamellar lipids. Lamellar lipids, such as dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), are defined by their tendency to form the lamellar phase, ubiquitous in biology. Nonlamellar lipids, such as dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), prefer instead to form nonlamellar phases, which are mostly nonbiological. However, nonlamellar lipids mix with lamellar lipids in biomembrane structures that remain overall lamellar. Importantly, changes in the lamellar vs nonlamellar lipid composition are believed to affect membrane function and modulate membrane proteins. In this work, we employ atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to quantify how a range of bilayer properties are altered by variations in the lamellar vs nonlamellar lipid composition. Specifically, we simulate five DOPC/DOPE bilayers at mixing ratios of 1/0, 3/1, 1/1, 1/3, and 0/1. We examine properties including lipid area and bilayer thickness, as well as the transmembrane profiles of electron density, lateral pressure, electric field, and dipole potential. While the bilayer structure is only marginally altered by lipid composition changes, dramatic effects are observed for the lateral pressure, electric field, and dipole potential profiles. Possible implications for membrane function are discussed.

Structure of Quaternary Ammonium Ionic Liquids at Interfaces: Effects of Cation Tail Modification with Isoelectronic Groups

Herein we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the effects of cation tail modification with isoelectronic groups on interfacial structure of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) when confined between two oppositely charged or two neutral graphene sheets. The RTILs chosen in this regard are triethyloctylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (N2228+/NTf2–) and (2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyltriethylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (N222(2O2O2)+/NTf2–). For all the systems studied, we determined number density, free energy, electric field and electrostatic potential profiles along the axis normal to graphene sheet plane. Our results predict that in both the systems, the positively charged graphene sheets are screened predominantly by anionic atoms and cationic tail groups that are embedded in the cavities formed by the anions in the interfacial region, and the extent of screening for the RTIL containing alkyl-substituted cations is slightly higher than that in the diether-substituted anal...

Lamina-specific contribution of glutamatergic and GABAergic potentials to hippocampal sharp wave-ripple complexes.

The mammalian hippocampus expresses highly organized patterns of neuronal activity which form a neuronal correlate of spatial memories. These memory-encoding neuronal ensembles form on top of different network oscillations which entrain neurons in a state- and experience-dependent manner. The mechanisms underlying activation, timing and selection of participating neurons are incompletely understood. Here we studied the synaptic mechanisms underlying one prominent network pattern called sharp wave-ripple complexes (SPW-R) which are involved in memory consolidation during sleep. We recorded SPW-R with extracellular electrodes along the different layers of area CA1 in mouse hippocampal slices. Contribution of glutamatergic excitation and GABAergic inhibition, respectively, was probed by local application of receptor antagonists into s. radiatum, pyramidale and oriens. Laminar profiles of field potentials show that GABAergic potentials contribute substantially to sharp waves and superimposed ripple oscillations in s. pyramidale. Inhibitory inputs to s. pyramidale and s. oriens are crucial for action potential timing by ripple oscillations, as revealed by multiunit-recordings in the pyramidal cell layer. Glutamatergic afferents, on the other hand, contribute to sharp waves in s. radiatum where they also evoke a fast oscillation at ~200 Hz. Surprisingly, field ripples in s. radiatum are slightly slower than ripples in s. pyramidale, resulting in a systematic shift between dendritic and somatic oscillations. This complex interplay between dendritic excitation and perisomatic inhibition may be responsible for the precise timing of discharge probability during the time course of SPW-R. Together, our data illustrate a complementary role of spatially confined excitatory and inhibitory transmission during highly ordered network patterns in the hippocampus.

Identifying the synaptic origin of ongoing neuronal oscillations through spatial discrimination of electric fields

Although intracerebral field potential oscillations are commonly used to study information processing during cognition and behavior, the cellular and network processes underlying such events remain unclear. The limited spatial resolution of standard single-point recordings does not clarify whether field oscillations reflect the activity of one or many afferent presynaptic populations. However, multi-site recording devices now provide high-resolution spatial profiles of local field potentials (LFPs) and when coupled to modern mathematical analyses that discriminate signals with distinct but overlapping spatial distributions, they open the door to better understand these potentials. Here we review recent insights that help disentangle certain pathway-specific activities. Accordingly, some oscillatory patterns can now be viewed as a periodic succession of synchronous synaptic currents that reflect the time envelope of spiking activity in given presynaptic populations. These analyses modify our concept of brain rhythms as abstract entities, molding them into mechanistic representations of network activity and allowing us to work in the time domain, reducing the loss of information inherent to data-chopping frequency treatment.