Excitation Of Fluctuations Research Articles

Plantar reflex excitability fluctuations in restless legs syndrome patients

Plantar reflex excitability fluctuations in restless legs syndrome patients

Plantar reflex excitability is increased in the evening in restless legs syndrome patients.

To investigate if diurnal changes in spinal excitability (plantar reflex) occur in restless legs syndrome (RLS) participants compared to healthy matched controls. Thirteen RLS participants and 13 healthy control participants' plantar reflex responses were evaluated in the evening (PM) and the morning (AM). Plantar reflex responses were assessed electromyographically, using motion analysis (kinematically) and by subjective nociception (Visual Analogue Scale). RLS participants showed a circadian variation in plantar reflex responses whilst control participants did not. Evening ankle angle changes were larger and faster in RLS participants compared to morning responses. In addition RLS participants displayed significantly smaller change in ankle angle and significantly slower ankle movements in the evening and the morning as well as significantly lower lateral gastrocnemius maximum amplitude in the compared to control participants. The findings of the current study support the theory of RLS circadian fluctuations in spinal excitability. An unexpected finding was decreased plantar reflex responses in RLS participants compared to healthy control participants. However this finding supports the theory of mechanical hypoesthesia in RLS. The results of this study provide further insight into the pathophysiology of RLS, highlighting that not all sensory processing is affected in the same manner.

O13 Exploring the modulators of cortical excitability

Objectives Fluctuations in cortical excitability is a candidate mechanism involved in the trial-to-trial variation of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) to transcranial magnetic stimulation. We explore if oscillations in the infraslow (0.01–0.1 Hz), delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands are possible modulators of cortical excitability. Methods In ten healthy subjects 200 single pulses were given at the resting motor threshold. Induced motor responses were either regarded as present (MEP amplitude > 50 μ V) or absent. Temporal clustering of MEP presence/absence was tested ( α = 0.05) using 1000 random generated surrogates with a similar presence/absence distribution. Secondly, the phases at stimulation were extracted for each frequency band using the Hilbert transform and divided into 18 equal bins between – π and π . For each phase bin, we determined the absolute value of the difference in percentage MEP presence and MEP absence. We compared the sum over all bins to the sums obtained in surrogates. If the sum was larger than the 75th percentile in surrogates, moderate coupling between phase and MEP presence/absence was assumed. For a sum larger than the 95th percentile, coupling was assumed to be strong. Results In all ten subjects we found significant temporal clustering of MEP presence/absence. In 30% of the subjects we found moderate, and in 10% strong, coupling between the phase of the infraslow frequency and MEP presence/absence. For the delta/theta/alpha/beta frequency bands coupling was moderate in 40%/20%/20%/30% of the subjects and strong in 20%/50%/30%/10% of the subjects, respectively. Discussion Temporal clustering of MEP presence/absence suggests oscillatory modulation of cortical excitability instead of randomly generated fluctuations. Our results do not provide strong evidence for one specific oscillatory frequency. Conclusions Oscillations in the infraslow, delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency band are all possible modulators of cortical excitability. Significance Gaining insight into the oscillations modulating cortical excitability might provide possibilities to reduce the large trial-to-trial variation, as stimulation can be targeted at a specific oscillatory phase.

Refractoriness Accounts for Variable Spike Burst Responses in Somatosensory Cortex.

Neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) respond to peripheral stimulation with synchronized bursts of spikes, which lock to the macroscopic 600-Hz EEG waves. The mechanism of burst generation and synchronization in S1 is not yet understood. Using models of single-neuron responses fitted to unit recordings from macaque monkeys, we show that these synchronized bursts are the consequence of correlated synaptic inputs combined with a refractory mechanism. In the presence of noise these models reproduce also the observed trial-to-trial response variability, where individual bursts represent one of many stereotypical temporal spike patterns. When additional slower and global excitability fluctuations are introduced the single-neuron spike patterns are correlated with the population activity, as demonstrated in experimental data. The underlying biophysical mechanism of S1 responses involves thalamic inputs arriving through depressing synapses to cortical neurons in a high-conductance state. Our findings show that a simple feedforward processing of peripheral inputs could give rise to neuronal responses with nontrivial temporal and population statistics. We conclude that neural systems could use refractoriness to encode variable cortical states into stereotypical short-term spike patterns amenable to processing at neuronal time scales (tens of milliseconds).

Numerical investigation of attached cavitation shedding dynamics around the Clark-Y hydrofoil with the FBDCM and an integral method

Unsteady cavitating turbulent flow around a three-dimension Clark-Y hydrofoil is investigated using the integral method and numerical simulations with the filter-based density correction model turbulence model (Huang et al., 2014). The numerical results are validated with experimental data. The interaction between the cavitation and the fluid vortex is analyzed with the vorticity transport equation. The results demonstrate that the vortex stretching is mainly in the center of the cloud cavity and changes quasi-periodically as the cloud cavity evolves. The correlation between the entrainment ability of upstream flow and cavitation is built in a three dimensional case. The numerical results and the theoretical analysis show that the evolution of total vapor volume determines the overall entrainment ability and the behavior of re-entrant jet significantly impacts the variations of entrainment ability. The correlation between the flow field and the entrainment ability provides a new perspective for the study in cavitation, especially the re-entrant jet dynamics around hydrofoil. The relationship between the cavity volume pulsations and the pressure fluctuations around the hydrofoil is analyzed with a simplified one dimensional model. The model demonstrates that the second derivative of the total vapor volume is mainly responsible for the cavitation excited pressure fluctuations.

P157 Reliability of threshold tracking technique for short interval intracortical inhibition

Introduction In threshold-tracking TMS, stimulation intensity is adjusted online to maintain a predefined target MEP response, thus allowing monitoring and controlling for the naturally occurring fluctuations in corticospinal excitability as well as technical errors. Although it is emerging as a useful clinical tool, little is known about its reliability and comparability with conventional techniques. Objectives To evaluate the reproducibility of the threshold-tracking (constant response ) TMS technique for short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and compare it with standard (constant stimulus ) measurements. Methods SICI was measured in 12 healthy volunteers (6 males, 31 ± 7.6 years) from the right FDI muscle using an automated stimulation protocol incorporating (i) conventional, fixed-intensity (A-SICI) and (ii) threshold tracking (T-SICI) methods at conditioning stimuli (CS) of 50–80% resting motor threshold (RMT) and interstimulus interval of 2.5 ms. RMT was defined as a stimulation intensity required to evoke a response of 0.2 mV and was determined by threshold tracking. Measurements were repeated on the same day and at least a week later by a single operator. Results No significant differences in mean RMT, A-SICI and T-SICI were observed between sessions. RMT and TS, measured by threshold-tracking technique, showed excellent intra- and adequate interday reproducibility. At 50% RMT CS both types of SICI had poor reproducibility. At all other CS intensities, T-SICI had excellent intraday (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC 0.81–0.92) and adequate-to-excellent interday (ICC 0.61–0.88) reproducibility, while A-SICI showed poor intraday and poor-to-adequate interday reproducibility (ICC 0.29–0.37 and 0.37–0.51, respectively). Conclusion SICI measured by threshold tracking shows good intra- and interday reproducibility. Automation of the procedure and allowance for naturally occurring fluctuations in cortical excitability by threshold tracking may increase the reproducibility of SICI.

P075 Time-varying coupling of EEG oscillations predicts excitability fluctuations in the primary motor cortex as reflected by motor evoked potentials amplitude: An EEG-TMS study

Introduction Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by a train of consecutive, individual transcranial magnetic stimuli demonstrate fluctuations in amplitude with respect to time when recorded from a relaxed muscle. The influence of time-varying, instantaneous modifications of the electroencephalography (EEG) properties immediately preceding the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has rarely been explored. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the pre-TMS motor cortex and related areas EEG profile on time variants of the MEPs amplitude. Materials & methods MRI-navigated TMS and multichannel TMS-compatible EEG devices were used. For each experimental subject, posthoc analysis of the MEPs amplitude that was based on the 50th percentile of the MEPs amplitude distribution provided two subgroups corresponding to “high” (large amplitude) and “low” (small amplitude). The pre-stimulus EEG characteristics (coherence and spectral profile) from the motor cortex and related areas were analyzed separately for the “high” and “low” MEPs and were then compared. Results On the stimulated hemisphere, EEG coupling was observed more often in the high compared to the low MEP trials. Moreover, a paradigmatic pattern in which TMS was able to lead to significantly larger MEPs was found when the EEG of the stimulated motor cortex was coupled in the beta 2 band with the ipsilateral prefrontal cortex and in the delta band with the bilateral centro-parietal-occipital cortices. Conclusions This data provide evidence for a statistically significant influence of time-varying and spatially patterned synchronization of EEG rhythms in determining cortical excitability, namely motor cortex excitability in response to TMS.

Individual Alpha Frequency Relates to theSound-Induced Flash Illusion.

Ongoing neural oscillations reflect fluctuations of cortical excitability. A growing body of research has underlined the role of neural oscillations for stimulus processing. Neural oscillations in the alpha band have gained special interest in electrophysiological research on perception. Recent studies proposed the idea that neural oscillations provide temporal windows in which sensory stimuli can be perceptually integrated. This also includes multisensory integration. In the current high-density EEG-study we examined the relationship between the individual alpha frequency (IAF) and cross-modal audiovisual integration in the sound-induced flash illusion (SIFI). In 26 human volunteers we found a negative correlation between the IAF and the SIFI illusion rate. Individuals with a lower IAF showed higher audiovisual illusions. Source analysis suggested an involvement of the visual cortex, especially the calcarine sulcus, for this relationship. Our findings corroborate the notion that the IAF affects the cross-modal integration of auditory on visual stimuli in the SIFI. We integrate our findings with recent observations on the relationship between audiovisual integration and neural oscillations and suggest a multifaceted influence of neural oscillations on multisensory processing.

30. Age related differences in time-varying coupling of EEG oscillations predict connectivity and excitability fluctuations in the Primary Motor Cortex: A TMS-EEG study

It has been demonstrated that in young volunteers the characteristics of the ongoing EEG activity immediately preceding a TMS of M1 influence the following MEP amplitude. In this study we explored whether there is an effect of ageing on this EEG-MEP interactions. Then by means of a TMS-EEG experiment, the pre-stimulus EEG characteristics (coherence and spectral profile) of the stimulated M1 were analysed for “high” and “low” MEPs, classified according to the 50th percentile of their amplitude distribution and thus compared in the two groups. On the stimulated hemisphere the EEG coupling was observed more often in the high compared to the low MEP trials in both groups. The coupling in the beta2 band of the stimulated M1 with the ipsilateral prefrontal cortex was able to led to significantly larger MEPs both in young and old subjects. In contrast, the coupling in the delta band of M1 with the ipsilateral parieto-occipital cortices had an effect on the MEP’s size only in young subjects. Moreover, this coupling was significantly higher in elderly brain than in young brain both for high and low MEPs. These data provide evidence for an age-related influence of time-varying synchronization of EEG rhythms in determining M1 excitability.

MIXING THE SOLAR WIND PROTON AND ELECTRON SCALES: EFFECTS OF ELECTRON TEMPERATURE ANISOTROPY ON THE OBLIQUE PROTON FIREHOSE INSTABILITY

ABSTRACT The double adiabatic expansion of the nearly collisionless solar wind plasma creates conditions for the firehose instability to develop and efficiently prevent the further increase of the plasma temperature in the direction parallel to the interplanetary magnetic field. The conditions imposed by the firehose instability have been extensively studied using idealized approaches that ignore the mutual effects of electrons and protons. Recently, more realistic approaches have been proposed that take into account the interplay between electrons and protons, unveiling new regimes of the parallel oscillatory modes. However, for oblique wave propagation the instability develops distinct branches that grow much faster and may therefore be more efficient than the parallel firehose instability in constraining the temperature anisotropy of the plasma particles. This paper reports for the first time on the effects of electron plasma properties on the oblique proton firehose (PFH) instability and provides a comprehensive vision of the entire unstable wave-vector spectrum, unifying the proton and the smaller electron scales. The plasma β and temperature anisotropy regimes considered here are specific for the solar wind and magnetospheric conditions, and enable the electrons and protons to interact via the excited electromagnetic fluctuations. For the selected parameters, simultaneous electron and PFH instabilities can be observed with a dispersion spectrum of the electron firehose (EFH) extending toward the proton scales. Growth rates of the PFH instability are markedly boosted by the anisotropic electrons, especially in the oblique direction where the EFH growth rates are orders of magnitude higher.

Dynamic causal modelling of seizure activity in a rat model

This paper presents a physiological account of seizure activity and its evolution over time using a rat model of induced epilepsy. We analyse spectral activity recorded in the hippocampi of three rats who received kainic acid injections in the right hippocampus. We use dynamic causal modelling of seizure activity and Bayesian model reduction to identify the key synaptic and connectivity parameters that underlie seizure onset. Using recent advances in hierarchical modelling (parametric empirical Bayes), we characterise seizure onset in terms of slow fluctuations in synaptic excitability of specific neuronal populations. Our results suggest differences in the pathophysiology – of seizure activity in the lesioned versus the non-lesioned hippocampus – with pronounced changes in excitation-inhibition balance and temporal summation on the lesioned side. In particular, our analyses suggest that marked reductions in the synaptic time constant of the deep pyramidal cells and the self-inhibition of inhibitory interneurons (in the lesioned hippocampus) are sufficient to explain changes in spectral activity. Although these synaptic changes are consistent over rats, the resulting electrophysiological phenotype can be quite diverse.

Entropic force between biomembranes

Undulation force, an entropic force, stems from thermally excited fluctuations, and plays a key role in the essential interactions between neighboring surfaces of objects. Although the characteristics of the undulation force have been widely studied theoretically and experimentally, the distance dependence of the force, which constitutes its most fundamental characteristic, remains poorly understood. In this paper, first, we obtain a novel expression for the undulation force by employing elasticity and statistical mechanics and prove it to be in good agreement with existing experimental results. Second, we clearly demonstrate that the two representative forms of the undulation force proposed by Helfrich and Freund were respectively the upper and lower bounds of the present expression when the separation between membranes is sufficiently small, which was intrinsically different from the existing results where Helfrich’s and Freund’s forms of the undulation force were only suitable for the intermediate and small separations. The investigations show that only in a sufficiently small separation does Helfrich’s result stand for the undulation force with a large wave number and Freund’s result express the force with a small wave number. Finally, a critical acting distance of the undulation force, beyond which the entropic force will rapidly decay approaching zero, is presented.

Implications of the Dependence of Neuronal Activity on Neural Network States for the Design of Brain-Machine Interfaces.

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) can improve the quality of life of patients with sensory and motor disabilities by both decoding motor intentions expressed by neural activity, and by encoding artificially sensed information into patterns of neural activity elicited by causal interventions on the neural tissue. Yet, current BMIs can exchange relatively small amounts of information with the brain. This problem has proved difficult to overcome by simply increasing the number of recording or stimulating electrodes, because trial-to-trial variability of neural activity partly arises from intrinsic factors (collectively known as the network state) that include ongoing spontaneous activity and neuromodulation, and so is shared among neurons. Here we review recent progress in characterizing the state dependence of neural responses, and in particular of how neural responses depend on endogenous slow fluctuations of network excitability. We then elaborate on how this knowledge may be used to increase the amount of information that BMIs exchange with brain. Knowledge of network state can be used to fine-tune the stimulation pattern that should reliably elicit a target neural response used to encode information in the brain, and to discount part of the trial-by-trial variability of neural responses, so that they can be decoded more accurately.

Spontaneously Fluctuating Motor Cortex Excitability in Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study.

BackgroundAlternating hemiplegia of childhood is a very rare and serious neurodevelopmental syndrome; its genetic basis has recently been established. Its characteristic features include typically-unprovoked episodes of hemiplegia and other transient or more persistent neurological abnormalities.MethodsWe used transcranial magnetic stimulation to assess the effect of the condition on motor cortex neurophysiology both during and between attacks of hemiplegia. Nine people with alternating hemiplegia of childhood were recruited; eight were successfully tested using transcranial magnetic stimulation to study motor cortex excitability, using single and paired pulse paradigms. For comparison, data from ten people with epilepsy but not alternating hemiplegia, and ten healthy controls, were used.ResultsOne person with alternating hemiplegia tested during the onset of a hemiplegic attack showed progressively diminishing motor cortex excitability until no response could be evoked; a second person tested during a prolonged bilateral hemiplegic attack showed unusually low excitability. Three people tested between attacks showed asymptomatic variation in cortical excitability, not seen in controls. Paired pulse paradigms, which probe intracortical inhibitory and excitatory circuits, gave results similar to controls.ConclusionsWe report symptomatic and asymptomatic fluctuations in motor cortex excitability in people with alternating hemiplegia of childhood, not seen in controls. We propose that such fluctuations underlie hemiplegic attacks, and speculate that the asymptomatic fluctuation we detected may be useful as a biomarker for disease activity.

The phase of pre-stimulus alpha oscillations influences the visual perception of stimulus timing

This study examined the influence of pre-stimulus alpha phase and attention on whether two visual stimuli occurring closely in time were perceived as simultaneous or asynchronous. The results demonstrated that certain phases of alpha in the period immediately preceding stimulus onset were associated with a higher proportion of stimuli judged to be asynchronous. Furthermore, this effect was shown to occur independently of both visuo-spatial attention and alpha amplitude. The findings are compatible with proposals that alpha phase reflects cyclic shifts in neuronal excitability. Importantly, however, the results further suggest that fluctuations in neuronal excitability can create a periodicity in neuronal transfer that can have functional consequences that are decoupled from changes in alpha amplitude. This study therefore provides evidence that perceptual processes fluctuate periodically although it remains uncertain whether this implies the discrete temporal framing of perception.

Dynamic Analysis of Wind Turbine Gearbox Components

This paper studies the dynamic response of a wind turbine gearbox under different excitation conditions. The proposed 4 degree-of-freedom (DOF) dynamic model takes into account the key factors such as the time-varying mesh stiffness, bearing stiffness, damping, static transmission error and gear backlash. Both the external excitation due to wind and the internal excitation due to the static transmission error are included to represent the gearbox excitation conditions. With the help of the time history and frequency spectrum, the dynamic responses of wind turbine gearbox components are investigated by using the numerical integration method. This paper explains under which conditions the fretting corrosion, as one of the wind turbine gearbox failure modes, may occur. Furthermore, it is observed that the external excitation fluctuation has large influence on the dynamic responses of both the gears and bearings.

ID 108 – Reproducibility of short interval intracortical inhibition using threshold-tracking

Aim To evaluate the reproducibility of a threshold-tracking (constant response) TMS technique for short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and compare it with standard (constant stimulus) measurements. Methods SICI was measured in 12 healthy volunteers (31 ± 7.6 years) from the right FDI muscle using an automated stimulation protocol incorporating (i) conventional, fixed-intensity (A-SICI) and (ii) threshold tracking (T-SICI) methods at conditioning stimuli (CS) of 50–80% resting motor threshold (RMT) and interstimulus interval of 2.5 ms. Measurements were repeated on the same day and at least a week later by a single operator. Results No significant differences in RMT, A-SICI and T-SICI were observed between sessions. At 50% RMT CS both types of SICI had poor reproducibility. At all other CS intensities, T-SICI had excellent intraday (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC 0.81–0.92) and adequate-to-excellent interday (ICC 0.61–0.88) reproducibility, while A-SICI showed poor intraday and poor-to-adequate interday reproducibility (ICC 0.29–0.37 and 0.37–0.51, respectively). Conclusion SICI measured by threshold tracking shows good intra- and interday reproducibility. Key message Automation of the procedure and allowance for naturally occurring fluctuations in cortical excitability by threshold tracking may increase the reproducibility of SICI.

Multi-Scale Entrainment of Coupled Neuronal Oscillations in Primary Auditory Cortex.

Earlier studies demonstrate that when the frequency of rhythmic tone sequences or streams is task relevant, ongoing excitability fluctuations (oscillations) of neuronal ensembles in primary auditory cortex (A1) entrain to stimulation in a frequency dependent way that sharpens frequency tuning. The phase distribution across A1 neuronal ensembles at time points when attended stimuli are predicted to occur reflects the focus of attention along the spectral attribute of auditory stimuli. This study examined how neuronal activity is modulated if only the temporal features of rhythmic stimulus streams are relevant. We presented macaques with auditory clicks arranged in 33 Hz (gamma timescale) quintets, repeated at a 1.6 Hz (delta timescale) rate. Such multi-scale, hierarchically organized temporal structure is characteristic of vocalizations and other natural stimuli. Monkeys were required to detect and respond to deviations in the temporal pattern of gamma quintets. As expected, engagement in the auditory task resulted in the multi-scale entrainment of delta- and gamma-band neuronal oscillations across all of A1. Surprisingly, however, the phase-alignment, and thus, the physiological impact of entrainment differed across the tonotopic map in A1. In the region of 11–16 kHz representation, entrainment most often aligned high excitability oscillatory phases with task-relevant events in the input stream and thus resulted in response enhancement. In the remainder of the A1 sites, entrainment generally resulted in response suppression. Our data indicate that the suppressive effects were due to low excitability phase delta oscillatory entrainment and the phase amplitude coupling of delta and gamma oscillations. Regardless of the phase or frequency, entrainment appeared stronger in left A1, indicative of the hemispheric lateralization of auditory function.

Role of excited state solvent fluctuations on time-dependent fluorescence Stokes shift.

We explore the connection between the solvation dynamics of a chromophore upon photon excitation and equilibrium fluctuations of the solvent. Using molecular dynamics simulations, fluorescence Stokes shift for the tryptophan in Staphylococcus nuclease was examined using both nonequilibrium calculations and linear response theory. When the perturbed and unperturbed surfaces exhibit different solvent equilibrium fluctuations, the linear response approach on the former surface shows agreement with the nonequilibrium process. This agreement is excellent when the perturbed surface exhibits Gaussian statistics and qualitative in the case of an isomerization induced non-Gaussian statistics. However, the linear response theory on the unperturbed surface breaks down even in the presence of Gaussian fluctuations. Experiments also provide evidence of the connection between the excited state solvent fluctuations and the total fluorescence shift. These observations indicate that the equilibrium statistics on the excited state surface characterize the relaxation dynamics of the fluorescence Stokes shift. Our studies specifically analyze the Gaussian fluctuations of the solvent in the complex protein environment and further confirm the role of solvent fluctuations on the excited state surface. The results are consistent with previous investigations, found in the literature, of solutes dissolved in liquids.

Complementary fMRI and EEG evidence for more efficient neural processing of rhythmic vs. unpredictably timed sounds.

The brain’s fascinating ability to adapt its internal neural dynamics to the temporal structure of the sensory environment is becoming increasingly clear. It is thought to be metabolically beneficial to align ongoing oscillatory activity to the relevant inputs in a predictable stream, so that they will enter at optimal processing phases of the spontaneously occurring rhythmic excitability fluctuations. However, some contexts have a more predictable temporal structure than others. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the processing of rhythmic sounds is more efficient than the processing of irregularly timed sounds. To do this, we simultaneously measured functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electro-encephalograms (EEG) while participants detected oddball target sounds in alternating blocks of rhythmic (e.g., with equal inter-stimulus intervals) or random (e.g., with randomly varied inter-stimulus intervals) tone sequences. Behaviorally, participants detected target sounds faster and more accurately when embedded in rhythmic streams. The fMRI response in the auditory cortex was stronger during random compared to random tone sequence processing. Simultaneously recorded N1 responses showed larger peak amplitudes and longer latencies for tones in the random (vs. the rhythmic) streams. These results reveal complementary evidence for more efficient neural and perceptual processing during temporally predictable sensory contexts.