Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Neuronal Activity Research Articles

Imaging spatio-temporal patterns of long-term potentiation in mouse hippocampus.

Spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity before and after the induction of long-term potentiation in mouse hippocampal slices were studied using a real-time high-resolution optical recording system. After staining the slices with voltage-sensitive dye, transmitted light images and extracellular field potentials were recorded in response to stimuli applied to CA1 stratum radiatum. Optical and electrical signals in response to single test pulses were enhanced for at least 30 minutes after brief high-frequency stimulation at the same site. In two-pathway experiments, potentiation was restricted to the tetanized pathway. The optical signals demonstrated that both the amplitude and area of the synaptic response were increased, in patterns not predictable from the initial, pretetanus, pattern of activation. Optical signals will be useful for investigating spatio-temporal patterns of synaptic enhancement underlying information storage in the brain.

Spatio-temporal patterns of network activity in the inferior olive

We have built several networks of inferior olive (IO) model neurons to study the emerging spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity. The degree and extent of the electrical coupling, and the presence of stimuli were the main factors considered in the IO networks. The network activity was analyzed using a discrete wavelet transform which provides a quantitative characterization of the spatio-temporal patterns. This study reveals the ability of these networks to generate characteristic spatio-temporal patterns which can be essential for the function of the IO.

Time-slicing: A model for cerebellar function based on synchronization, reverberation, and time windows

We present a functional model of the cerebellum comprising cerebellar cortex, inferior olive, cerebellar and brain-stem nuclei. Detailed single-neuron modeling combined with large network simulations show that (i) Golgi cells can restrict granule cell spikes to narrow time windows, that (ii) rebound firing in cerebellar nuclei cells leads to a delayed reverberation of Purkinje cell activity within the network, and that (iii) the system is able to learn spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity. These results shed new light on several experimental observations and explain how the cerebellum can solve timing tasks on a time scale of several hundreds of milliseconds.

On the Possibility of Universal Neural Coding of Subjective Experience

Various neurophysiological experiments have revealed remarkable correlations between cortical neuronal activity and subjective experiences. However, the mere presence of neuronal electrical activity does not appear to be sufficient to produce these experiences. It has been suggested that the explanation for the neural basis of consciousness might lie in understanding the reason that some types of neuronal activity possess subjective correlates and others do not. Here I propose and develop the idea that this difference may be caused by the existence of an elementary nonarbitrary linkage between temporal or spatiotemporal patterns of neuronal activity and their subjective attributes. I also show how cortical neural circuits capable of generating experience-coding patterns could emerge during evolution and brain development, due to the presence of spontaneous stochastic neuronal activity and activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. This hypothesis leads to several testable predictions, principal among which is the idea that the neural correlates of consciousness are essentially innate and universal.

Ethanol Action on Neural Networks Studied with Multineuron Recording in Freely Moving Animals

The advent of new chronic multineuron recording techniques for examining neural activity in behaving animals has initiated a new phase in the analysis of the neuronal mechanisms that underlie ethanol and other drug self-administration. The technique allows for the simultaneous recording of groups of individual neurons in one or more brain regions during ongoing behavior; therefore, the spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity during specific behavioral events can be determined. We have successfully applied this technique to rat models of cocaine and heroin self-administration. Recently, using rats, we have been able to record from neurons in areas of the mesocorticolimbic circuit during ethanol-reinforced operant responding. In this review, we describe the current and future application of this new behavioral neurophysiology to the investigation of the neurobiology of alcohol addiction.

Electrical and magnetic brain recordings: contributions to cognitive neuroscience

Non-invasive recordings of electrical and magnetic fields from the human brain have revealed spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity associated with sensory, motor, and cognitive processes. Recent technical advances allow for improved localization of these activity patterns to specific brain structures. This review considers how electrical and magnetic recordings can help to delineate the neural systems and information processing operations that underlie auditory and visual perception, selective attention, mental chronometry, and memory.