Stimulation Of Other Areas Research Articles

Patterns of cognitive and social-emotional parental stimulation practices among Ghanaian kindergarteners

Across geographically diverse samples, engagement in stimulating activities with young children is considered an important element of parenting that promotes cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development. Indicators of stimulation activities are often summed, based on the assumption that more stimulation is better and that different stimulating activities are equivalent. Instead, this study takes a household-centered analytic approach, applying latent class analysis to detect patterns of parental stimulation practices across six activities. We then examine predictors of the resultant latent classes and their implications for children's school readiness among a sample of Ghanaian kindergarteners (N = 2,117; Mage = 5.2 years; 51% male). Results support a 4-class solution that represents (i) Highly Stimulating; (ii) Social-emotionally Stimulating; (iii) Playful; and (iv) Playful and Academically Stimulating households. Multiple child and family characteristics differentially predict latent class membership, although class membership did not differentially predict children's literacy, numeracy, executive function, or social-emotional skills. Findings suggest that all combinations of parental stimulation are equivalently promotive of children's school-related skills and help reify a strengths-based perspective. The results deepen our understanding of the different configurations of parental stimulation and suggest that a tailored approach to parenting programs may be beneficial. Programs can build on activities that parents already do (e.g., social-emotional) to encourage increased stimulation in other areas (e.g., academic).

Fuzzy regression model of the impact of technology on living standards

This paper proposes a model of the impact of technology on the standard of living based on fuzzy linear regression. The Human Development Index (HDI) was chosen as a dependent variable as an indicator of the health and well-being of the population. The explanatory variables are the Network Readiness Index (NRI), which measures the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on society and the development of the nation, and the Global Innovation Index (GII), which measures the driving forces of economic growth. The analysis is based on data for 2019 for four groups of countries with different levels of GDP per capita. For developed countries, the positive and balanced impact of innovation and ICT on living standards has been confirmed. For two groups of developing countries (upper and lower middle income), the GII coefficient was found to be negative. A more in-depth analysis showed that this is due to the state of political and social institutions. This fact means that without a simultaneous increase in the maturity of institutions, stimulation of other areas of innovative development (education, knowledge and technology, infrastructure) leads to a decrease in the quality of life.

The Variability of Stimulus Thresholds in Electrophysiologic Cortical Language Mapping

The aim of this study was to investigate the variability of electrical stimulation threshold in cortical language mapping in relationship to the lobar location of the mapped eloquent cortex and the distance between the latter and the location of the cortical lesion. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed in a sample of 39 patients who underwent standardized successful language cortical mapping. Estimated stimulus threshold for temporal language cortex was 1.45 times higher than the estimated threshold for frontal language cortex, after adjusting for the other variables (P = 0.017). Stimulation of the mapped cortex in close proximity to the lesion or to the lesional edema increased the estimated threshold 2.6 or 1.8 times, respectively, compared with stimulation in other areas, after adjusting for the other variables (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0017). In concordance with prior findings, our results show that stimulus threshold in cortical language mapping is dependent on the lobar location of the mapped cortex. In addition, stimulus threshold is increased when the mapped cortex is in close proximity to the location of the lesion or perilesional edema.

Influence of prefrontal target region on the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with medication-resistant depression: a [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose PET and MRI study

It is currently unknown whether the antidepressant effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) depends on specific characteristics of the stimulated frontal area, such as metabolic changes. We investigated the effect of high-frequency rTMS, administered over the most hypometabolic prefrontal area in depressed patients in a two-site, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled add-on study. Forty-eight patients with medication-resistant major depression underwent magnetic resonance imaging and [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) in order to determine a target area for rTMS. After randomization to PET-guided (n = 16), standard (n = 18), or sham rTMS (n = 14) conditions, the patients received 10 sessions of 10-Hz rTMS (1600 pulses/session) at 90% motor threshold. Change from baseline in Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) scores did not differ between PET-guided, standard and sham groups at 2-wk end-point. Exploratory comparison of left PET-guided (n = 9), right PET-guided, standard, and sham rTMS revealed significant effects. The highest improvement in MADRS scores was observed with left PET-guided (60 + or - 31%), significantly superior to sham (30 + or - 37%, p = 0.01) and right-guided (31 + or - 33%, p = 0.02) stimulation. Comparison between left PET-guided and standard rTMS (49 + or - 28%) was not significant (p = 0.12). Comparison between stimulation over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 9-46), stimulation of other areas, and sham rTMS was statistically significant. Stimulation over BA 9-46 region (n = 15) was superior to sham rTMS (p = 0.02). The results do not support the general hypothesis of increased antidepressant effects of high-frequency rTMS with prefrontal hypometabolism-related PET guidance. Nonetheless, whether metabolism and anatomy characteristics of left frontal area underneath the coil might account for an increase or speeding up of rTMS effects needs further investigation.

Gastrointestinal secretions and vomiting

The two main gastrointestinal secretions are mucus and digestive enzymes. There are numerous pits or crypts throughout the gastrointestinal tract containing specialized secretory cells. Tubular glands are present in the stomach and proximal duodenum. Specialized glands include the salivary glands, pancreas and liver. The presence of food in the gastrointestinal tract causes direct stimulation of mucous (goblet) cells and nearby glands, which release digestive enzymes. The mucus protects the epithelium and acts as a lubricant. Mucous cells and glands are also stimulated by local enteric reflexes in response to distension or irritation. Parasympathetic stimulation increases secretion from salivary, oesophageal, gastric, pancreatic, duodenal Brunner's and distal large intestinal glands. Secretion from the rest of the small intestine and proximal large intestine is controlled predominantly by local neural and hormonal stimuli. Sympathetic stimulation alone slightly increases gastrointestinal secretion, but in the presence of parasympathetic or hormonal stimulation can reduce secretion because it induces constriction of splanchnic blood vessels. Nausea is a conscious awareness of arousal of the vomiting centre or related areas of the brain. It often precedes vomiting and may be initiated by higher CNS centres or local irritation in the gastrointestinal tract. Vomiting can be initiated by overdistension or irritation of the upper gastrointestinal tract, resulting in afferent impulses transmitted via the parasympathetic (vagus) and sympathetic nervous systems to the vomiting centre in the medulla. It can also be initiated by stimulation of other areas of the brain, especially the chemoreceptor trigger zone.

The transient stage of long-term synaptic facilitation in defensive behavior command neurons in sensitized snails

Experiments on common snails showed that three exposures to sensitizing stimuli (10% quinine applied to the snail's head every 15 min) induced synaptic facilitation in defensive behavior command neurons LPI1 and RPI1, with facilitation of responses to sensory stimuli lasting more than 24 h. Application of single stimuli produced transient synaptic facilitation and was expressed in responses to tactile stimulation of the head for about 1 h and in responses to dilute quinine for 3 h. Serotonin and cAMP imitated stimulus-specific transient synaptic facilitation. These substances facilitated the responses of neurons LPI1 and RPI1 to test stimulation of the head without producing changes in the responses to stimulation of other areas of skin on the animal's body. Calmodulin antagonists and glutamate NMDA receptor antagonists inhibited sensitization-induced synaptic facilitation in command neurons. Expression of transient synaptic facilitation depended on protein synthesis-it was suppressed by anisomycin and cycloheximide. It is suggested that transient synaptic facilitation during the acquisition of sensitization is associated with activation of translation/transcription processes and subsequent synthesis of specific short-lived protein molecules with selectively regulate the synaptic "inputs" of command neurons LPI1 and RPI1 from their specific skin innervation zones on the snail's head.

Changing the light intensity of the visual environment results in large differences in numbers of synapses and in photoreceptor size in the retina of the young adult rat

A quantitative light- and electron-microscopic study has been made of the retinae of rats which were exposed to different lighting conditions for between one and 15 weeks in young adulthood, having been reared in identical conditions during development. The width of the inner and outer segments of the photoreceptors and the width of the outer plexiform layer varied inversely with the light intensity under diurnal lighting conditions of 10 h light/14 h dark. Linear regression analysis showed that the widths were inversely related to the fourth root of the light intensity as measured in lux. Both central and peripheral areas of retina showed a similar change. No change was seen in the widths of the inner plexiform layer, or of the inner and outer nuclear cell layers. Nor was there a difference in the packing density or size of the nuclei in the nuclear cell layers. The number of ribbon synapses in the outer plexiform layer also varied inversely with the intensity of diurnal light. Linear regression analysis showed that the number of synapses was inversely correlated with the fourth root of the light intensity and was positively correlated with the width of the outer plexiform layer. The number of ribbon synapses was increased by up to two and a half times in constant darkness compared to diurnal light of 35 lux. The increase was present but not maximal after one week of exposure. The length of synaptic ribbons was unchanged. The nerve terminals forming such synapses were increased in size but not in number. After one week, there was little or no additional change in the retinal widths and number of synaptic ribbons with time. However, there was a progressive increase with time in nerve terminal size (two-fold in area) in constant darkness. There was some evidence of a slight decrease in nerve terminal number and increase in size of retinal nuclei with age. It is concluded that the adult retina responds to a different lighting environment by a relatively rapid change in the size of photoreceptor segments, by aprogressive and large change in number of ribbon synapses and by a slower progressive and large change in the size of photoreceptor nerve terminals. The response is quantitatively determined by the strength of the stimulus but not in a linear fashion. These results are compared with the effects of environmental stimulation of other areas of the nervous system.

Mesencephalic stimulation elicits inhibition of phrenic nerve activity in cat.

1. Previous work from this laboratory has indicated that the mesencephalon is the anatomical substrate for a mechanism capable of inhibiting central respiratory drive in glomectomized cats for periods of up to 1 h or more following brief exposure to systemic hypoxia; phrenic nerve activity was used as an index of central respiratory drive. 2. The present study was undertaken to further localize the region responsible for the observed post-hypoxic inhibition of respiratory drive. We studied the phrenic nerve response to stimulations of the mesencephalon in anaesthetized, paralysed peripherally chemo-denervated cats with end-expired PCO2 and body temperature servo-controlled. 3. Stimulations of two types were employed. Electrical stimulation allowed rapid determination of sites from which phrenic inhibition could be elicited. Microinjections of excitatory amino acids were used subsequently in order to confine excitation to neuronal cell bodies and not axons of passage. 4. Stimulation of discrete regions of the ventromedial aspect of the mesencephalon in the vicinity of the red nucleus produced substantial inhibition of phrenic activity which lasted up to 45 min. Stimulation of other areas of the mesencephalon either produced no phrenic inhibition or resulted in a slight stimulation of phrenic activity. 5. The results are discussed in the context of the central respiratory response to hypoxia.

ELECTRICAL STIMULATION IN RESTRICTED AREA OF ABDOMINAL SKIN INCREASED GLUCOSE LEVEL VIA THE PANCREATIC BRANCH OF THE VAGAL NERVE IN THE RAT

Electrical stimulation (5 V, 50 Hz, 10 min.) of the middle upper abdominal area (Chuin acupuncture point) increased the blood sugar level in rats anesthetized with chloralose (60 mg/kg) and urethane (0.6 g/kg). Stimulation of both sides of middle abdominal skin area also increased the blood sugar level. However, electrical stimulation of other areas of the abdominal skin or the front paw, lower leg or thigh did not alter blood sugar level. Electrical stimulation of the middle upper abdomen inhibited spontaneous firing of the vagal nerve that innervates the pancreas, and enhanced neuronal discharges elicited in those fibers by intravenous glucose injection.

Identified target-selective visual interneurons descending from the dragonfly brain

1. Eight large interneurons descending in the dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa, Anax junius) ventral nerve cord from the brain to the thoracic ganglia were identified anatomically with intracellular dye injection (Fig. 3). All eight were strictly visual and responded only to movements of small patterns, such as black squares, ‘targets’, moving on a white background. 2. The target interneurons all projected from the protocerebrum at least as far as the metathoracic ganglion. Within the protocerebrum they arborized in the posterodorsal neuropil region, near the base of the circumesophageal connectives (Fig. 3). 3. The receptive fields of six of the cells were large, including most of the forward hemisphere of vision. For five of these, spiking responses were often restricted to a much smaller region within the receptive field, with stimulation of other areas yielding only subthreshold responses (Figs. 4 and 5, Table 1). 4. The pattern of selectivity for target size varied, with some neurons responding only to small targets, some showing consistent responses over a wide range of target sizes, and one preferring larger targets (Fig. 6, Table 1). 5. Five of the interneurons were directionally selective. Movement in the antipreferred direction elicited hyperpolarizing responses in two of them. Movements of large patterns, such as a checkerboard pattern covering the forward hemisphere, elicited opposite directional responses, i.e., hyperpolarizations in the preferred target direction and subthreshold depolarizations in the antipreferred direction (Fig. 7). A large pattern moving in any direction inhibited the response to target movement (Fig. 8). 6. These neurons mediate, in part, the visual control of flight orientation. I propose that they convey turning signals to the wing motor in response to objects moving relative to the animal.

Emotional behavior and arrhythmias induced in cats by hypothalamic stimulation

As the relationship between emotional behavior and electrocardiographic (ECG) change induced by hypothalamic stimulation is poorly understood, eighty-four points in various areas within the hypothalamus in conscious cats were stimulated electrically through chronically implanted electrodes, the objective being to clarify the behavior accompanying ECG changes, in particular poststimulus arrhythmias. Forty-one of 84 points elicited behavioral patterns such as defense reaction, pseudo-rage and restlessness (classified as group A), and in twenty-one (51%) of these 41 points arrhythmias occured after cessation of stimulation. Forty-three of 84 points elicited behavioral patterns including predatory, exploratory and other behavioral responses (classified as group B), and in three (7%) of 43 points, post-stimulus arrhythmias followed. Under light anesthesia, stimulations of twofold current intensity were applied at these points, and the incidences of the arrhythmias did not change in either group. The arrhythmia-inducing area in the cases of group A was found to lie dorsal and caudal to the optic chiasma and to extend caudally in the fornix. Three points in the cases of group B were located in the outer area of the aforementioned area. These studies showed that arrhythmias and group A behavior were observed mainly from stimulation of the anterior hypothalamus, whereas stimulation of other areas of the hypothalamus, including the lateral and the posterolateral hypothalamus, produced group B behavior and no arrhythmias.

Investigation of pallidofugal influences on hypothalamic activity

In chronic experiments on nine cats electrical stimulation of the posterior zones of the lateral hypothalamus led to reproduction of a conditioned food-getting reflex produced previously in response to clicks. During stimulation of the globus pallidus a food-getting reflex also appeared in 3 of 10 zones studied, but it did so only irregularly. In response to combined stimulation of the hypothalamus and these three zones of the globus pallidus facilitation of this reflex was observed: its intensity was increased and its latent period shortened. Stimulation of other areas of the globus pallidus inhibited the food getting reflex of hypothalamic origin on account of the intensification of purposeless motor responses. Stimulation of the globus pallidus evoked desynchronization of spontaneous hypothalamic electrical activity. After bilateral electrolytic destruction of the globus pallidus and its principal efferent pathway (the ansa lenticularis) no conditioned food-getting reflex was reproduced during hypothalamic stimulation. After pallidectomy the amplitude of the spontaneous waves and evoked potentials was reduced by a statistically significant degree in the hypothalamic zones tested. The results are evidence of the existence of regulatory functional influences of the globus pallidus on the lateral hypothalamus.

Modulation of hypothalamic ICSS by concurrent limbic stimulation

Four rhesus monkeys were surgically implanted with arrays of subcortical electrodes and trained to self-administer rewarding electrical stimulation (ICSS) to the hypothalamus. In all four animals, concurrent electrical stimulation of the CA3 region of uncal anterior hippocampus or of the cortico-medial region of amygdala inhibited hypothalamic ICSS. In two of the four animals, concurrent stimulation of the more posterior hippocampus (CA3) facilitated ICSS. Concurrent stimulation of other areas (including basolateral amygdala, hippocampal CA4 region, internal capsule, optic tract, thalamus, and caudate nucleus) had no effect on hypothalamic ICSS. It is suggested that hypothalamic reinforcement processes may vary according to the parameters of limbic involvement.

Effect of electrochemical stimulation of the amygdala on induction of ovulation in different types of persistent estrous rats and castrated male rats with an ovarian transplant.

The amygdaloid nuclear complex was stimulated electrochemically in two different types of persistent estrous rats and in castrated male rats bearing an ovarian transplant. In persistent estrous rats induced by continuous illumination, ovulation could be obtained by the electrochemical (EC) stimulation of the medial part of the amygdala (8 out of 12 rats), but the EC stimulation of other areas in the amygdala was ineffective in inducing ovulation. In androgenized rats (treated with 1mg testosterone propionate at 5 days of age), the EC stimulation could not induce ovulation in any of these rats. In addition, ovulation and corpus luteum formation did not occur in ovarian transplants following the EC stimulation of the amygdala in castrated male rats. These results suggest that the amygdaloid influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotrophic function in lightinduced persistent estrous rats may differ in nature from those in androgenized rats and male rats.

Effect of hippocampal stimulation on the release of gonadotropin.

The effect of hippocampal stimulation on the release of gonadotropin was studied in rats. The hippocampus was unilaterally stimulated by electrolytic deposition of iron from stainless steel unipolar electrodes. Stimulation of the ventral hippocampus (area CA3 or subiculum) prevented spontaneous o violation in proestrous rats and prevented ovulation induced by amygdaloid or preoptic stimulation in rats made to be persistently in estrus by continuous illumination. Stimulation of the dorsal hippocampus also prevented spontaneous ovulation. No effect on ovulation was observed after stimulation of other areas of the brain. The blockade of ovulation was overcome by injection of picrotoxin or by transection of the medial corticohypothalamic tract. Plasma levels of LH (as measured by the ovarian ascorbic acid depletion) were found significantly lower 3 hr after hippocampal stimulation in proestrous rats injected with progesterone. Also, the elevated plasma LH of ovariectomized rats was depressed after stimulation...

Initiation of mammary secretion in rats by electrical stimulation of nervous system.

DURING recent years the interaction of neural and endocrine factors in the initiation of mammary secretion in different species of animals is being increasingly recognized, and it has been shown that electrical stimulation of the uterine cervix of œstrogen-primed virgin female rats can initiate mammary secretion1. In the present experiments, attempts were made to determine whether electrical stimulation of other areas would similarly result in mammary secretion.

Studies on Pain

With central nervous system lesions, impaired perception of pinprick in the involved area of skin often may not be apparent on stimulation of that area alone. However, when such an involved skin area and an homologous normally innervated area are simultaneously pricked, pinprick will be perceived only in the normally innervated area. Bender1applied the term to the perception of a stimulus from only one area during the simultaneous stimulation of other areas in which there was some remaining, albeit impaired, sensory function. Oppenheim,2in 1885, employed a technique of double simultaneous stimulation in the examination of sensation in patients with central nervous system damage, and he was aware that on the side exhibiting extinction there was a hypalgesia. It has been observed in normal human subjects that when an intense pain is experienced in one body area, the threshold of pain perception in other areas is