Faculty Bibliography

Comments on an article by U. Awret (see record 2008-14313-001). The fascination of Velasquez's painting Las Meninas stems largely from the ambiguous relationship between the painting as a whole, viewed by a single perceiver, and the variety of different perceptual viewpoints it invites. This situation resonates strongly with a central puzzle in the study of consciousness: the apparent unity of perceptual experience despite multiple sense modalities. Understanding more of this latter might help to explain the way we respond to the painting. Given that sensory inputs generate but a fractured representation of universals, the issue of perceptual unity concerns the mechanisms that allow these different sensory components to be gathered into one global image. In recent years, this has been described as 'binding', to be implemented by temporal conjunction. Alternatively, since categorizations are generated by spatial mapping of the primary sensory cortex and its associated cortical structures, a more dynamic interaction based on temporal coherence may generate dissipative functional structures capable of a rapid a change as the perception they generate. Thus, a simultaneity mapping may be envisioned that takes advantage of the parallel and synchronous organization of the brain networks in order to generate perception.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the source localization(s) of the midlatency auditory magnetic response M50, the equivalent of the P50 potential, a sleep state-dependent waveform known to habituate to repetitive stimulation. METHODS: We used a paired stimulus paradigm at interstimulus intervals of 250, 500 and 1000 ms, and magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings were subjected to computational methods for current density reconstruction, blind source separation, time-frequency analysis, and data visualization to characterize evoked dynamics. RESULTS: Each subject showed localization of a source for primary auditory evoked responses in the region of the auditory cortex, usually at a 20-30 ms latency. However, responses at 40-70 ms latency that also decreased following the second stimulus of a pair were not localizable to the auditory cortex, rather showing multiple sources usually including the frontal lobes. CONCLUSIONS: The M50 response, which shows habituation to repetitive stimulation, was not localized to the auditory cortex, but showed multiple sources including frontal lobes. SIGNIFICANCE: These MEG results suggest that sources for the M50 response may represent non-auditory, perhaps arousal-related, diffuse projections to the cortex

Pellionisz and Llinas proposed, years ago, a geometric interpretation towards understanding brain function. This interpretation assumes that the relation between the brain and the external world is determined by the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to construct an internal model of the external world using an interactive geometrical relationship between sensory and motor expression. This approach opened new vistas not only in brain research but also in understanding the foundations of geometry itself. The approach named tensor network theory is sufficiently rich to allow specific computational modeling and addressed the issue of prediction, based on Taylor series expansion properties of the system, at the neuronal level, as a basic property of brain function. It was actually proposed that the evolutionary realm is the backbone for the development of an internal functional space that, while being purely representational, can interact successfully with the totally different world of the so-called 'external reality'. Now if the internal space or functional space is endowed with stochastic metric tensor properties, then there will be a dynamic correspondence between events in the external world and their specification in the internal space. We shall call this dynamic geometry since the minimal time resolution of the brain (10-15 ms), associated with 40 Hz oscillations of neurons and their network dynamics, is considered to be responsible for recognizing external events and generating the concept of simultaneity. The stochastic metric tensor in dynamic geometry can be written as five-dimensional space-time where the fifth dimension is a probability space as well as a metric space. This extra dimension is considered an imbedded degree of freedom. It is worth noticing that the above-mentioned 40 Hz oscillation is present both in awake and dream states where the central difference is the inability of phase resetting in the latter. This framework of dynamic geometry makes it possible to distinguish one individual from another. In this paper we shall investigate the role of dynamic geometry in brain function modeling and the neuronal basis of consciousness

Thalamocortical in vivo and in vitro function was studied in mice lacking P/Q-type calcium channels (Cav2.1), in which N-type calcium channels (Cav2.2) supported central synaptic transmission. Unexpectedly, in vitro patch recordings from thalamic neurons demonstrated no gamma-band subthreshold oscillation, and voltage-sensitive dye imaging demonstrated an absence of cortical gamma-band-dependent columnar activation involving cortical inhibitory interneuron activity. In vivo electroencephalogram recordings showed persistent absence status and a dramatic reduction of gamma-band activity. Pharmacological block of T-type calcium channels (Cav3), although not noticeably affecting normal control animals, left the knockout mice in a coma-like state. Hence, although N-type calcium channels can rescue P/Q-dependent synaptic transmission, P/Q calcium channels are essential in the generation of gamma-band activity and resultant cognitive function

Modafinil (Provigil, Modiodal), an antinarcoleptic and mood-enhancing drug, is shown here to sharpen thalamocortical activity and to increase electrical coupling between cortical interneurons and between nerve cells in the inferior olivary nucleus. After irreversible pharmacological block of connexin permeability (i.e., by using either 18beta-glycyrrhetinic derivatives or mefloquine), modafinil restored electrotonic coupling within 30 min. It was further established that this restoration is implemented through a Ca(2+)/calmodulin protein kinase II-dependent step

Genome-encoded microRNAs (miRNAs) are potent regulators of gene expression. The significance of miRNAs in various biological processes has been suggested by studies showing an important role of these small RNAs in regulation of cell differentiation. However, the role of miRNAs in regulation of differentiated cell physiology is not well established. Mature neurons express a large number of distinct miRNAs, but the role of miRNAs in postmitotic neurons has not been examined. Here, we provide evidence for an essential role of miRNAs in survival of differentiated neurons. We show that conditional Purkinje cell-specific ablation of the key miRNA-generating enzyme Dicer leads to Purkinje cell death. Deficiency in Dicer is associated with progressive loss of miRNAs, followed by cerebellar degeneration and development of ataxia. The progressive neurodegeneration in the absence of Dicer raises the possibility of an involvement of miRNAs in neurodegenerative disorders

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine administration has been used, in various mammalian species, as an experimental model of Parkinson's disease. The pathogenesis for such pharmacologically induced Parkinson's disease involves 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+), the active metabolite of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. This metabolite produces rapid degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, which causes the parkinsonian syndrome. In this work, we show that injection of MPP+ into the presynaptic terminal of the squid giant synapse blocks synaptic transmission without affecting the presynaptic action potential or the presynaptic calcium currents. These effects of MPP+ were mimicked by the injection of an active form of caspase-3 and prevented by inhibitors of caspase-3 and protein kinase C delta. Ultrastructurally, MPP+-injected synapses showed a dramatic reduction in the number of neurotransmitter vesicles at the presynaptic active zone, as compared with control synapses. Otherwise, normal docking and clathrin-coated vesicles were observed, albeit at much reduced numbers. These results indicate that MPP+ acutely reduces presynaptic vesicular availability, not release, and that MPP+-induced pathogenesis results from presynaptic dysfunction that leads, secondarily, to dying-back neuropathy in affected neurons

Parkinson's disease (PD), a late-onset condition characterized by dysfunction and loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, has both sporadic and neurotoxic forms. Neurotoxins such as 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine and its metabolite 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) induce PD symptoms and recapitulate major pathological hallmarks of PD in human and animal models. Both sporadic and MPP+-induced forms of PD proceed through a 'dying-back' pattern of neuronal degeneration in affected neurons, characterized by early loss of synaptic terminals and axonopathy. However, axonal and synaptic-specific effects of MPP+ are poorly understood. Using isolated squid axoplasm, we show that MPP+ produces significant alterations in fast axonal transport (FAT) through activation of a caspase and a previously undescribed protein kinase C (PKCdelta) isoform. Specifically, MPP+ increased cytoplasmic dynein-dependent retrograde FAT and reduced kinesin-1-mediated anterograde FAT. Significantly, MPP+ effects were independent of both nuclear activities and ATP production. Consistent with its effects on FAT, MPP+ injection in presynaptic domains led to a dramatic reduction in the number of membranous profiles. Changes in availability of synaptic and neurotrophin-signaling components represent axonal and synaptic-specific effects of MPP+ that would produce a dying-back pathology. Our results identify a critical neuronal process affected by MPP+ and suggest that alterations in vesicle trafficking represent a primary event in PD pathogenesis. We propose that PD and other neurodegenerative diseases exhibiting dying-back neuropathology represent a previously undescribed category of neurological diseases characterized by dysfunction of vesicle transport and associated with the loss of synaptic function

Transmitter release at chemical synapses is triggered by high calcium concentration microprofiles at the presynaptic cytosol. Such microprofiles, generated by the opening of voltage-dependent calcium channels at the presynaptic plasma membrane, have been defined as calcium concentration microdomains. Using total internal reflection fluorescent microscopy in conjunction with calcium and vesicular release indicator dyes, we have directly visualized the close apposition of calcium concentration microdomains and synaptic release sites at single synaptic terminals from the CNS from rat cerebellar mossy fiber and squid optic lobe. These findings demonstrate the close apposition of calcium entry and release sites and the dynamics of such site locations over time. Kinetic analysis shows that vesicles can be released via two distinct mechanisms: full-fusion and kiss-and-run. Calcium triggers vesicular motion toward the membrane, and the speed of such movement is calcium concentration-dependent. Moreover, the immediately available vesicular pool represents molecularly trapped vesicles that can be located at a larger distance from the plasma membrane than the field illuminated by total internal reflection fluorescent microscopy