979 research outputs found
How Gibbs distributions may naturally arise from synaptic adaptation mechanisms. A model-based argumentation
This paper addresses two questions in the context of neuronal networks
dynamics, using methods from dynamical systems theory and statistical physics:
(i) How to characterize the statistical properties of sequences of action
potentials ("spike trains") produced by neuronal networks ? and; (ii) what are
the effects of synaptic plasticity on these statistics ? We introduce a
framework in which spike trains are associated to a coding of membrane
potential trajectories, and actually, constitute a symbolic coding in important
explicit examples (the so-called gIF models). On this basis, we use the
thermodynamic formalism from ergodic theory to show how Gibbs distributions are
natural probability measures to describe the statistics of spike trains, given
the empirical averages of prescribed quantities. As a second result, we show
that Gibbs distributions naturally arise when considering "slow" synaptic
plasticity rules where the characteristic time for synapse adaptation is quite
longer than the characteristic time for neurons dynamics.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figure
Changes in corticospinal excitability and the direction of evoked movements during motor preparation: A TMS study
BACKGROUND: Preparation of the direction of a forthcoming movement has a particularly strong influence on both reaction times and neuronal activity in the primate motor cortex. Here, we aimed to find direct neurophysiologic evidence for the preparation of movement direction in humans. We used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to evoke isolated thumb-movements, of which the direction can be modulated experimentally, for example by training or by motor tasks. Sixteen healthy subjects performed brisk concentric voluntary thumb movements during a reaction time task in which the required movement direction was precued. We assessed whether preparation for the thumb movement lead to changes in the direction of TMS-evoked movements and to changes in amplitudes of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from the hand muscles. RESULTS: When the required movement direction was precued early in the preparatory interval, reaction times were 50 ms faster than when precued at the end of the preparatory interval. Over time, the direction of the TMS-evoked thumb movements became increasingly variable, but it did not turn towards the precued direction. MEPs from the thumb muscle (agonist) were differentially modulated by the direction of the precue, but only in the late phase of the preparatory interval and thereafter. MEPs from the index finger muscle did not depend on the precued direction and progressively decreased during the preparatory interval. CONCLUSION: Our data show that the human corticospinal movement representation undergoes progressive changes during motor preparation. These changes are accompanied by inhibitory changes in corticospinal excitability, which are muscle specific and depend on the prepared movement direction. This inhibition might indicate a corticospinal braking mechanism that counteracts any preparatory motor activation
Inclusive production of charged pions in p+C collisions at 158 GeV/c beam momentum
The production of charged pions in minimum bias p+C interactions is studied
using a sample of 377000 inelastic events obtained with the NA49 detector at
the CERN SPS at 158 GeV/c beam momentum. The data cover a phase space area
ranging from 0 to 1.8 GeV/c in transverse momentum and from -0.1 to 0.5 in
Feynman x. Inclusive invariant cross sections are given on a grid of 270 bins
per charge thus offering for the first time a dense coverage of the projectile
hemisphere and of the cross-over region into the target fragmentation zone.Comment: 31 pages, 30 figures, submitted to European Journal of Physic
Multiplicity fluctuations in nuclear collisions at 158 A GeV
System size dependence of multiplicity fluctuations of charged particles
produced in nuclear collisions at 158 A GeV was studied in the NA49 CERN
experiment. Results indicate a non-monotonic dependence of the scaled variance
of the multiplicity distribution with a maximum for semi-peripheral Pb+Pb
interactions with number of projectile participants of about 35. This effect is
not observed in a string-hadronic model of nuclear collision HIJING.Comment: Presented at "Focus on Multiplicity", 17-19 of June, Bari, Ital
Event-by-event fluctuations of the kaon to pion ratio in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV per Nucleon
We present the first measurement of fluctuations from event to event in the
production of strange particles in collisions of heavy nuclei. The ratio of
charged kaons to charged pions is determined for individual central Pb+Pb
collisions. After accounting for the fluctuations due to detector resolution
and finite number statistics we derive an upper limit on genuine
non-statistical fluctuations, perhaps related to a first or second order QCD
phase transition. Such fluctuations are shown to be very small.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Upper Limit of D0 Production in Central Pb-Pb Collisions at 158A GeV
Results are presented from a search for the decays D0 -> Kmin piplus and
D0bar -> Kplus pimin in a sample of 3.8x10^6 central Pb-Pb events collected
with a beam energy of 158A GeV by NA49 at the CERN SPS. No signal is observed.
An upper limit on D0 production is derived and compared to predictions from
several models.Comment: REVTEX 5 pages, 4 figure
Report from NA49
The most recent data of NA49 on hadron production in nuclear collisions at
CERN SPS energies are presented. Anomalies in the energy dependence of pion and
kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions are observed. They suggest that the
onset of deconfinement is located at about 30 AGeV. Large multiplicity and
transverse momentum fluctuations are measured for collisions of intermediate
mass systems at 158 AGeV. The need for a new experimental programme at the CERN
SPS is underlined.Comment: invited talk presented at Quark Matter 2004, 10 page
Bose-Einstein correlations of pion pairs in central Pb+Pb collisions at CERN SPS energies
Measurements of Bose-Einstein correlations of pion pairs in central Pb+Pb
collisions were performed with the NA49 detector at the CERN SPS for beam
energies of 20A, 30A, 40A, 80A, and 158A GeV. Correlation functions were
measured in the longitudinally co-moving ``out-side-long'' reference frame as a
function of rapidity and transverse momentum in the forward hemisphere of the
reaction. Radius and correlation strength parameters were obtained from fits of
a Gaussian parametrization. The results show a decrease of the radius
parameters with increasing transverse momentum characteristic of strong radial
flow in the pion source. No striking dependence on pion-pair rapidity or beam
energy is observed. Static and dynamic properties of the pion source are
obtained from simultaneous fits with a blast-wave model to radius parameters
and midrapidity transverse momentum spectra. Predictions of hydrodynamic and
microscopic models of Pb+Pb collisions are discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 23 figure
System size dependence of strange particle yields and spectra at sqrt(s)=17.3 GeV
Yields and spectra of strange hadrons (K+, K-, phi, Lambda and Antilambda) as
well as of charged pions were measured in near central C+C and Si+Si collisions
at 158 AGeV beam energy with the NA49 detector. Together with earlier data for
p+p, S+S and Pb+Pb reactions the system size dependence can be studied.
Relative strangeness production rises fast and saturates at about 60
participating nucleons; the net hyperon spectra show an increasing shift
towards midrapidity for larger colliding nuclei. An interpretation based on the
formation of coherent systems of increasing volume is proposed. The transverse
mass spectra can be described by a blast wave ansatz. Increasing flow velocity
is accompanied by decreasing temperatures for both kinetic and chemical freeze
out. The increasing gap between inelastic and elastic decoupling leaves space
for rescattering.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Proceedings of the Hot Quarks 2004 worksho
High p_T Spectra of Identified Particles Produced in Pb+Pb Collisions at 158GeV/nucleon Beam Energy
Transverse momentum spectra of pi^{+/-}, p, pbar, K^{+/-}, K^0_s and Lambda
at midrapidity were measured at high p_T in Pb+Pb collisions at 158GeV/nucleon
beam energy by the NA49 experiment. Particle yield ratios (p/pi, K/pi and
Lambda/K^0_s) show an enhancement of the baryon/meson ratio for p_T>2GeV/c. The
nuclear modification factor R_{CP} is extracted and compared to RHIC
measurements and pQCD calculations.Comment: Quark Matter 2005 parallel section proceeding
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