Multifractality of Posture Modulates Multisensory Perception of Stand-On-Ability

By definition, perception is a multisensory process that unfolds in time as a complex sequence of exploratory activities of the organism. In such a system perception and action are integrated, and multiple energy arrays are available simultaneously. Perception of affordances interweaves sensory and motor activities into meaningful behavior given task constraints. The present contribution offers insight into the manner in which perception and action usher the organism through competent functional apprehension of its surroundings. We propose that the tensegrity structure of the body, manifested via multifractality of exploratory bodily movements informs perception of affordances. The affordance of stand-on-ability of ground surfaces served as the experimental paradigm. Observers viewed a surface set to a discrete angle and attempted to match it haptically with a continuously adjustable surface occluded by a curtain, or felt an occluded surface set to a discrete angle then matched it visually with a continuously adjustable visible surface. The complex intertwining of perception and action was demonstrated by the interactions of multifractality of postural sway with multiple energy arrays, responses, and changing geometric task demands

Carbenoxolone induced depression of rhythmogenesis in the pre-Bötzinger Complex

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Thermal preconditioning and heat-shock protein 72 preserve synaptic transmission during thermal stress

As with other tissues, exposing the mammalian CNS to nonlethal heat stress (i.e., thermal preconditioning) increases levels of heat-shock proteins (Hsps) such as Hsp70 and enhances the viability of neurons under subsequent stress. Using a medullary slice preparation from a neonatal mouse, including the site of the neural network that generates respiratory rhythm (the pre-Bö tzinger complex), we show that thermal preconditioning has an additional fundamental effect, protection of synaptic function. Relative to 30°C baseline, initial thermal stress (40°C) greatly increased the frequency of synaptic currents recorded without pharmacological manipulation by ϳ17-fold ( p Ͻ 0.01) and of miniature postsynaptic currents (mPSCs) elicited by GABA (20-fold) glutamate (10-fold), and glycine (36-fold). Thermal preconditioning (15 min at 40°C) eliminated the increase in frequency of overall synaptic transmission during acute thermal stress and greatly attenuated the frequency increases of GABAergic, glutamatergic, and glycinergic mPSCs (for each, p Ͻ 0.05). Moreover, without thermal preconditioning, incubation of slices in solution containing inducible Hsp70 (Hsp72) mimicked the effect of thermal preconditioning on the stressinduced release of neurotransmitter. That preconditioning and exogenous Hsp72 can affect and preserve normal physiological function has important therapeutic implications. Key words: hyperthermia; heat shock; synaptic transmission; miniature postsynaptic current; GABA; glutamate; glycine The discovery that preconditioning with mild stress protects neural tissue from severe stresses such as hyperthermia or hypoxia has yielded new ideas on how to mitigate brain damage by ischemia and strok

Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA

CITATION: Watson, R., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 11:13, doi:10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9.The original publication is available at https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.comENGLISH SUMMARY : Meeting abstracts.https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9Publisher's versio

Induction of rapid cold hardening by cooling at ecologically relevant rates in Drosophila melanogaster

Over a decade ago it was hypothesized that the rapid cold hardening process allows an organism’s overall cold tolerance to track changes in environmental temperature, as would occur in nature during diurnal thermal cycles. Although a number of studies have since focused on characterizing the rapid cold hardening process and on elucidating the physiological mechanisms upon which it is based, the ecological relevance of this phenomenon has received little attention. We present evidence that in Drosophila mel-anogaster rapid cold hardening can be induced during cooling at rates which occur naturally, and that the protection afforded in such a manner benefits the organism at ecologically relevant temperatures. Drosophila melanogaster cooled at natural rates (0.05 and 0.1 ° C min21) exhibited significantly higher survival after one hour of exposure to 27 and 28 ° C than did those directly transferred to these temperatures or those cooled at 0.5, or 1.0 ° C min21. Protection accrued throughout the cooling process (e.g., flies cooled to 0 ° C were more cold tolerant than those cooled to 11 ° C). Whereas D. melanogaster cooled at 1.0 ° C min21 had a critical thermal minimum (i.e., the temperature at which torpor occurred) of 6.5 – 0.6 ° C, those cooled at an ecologically relevan

Cold hardiness in two helminth parasites of the freeze-tolerant wood frog, <i>Rana sylvatica</i>

Wood frogs, Rana sylvatica, tolerate the freezing of their body tissues as an overwintering adaptation. Various parasites infect wood frogs of northern populations, but nothing is known about their strategies for surviving within a frozen host. We examined winter-conditioned wood frogs that were experimentally exposed to 0°C (nonfrozen) or –4°C (frozen) to determine whether endoparasites survive the freezing of their host. We found no differences in the prevalence or intensity of adult lungworms Rhabdias ranae (Nematoda) or of larvae of an unidentified species of digenetic trematode between these groups. Live individuals of both species were observed in hosts that recovered from experimental freezing at –4°C. Within the host, R. ranae also tolerated exposure to –5°C, a temperature near the lower limit of survival of the wood frog. Cryostage experiments showed that, like its host, R. ranae was highly susceptible to inoculative freezing and tolerant of the freezing of its tissues. Rhabdias ranae frozen in vitro in the presence or absence of 250 mM glucose, the cryoprotectant used by wood frogs, recovered from a 10-h exposure to –4°C. The mechanism of cold tolerance used by larval trematodes was not investigated; however, we hypothesize that freeze avoidance by supercooling may be important in this species. Freeze-tolerant anurans, such as the wood frog, are useful subjects in the study of coevolution of thermal tolerance in parasites and their host. </jats:p