Subtype-specific plasticity of inhibitory circuits in motor cortex during motor learning.

Motor skill learning induces long-lasting reorganization of dendritic spines, principal sites of excitatory synapses, in the motor cortex. However, mechanisms that regulate these excitatory synaptic changes remain poorly understood. Here, using in vivo two-photon imaging in awake mice, we found that learning-induced spine reorganization of layer (L) 2/3 excitatory neurons occurs in the distal branches of their apical dendrites in L1 but not in the perisomatic dendrites. This compartment-specific spine reorganization coincided with subtype-specific plasticity of local inhibitory circuits. Somatostatin-expressing inhibitory neurons (SOM-INs), which mainly inhibit distal dendrites of excitatory neurons, showed a decrease in axonal boutons immediately after the training began, whereas parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory neurons (PV-INs), which mainly inhibit perisomatic regions of excitatory neurons, exhibited a gradual increase in axonal boutons during training. Optogenetic enhancement and suppression of SOM-IN activity during training destabilized and hyperstabilized spines, respectively, and both manipulations impaired the learning of stereotyped movements. Our results identify SOM inhibition of distal dendrites as a key regulator of learning-related changes in excitatory synapses and the acquisition of motor skills

Hydrodynamic Equation for the Breakdown of the Quantum Hall Effect in a Uniform Current

The hydrodynamic equation for the spatial and temporal evolution of the electron temperature T_e in the breakdown of the quantum Hall effect at even-integer filling factors in a uniform current density j is derived from the Boltzmann-type equation, which takes into account electron-electron and electron-phonon scatterings. The derived equation has a drift term, which is proportional to j and to the first spatial derivative of T_e. Applied to the spatial evolution of T_e in a sample with an abrupt change of the width along the current direction, the equation gives a distinct dependence on the current direction as well as a critical relaxation, in agreement with the recent experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 1 Postscript figure, corrected equations, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 70 (2001) No.

Hydrodynamic Equations in Quantum Hall Systems at Large Currents

Hydrodynamic equations (HDEQs) are derived which describe spatio-temporal evolutions of the electron temperature and the chemical potential of two-dimensional systems in strong magnetic fields in states with large diagonal resistivity appearing at the breakdown of the quantum Hall effect. The derivation is based on microscopic electronic processes consisting of drift motions in a slowly-fluctuating potential and scattering processes due to electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. In contrast with the usual HDEQs, one of the derived HDEQs has a term with an energy flux perpendicular to the electric field due to the drift motions in the magnetic field. As an illustration, the current distribution is calculated using the derived HDEQs.Comment: 10 pages, 2 Postscript figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 71 (2002) No.

Newcomers Meet the Intracluster Medium in the Coma Cluster

A main topic at this meeting is how galaxies are affected when they enter for the first time the cluster environment from the outskirts. Most of the times we are forced to infer the environmental effects indirectly, relying on systematic variations of galaxy properties with environment, but there aren't many examples of direct observations able to unveil ongoing transformations taking place, and the corresponding mechanism producing it. We present a case in which it is possible to identify the cluster environment, and in particular the intracluster medium and the recent infall history of galaxies onto the cluster, as the cause for a recent, abrupt change in the evolutionary history of galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 postscript figure -- to appear in "Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters: intense life in the suburbs", IAU Colloquium N. 195, 2004, ed. A Diaferi

Probing Spin-Polarized Currents in the Quantum Hall Regime

An experiment to probe spin-polarized currents in the quantum Hall regime is suggested that takes advantage of the large Zeeman-splitting in the paramagnetic diluted magnetic semiconductor zinc manganese selenide (Zn$_{1-x}$Mn$_x$Se). In the proposed experiment spin-polarized electrons are injected by ZnMnSe-contacts into a gallium arsenide (GaAs) two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) arranged in a Hall bar geometry. We calculated the resulting Hall resistance for this experimental setup within the framework of the Landauer-B\"uttiker formalism. These calculations predict for 100% spininjection through the ZnMnSe-contacts a Hall resistance twice as high as in the case of no spin-polarized injection of charge carriers into a 2DEG for filling factor $\nu=2$. We also investigated the influence of the equilibration of the spin-polarized electrons within the 2DEG on the Hall resistance. In addition, in our model we expect no coupling between the contact and the 2DEG for odd filling factors of the 2DEG for 100% spininjection, because of the opposite sign of the g-factors of ZnMnSe and GaAs.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure