The Contribution of Thalamocortical Core and Matrix Pathways to Sleep Spindles.

Sleep spindles arise from the interaction of thalamic and cortical neurons. Neurons in the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) inhibit thalamocortical neurons, which in turn excite the TRN and cortical neurons. A fundamental principle of anatomical organization of the thalamocortical projections is the presence of two pathways: the diffuse matrix pathway and the spatially selective core pathway. Cortical layers are differentially targeted by these two pathways with matrix projections synapsing in superficial layers and core projections impinging on middle layers. Based on this anatomical observation, we propose that spindles can be classified into two classes, those arising from the core pathway and those arising from the matrix pathway, although this does not exclude the fact that some spindles might combine both pathways at the same time. We find evidence for this hypothesis in EEG/MEG studies, intracranial recordings, and computational models that incorporate this difference. This distinction will prove useful in accounting for the multiple functions attributed to spindles, in that spindles of different types might act on local and widespread spatial scales. Because spindle mechanisms are often hijacked in epilepsy and schizophrenia, the classification proposed in this review might provide valuable information in defining which pathways have gone awry in these neurological disorders

Delay Differential Analysis of Seizures in Multichannel Electrocorticography Data

High-density electrocorticogram (ECoG) electrodes are capable of recording neurophysiological data with high temporal resolution with wide spatial coverage. These recordings are a window to understanding how the human brain processes information and subsequently behaves in healthy and pathologic states. Here, we describe and implement delay differential analysis (DDA) for the characterization of ECoG data obtained from human patients with intractable epilepsy. DDA is a time-domain analysis framework based on embedding theory in nonlinear dynamics that reveals the nonlinear invariant properties of an unknown dynamical system. The DDA embedding serves as a low-dimensional nonlinear dynamical basis onto which the data are mapped. This greatly reduces the risk of overfitting and improves the method's ability to fit classes of data. Since the basis is built on the dynamical structure of the data, preprocessing of the data (e.g., filtering) is not necessary. We performed a large-scale search for a DDA model that best fit ECoG recordings using a genetic algorithm to qualitatively discriminate between different cortical states and epileptic events for a set of 13 patients. A single DDA model with only three polynomial terms was identified. Singular value decomposition across the feature space of the model revealed both global and local dynamics that could differentiate electrographic and electroclinical seizures and provided insights into highly localized seizure onsets and diffuse seizure terminations. Other common ECoG features such as interictal periods, artifacts, and exogenous stimuli were also analyzed with DDA. This novel framework for signal processing of seizure information demonstrates an ability to reveal unique characteristics of the underlying dynamics of the seizure and may be useful in better understanding, detecting, and maybe even predicting seizures

Neural Correlates of Auditory Perceptual Awareness and Release from Informational Masking Recorded Directly from Human Cortex: A Case Study.

In complex acoustic environments, even salient supra-threshold sounds sometimes go unperceived, a phenomenon known as informational masking. The neural basis of informational masking (and its release) has not been well-characterized, particularly outside auditory cortex. We combined electrocorticography in a neurosurgical patient undergoing invasive epilepsy monitoring with trial-by-trial perceptual reports of isochronous target-tone streams embedded in random multi-tone maskers. Awareness of such masker-embedded target streams was associated with a focal negativity between 100 and 200 ms and high-gamma activity (HGA) between 50 and 250 ms (both in auditory cortex on the posterolateral superior temporal gyrus) as well as a broad P3b-like potential (between ~300 and 600 ms) with generators in ventrolateral frontal and lateral temporal cortex. Unperceived target tones elicited drastically reduced versions of such responses, if at all. While it remains unclear whether these responses reflect conscious perception, itself, as opposed to pre- or post-perceptual processing, the results suggest that conscious perception of target sounds in complex listening environments may engage diverse neural mechanisms in distributed brain areas

Postsynaptic Elevation of Calcium Induces Persistent Depression of Developing Neuromuscular Synapses

AbstractSynaptic activity is known to modulate neuronal connectivity in the nervous system. At developing Xenopus neuromuscular synapses in culture, repetitive postsynaptic application of ACh near the synapse leads to immediate and persistent synaptic depression, which was shown to be caused by reduction of presyaptic evoked transmitter release. However, little depression was found when ACh was applied to the muscle 20 μm or further from the synapse. Fluorescence imaging of cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) showed that each ACh pulse induced a transient elevation of myocyte [Ca2+]i that spread approximately 20 μm. Local photoactivated release of Ca2+ from the caged Ca2+ chelators nitr-5 or nitrophen in the postsynaptic cell was sufficient to induce persistent synaptic depression. These results support a model in which localized Ca2+ influx into the postsynaptic myocyte initiates transsynaptic retrograde modulation of presynaptic secretion mechanisms

Avalanche analysis from multi-electrode ensemble recordings in cat, monkey and human cerebral cortex during wakefulness and sleep

Self-organized critical states are found in many natural systems, from earthquakes to forest fires, they have also been observed in neural systems, particularly, in neuronal cultures. However, the presence of critical states in the awake brain remains controversial. Here, we compared avalanche analyses performed on different in vivo preparations during wakefulness, slow-wave sleep and REM sleep, using high-density electrode arrays in cat motor cortex (96 electrodes), monkey motor cortex and premotor cortex and human temporal cortex (96 electrodes) in epileptic patients. In neuronal avalanches defined from units (up to 160 single units), the size of avalanches never clearly scaled as power-law, but rather scaled exponentially or displayed intermediate scaling. We also analyzed the dynamics of local field potentials (LFPs) and in particular LFP negative peaks (nLFPs) among the different electrodes (up to 96 sites in temporal cortex or up to 128 sites in adjacent motor and pre-motor cortices). In this case, the avalanches defined from nLFPs displayed power-law scaling in double log representations, as reported previously in monkey. However, avalanche defined as positive LFP (pLFP) peaks, which are less directly related to neuronal firing, also displayed apparent power-law scaling. Closer examination of this scaling using more reliable cumulative distribution functions (CDF) and other rigorous statistical measures, did not confirm power-law scaling. The same pattern was seen for cats, monkey and human, as well as for different brain states of wakefulness and sleep. We also tested other alternative distributions. Multiple exponential fitting yielded optimal fits of the avalanche dynamics with bi-exponential distributions. Collectively, these results show no clear evidence for power-law scaling or self-organized critical states in the awake and sleeping brain of mammals, from cat to man.Comment: In press in: Frontiers in Physiology, 2012, special issue "Critical Brain Dynamics" (Edited by He BY, Daffertshofer A, Boonstra TW); 33 pages, 13 figures. 3 table

Real-time segmentation and tracking of brain metabolic state in ICU EEG recordings of burst suppression

We provide a method for estimating brain metabolic state based on a reduced-order model of EEG burst suppression. The model, derived from previously suggested biophysical mechanisms of burst suppression, describes important electrophysiological features and provides a direct link to cerebral metabolic rate. We design and fit the estimation method from EEG recordings of burst suppression from a neurological intensive care unit and test it on real and synthetic data.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant DP1-OD003646

Bayesian Time-Series Classifier for Decoding Simple Visual Stimuli from Intracranial Neural Activity

Understanding how external stimuli are encoded in distributed neural activity is of significant interest in clinical and basic neuroscience. To address this need, it is essential to develop analytical tools capable of handling limited data and the intrinsic stochasticity present in neural data. In this study, we propose a straightforward Bayesian time series classifier (BTsC) model that tackles these challenges whilst maintaining a high level of interpretability. We demonstrate the classification capabilities of this approach by utilizing neural data to decode colors in a visual task. The model exhibits consistent and reliable average performance of 75.55% on 4 patients' dataset, improving upon state-of-the-art machine learning techniques by about 3.0 percent. In addition to its high classification accuracy, the proposed BTsC model provides interpretable results, making the technique a valuable tool to study neural activity in various tasks and categories. The proposed solution can be applied to neural data recorded in various tasks, where there is a need for interpretable results and accurate classification accuracy