Optogenética: una haz de luz para conocer las funciones cerebrales

Una de las grandes preguntas que nos hacemos en neurociencia es cómo la actividad neuronal crea diversas funciones en el cerebro, resultando en un determinado comportamiento. Para poder analizar esta pregunta, nos vemos obligados a analizar lo que ocurre dentro del sujeto experimental mientras ejecuta un comportamiento determinado, para así poder determinar qué circuito específico generó el mismo. Una de las técnicas más utilizadas hoy en día para dicho fin es la optogenética. Desde su creación, el uso de esta técnica se ha incrementado significativamente y actualmente es empleada a nivel mundial por laboratorios de neurociencia cuyo objetivo es dilucidar los enigmas de la actividad cerebral.One of the big questions we ask in neuroscience is how neuronal activity creates various functions in the brain, resulting in a certain behavior. In order to analyze this question, we are forced to analyzewhat happens inside the experimental subject while executing a specific behavior, in order to be able to determine which specific circuit generated it. One of today´s most used technique is called optogenetics. Since its creation, the use of this technique has significantly increased, being globally applied by the neuroscience field by laboratories whose purpose is to elucidate the enigmas of brain´s activity.Fil: Krawczyk, Maria del Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Millán, J.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Blake, Mariano Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica Bernardo Houssay. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica Bernardo Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Boccia, Mariano Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Farmacología. Cátedra de Farmacología; Argentin

Study of Recall in Reading Skill with Relationship of Prior Knowledge–Researching Significative Intergrupal Differencies

In this paper we try to assess whether there are differences in a group when their members try to remember the content of a text, and if this fact affects the learning levels through an experimental methodology with a design of two groups only with posttest to assess the readers’ free recall after reading a text. We found firstly interindividual and intergroup differences in recall of textual material. And secondly text comprehension and therefore the memory of the reading depend largely on reader's inferences. In this paper we propose a specific intervention in order to prepare students for a better understanding of the text read, using a simple methodology to apply with materials easy to prepare

Asynchronous BCI and Local Neural Classifiers: An Overview of the Adaptive Brain Interface Project

In this paper we give an overview of our work on an asynchronous BCI (where the subject makes self-paced decisions on when to switch from a mental task to the next) that responds every 1/2 second. A local neural classifier tries to recognize three different mental tasks, but may also respond unknown for uncertain samples as the classifier has incorporated statistical rejection criteria. We report our experience with different subjects (around 15 up to now). We also describe briefly two brain-actuated applications we have developed, namely a virtual keyboard and a mobile robot (similar to a motorized wheelchair)

The hybrid brain-computer interface: a bridge to assistive technology?

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) can be extended by other input signals to form a so-called hybrid BCI (hBCI). Such an hBCI allows the processing of several input signals with at least one brain signal for control purposes, i.e. communication and environmental control. This work shows the principle, technology and application of hBCIs and discusses future objectives.EC/FP7/224631/EU/Tools for Brain-Computer Interaction/TOBIEC/FP7/288566/EU/Brain-neural computer interfaces on track to home – Development of a practical generation of BNCI for independent home use/BackHom

La inversión Matuyama-Brunhes en la secuencia de terrazas del río Jarama entre Velilla de San Antonio y Altos de la Mejorada, al SE de Madrid (España)

Al Este de la ciudad de Madrid, en el valle del río Jarama y entre Mejorada del Campo y Velilla de San Antonio se han estudiado las propiedades paleomagnéticas de una secuencia de terrazas comprendidas entre El Rasillo y Altos de la Mejorada, a lo largo de la autopista M-203 de reciente construcción. La cartografía geomorfológica realizada permitió separar además de la llanura aluvial a +4-5 m, terrazas a +20 m, +30-35 m, +60-65 m, +85-90 m, +105-110 m y +125-130 m. De ellas se muestrearon 5 niveles, a excepción de la de +20 m, en taludes frescos de la autovía que permiten situar a las terrazas con altitudes relativas igual o mayores a +60-65 m en el Chron Matuyama, mientras que las terrazas a +20 m y +30-35 m pertenecerían al Chron Brunhes (< 0.780 Ma). Dataciones por ESR en terrazas del valle del río Arlanzón en Burgos (Moreno et al., 2012), sugieren que en el valle del Jarama la inversión Matuyama-Brunhes podría establecerse entre el final de la sedimentación de la terraza a +60-65 m y el encajamiento de la terraza a +50-55 m subsiguiente, representada aguas arriba de Mejorada del Campo, en Marchamalo (Pérez-González, 1994)

Evolution of the Mental States Operating a Brain-Computer Interface

This study analyses the location of patterns of brain activity in the signal space while a human subject is trained to operate a brain-computer interface. This evaluation plays an important role in the understanding of the underlying system, and it gives valuable information about the translation algorithms. The relative position and morphology of the patterns in a training session, and from one session to another, enable us to evaluate the performance of both the interface and the user. Thanks to these aforementioned variables we are also able to appreciate stable trajectories of the mental states during the sessions, which shows both the adaptability of the user to the interface, and vice versa

Non-Invasive Brain-Actuated Control of a Mobile Robot

Recent experiments have shown the near possibility to use the brain electrical activity to directly control the movement of robotics or prosthetic devices. In this paper we report results with a portable non-invasive brain-computer interface that makes possible the continuous control of a mobile robot in a house-like environment. The interface uses 8 surface electrodes to measure electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from which a statistical classifier recognizes 3 different mental states. Until now, brain-actuated control of robots has relied on invasive approaches-requiring surgical implantation of electrodes-since EEG-based systems have been considered too slow for controlling rapid and complex sequences of movements. Here we show that, after a few days of training, two human subjects successfully moved a robot between several rooms by mental control only. Furthermore, mental control was only marginally worse than manual control on the same task