26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Spiking variability: Theory, measures and implementation in matlab

The quantification of spiking variability is prevalent to many questions in neuroscience. In this review, several measures of variability are presented, as well as algorithms for implementing analyses including: spike rates and Fano factor, inter-spike intervals, coefficient of variation and local variation, autocorrelation, period histograms, a synchrony index (vector strength), and finally post-stimulus time histograms. Some of the techniques show significant overlap; however, each measure is qualitatively unique and can be tuned to the researchers needs

Neuronal hypertrophy dampens neuronal intrinsic excitability and stress responsiveness during chronic stress

© 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2020 The Physiological Society Key points: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis habituates to repeated stress exposure. We studied hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons that form the apex of the HPA axis in a mouse model of stress habituation using repeated restraint. The intrinsic excitability of CRH neurons decreased after repeated stress in a time course that coincided with the development of HPA axis habituation. This intrinsic excitability plasticity co-developed with an expansion of surface membrane area, which increased a passive electric load and dampened membrane depolarization in response to the influx of positive charge. We report a novel structure–function relationship for intrinsic excitability plasticity as a neural correlate for HPA axis habituation. Abstract: Encountering a stressor immediately activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but this stereotypic stress response also undergoes experience-dependent adaptation. Despite the biological and clinical importance, how the brain adjusts stress responsiveness in the long term remains poorly understood. We studied hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons that form the apex of the HPA axis in a mouse model of stress habituation using repeated restraint. Using patch-clamp electrophysiology in acute slices, we found that the intrinsic excitability of these neurons substantially decreased after daily repeated stress in a time course that coincided with their loss of stress responsiveness in vivo. This intrinsic excitability plasticity co-developed with an expansion of surface membrane area, which increased a passive electric load, and dampened membrane depolarization in response to the influx of positive charge. Multiphoton imaging and electron microscopy revealed that repeated stress augmented ruffling of the plasma membrane, suggesting an ultrastructural plasticity that may efficiently accommodate the membrane area expansion. Overall, we report a novel structure–function relationship for intrinsic excitability plasticity as a neural correlate for adaptation of the neuroendocrine stress response

Cooperative Segmental Motions in Ethyl Acrylate/Triethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate Copolymer Networks Studied by Dielectric Techniques

The molecular dynamics of ethyl acrylate/triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EA/TrEGDMA) copolymer networks on the overall composition range were investigated thoroughly by employing dielectric techniques: thermally stimulated depolarization currents (TSDC) and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS). Furthermore, di¿erential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was performed in order to investigate the thermal glass transition of these copolymers. The results show that, for low content of the TrEGDMA component, the overall dielectric behavior of the copolymers is dictated by the dynamics of PEA component, exhibiting the ¿cop relaxation process which is strongly a¿ected by the TrEGDMA moieties becoming broader and shifting to higher temperatures with increasing cross-linker (TrEGDMA) content. For the copolymer networks rich in TrEGDMA (w TE g 40 wt %), the overall dielectric behavior indicates that the dynamics of the dimethacrylate component dominates, resembling that of poly(n-alkyl methacrylates) in the sense that the temperature dependence of molecular relaxation processes presents a merging region where the local relaxation process of TrEGDMA,ßPTE, merges with the more cooperative¿cop process of the copolymers into an¿ßcop locally cooperative relaxation process. By increasing the EA content, the strength of ¿cop relaxation process enhances and simultaneously the merging region shifts to lower temperatures. The cooperative motions are signi¿cantly suppressed in the copolymers with TrEGDMA contents higher that 80 wt %. The copolymers present enhanced spatial heterogeneity the more TrEGDMA content, whereas no dynamic heterogeneity was detected.A.T.S. thanks the Department of Physics, National Technical University of Athens, for the financial support of this work.Stathopoulos, AT.; Kyritsis, A.; Gallego Ferrer, G.; Gómez Ribelles, JL.; Christodoulides, C.; Pissis, P. (2011). Cooperative Segmental Motions in Ethyl Acrylate/Triethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate Copolymer Networks Studied by Dielectric Techniques. Macromolecules. 44:8233-8244. doi:10.1021/ma201755yS823382444