Simulated power spectral density (PSD) of background electrocorticogram (ECoG)

The ECoG background activity of cerebral cortex in states of rest and slow wave sleep resembles broadband noise. The power spectral density (PSD) then may often conform to a power-law distribution: a straight line in coordinates of log power vs. log frequency. The exponent, x, of the distribution, 1/f^x, ranges between 2 and 4. These findings are explained with a model of the neural source of the background activity in mutual excitation among pyramidal cells. The dendritic response of a population of interactive excitatory neurons to an impulse input is a rapid exponential rise and a slow exponential decay, which can be fitted with the sum of two exponential terms. When that function is convolved as the kernel with pulses from a Poisson process and summed, the resulting “brown” or “black noise conforms to the ECoG time series and the PSD in rest and sleep. The PSD slope is dependent on the rate of rise. The variation in the observed slope is attributed to variation in the level of the background activity that is homeostatically regulated by the refractory periods of the excitatory neurons. Departures in behavior from rest and sleep to action are accompanied by local peaks in the PSD, which manifest emergent nonrandom structure in the ECoG, and which prevent reliable estimation of the 1/f^x exponents in active states. We conclude that the resting ECoG truly is low-dimensional noise, and that the resting state is an optimal starting point for defining and measuring both artifactual and physiological structures emergent in the activated ECoG.     

侧脑室注射去甲肾上腺素及其拮抗剂对清醒家兔脑电活动的影响

经慢性埋藏导管给清醒家兔侧脑室分别注射去甲肾腺素及其拮抗剂——妥拉苏林、心得安后,记录皮层脑电图的改变。结果:注入去甲肾上腺素后,β波明显增多,δ、θ波不仅频率减少,波幅也显著降低,表现出皮层去同步化的激醒作用。相反注入妥拉苏林则出现δ、θ波明显增多,波幅增高的同步化现象;而注入心得安后对脑电波无明显的规律性的变化。当静脉注射氯丙嗪脑电波出现大慢波后,再由侧脑室注入去甲肾上腺素,则不再出现皮层的去同步化作用。提示去甲肾上腺素经中枢内的α受体对皮层有激醒作用,去甲肾上腺素可能是作用于脑干而引起皮层脑电变化的。     

A Spatial Map of Onset and Sustained Responses to Speech in the Human Superior Temporal Gyrus

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A review on directional information in neural signals for brain-machine interfaces

Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) can be characterized by the technique used to measure brain activity and by the way different brain signals are translated into commands that control an effector. We give an overview of different approaches and focus on a particular BMI approach: the movement of an artificial effector (e.g. arm prosthesis to the right) by those motor cortical signals that control the equivalent movement of a corresponding body part (e.g. arm movement to the right). This approach has been successfully applied in monkeys and humans by accurately extracting parameters of movements from the spiking activity of multiple single-units. Here, we review recent findings showing that analog neuronal population signals, ranging from intracortical local field potentials over epicortical ECoG to non-invasive EEG and MEG, can also be used to decode movement direction and continuous movement trajectories. Therefore, these signals might provide additional or alternative control for this BMI approach, with possible advantages due to reduced invasiveness.     

大鼠脑缺血皮层电图动态变化及神经节苷脂的保护作用

以阻断大脑中动脉制备大鼠脑缺血模型,构成右侧大脑皮层弥漫性缺血。部分大鼠术后即刻腹腔注射神经节苷脂。于脑缺血２－６ｈ间断记录额、中央、顶区皮层电图;经计算机采样、处理、分析各区波幅值。对左、右皮层各区皮层电图各波波幅差值率（％）进行组间相比。结果可见,脑缺血组缺血侧各区波幅在２－６ｈ均较非缺血侧为低。２ｈ以慢波（θ波）波幅降低显著,６ｈ波幅下降最明显,而以快波（β波）为重,尤以中央、顶区受损较重。脑缺血组与假手术组相应区域波幅差值率相比ｐ＜０．０５或０．０１。神经节苷脂组在２－６ｈ中央、顶区两侧波幅差值率与假手术组接近,４或６ｈ缺血侧α,β波波幅较非缺血侧为高。神经节苷脂组中央、顶区与脑缺血组相应区域波幅差值率比较,Ｐ＜０．０５或０．０１。用此法造模致脑缺血在２－６ｈ皮层电图具有明显改变,以中央、顶区为重,早期应用神经节苷脂有明显保护作用。     

Unifying and interpreting the spectral wavenumber content of EEGs, ECoGs, and ERPs

A biological model of corticothalamic dynamics is used to investigate the spatial power spectrum (wavenumber spectrum) of electrical activity in the brain. The model provides a single framework for unifying different aspects of activity. Comparisons of the predicted spectra with published electrocorticographic, electroencephalographic, and evoked response potential data enable physiology and anatomy to be inferred, producing results which are complementary to those obtained from comparisons in the frequency domain; the inferred quantities are consistent with, and complementary to, direct physiological and anatomical measurements. We also use the model to quantify the interdependence of the wavenumber and frequency domains, and deduce that further experiments that cover large wavenumber and frequency ranges simultaneously would greatly increase our knowledge of brain function. We conclude that both the frequency and wavenumber domains should be studied in order to build the fullest picture of brain dynamics: the two domains are both complementary and interdependent.     

齿状回突触后电位和群峰电位的负相关现象

考察大鼠静卧状态下,相同强度刺激信号作用于前穿质通道时,海马齿状回颗粒细胞诱发电场电位的兴奋性突触后电位EPSP和群峰电位PS之间的一种负相关变化关系,即EPSP斜率减小时,PS幅值增加。采用同时记录齿状回诱发电位和大脑皮层ECoG电位的方法,分析诱发电位各成份和ECoG功率谱密度之间的关系,可见ECoG出现低频高幅慢波时,与ECoG出现高频低幅快波时比较,齿状回诱发响应的PS幅值较大,而EPSP斜率较小。这可能是因为：中脑网状结构上行激励系统通过丘脑－皮层回路使ECoG去同步化（出现低幅快波ECoG）时,同时也通过另一途径,即隔－海马连接,激活了作用于齿状回颗粒细胞胞体的抑制性神经通路,使得颗粒细胞兴奋性降低,从而使反应动作电位总和的PS幅值减小。在麻醉剂乌拉坦作用下,EPSP和PS的负相关变化减小或消失。这种负相关现象对于研究海马的生理功能具有重要的意义。