Neuronal codes for arithmetic rule processing in the human brain

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Categorical representation of abstract spatial magnitudes in the executive telencephalon of crows

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Discrimination and production of disparlure enantiomers by the gypsy moth and the nun moth

ABSTRACT. Two odour receptor cells were physiologically identified within male antennal hair sensillae of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L, and the nun moth, L. monacha L. In the gypsy moth, one cell responded to (+)-disparlure, while a neighbouring cell responded to (-)-disparlure. In the nun moth both cells responded to (+)-disparlure. The lack of sensitivity to (-)-disparlure in the nun moth was corroborated by electroantennogram (EAG) recordings, which indicated no affinity to this enantiomer. Single cell responses of male gypsy moth to different concentrations of the synthetic enantiomers of disparlure were then compared to responses elicited by hexane extracts of female glands of both species. The gypsy moth's extracts stimulated almost exclusively the receptor cell specialized for (+)-disparlure, while both cells were simultaneously stimulated by the extracts of the nun moths. From the response characteristic of the cells it is estimated that pheromone production of the nun moth is about 10% (+) and 90% (-)-disparlure, and that of the gypsy moth is almost 100% (+)-disparlure. Stimulation of the antenna of each species by female gland extracts of both species did not indicate the presence of receptors for other hexane elutable pheromone components in either species.     

Parametric inference of neuronal response latency in presence of a background signal

Neurons are commonly characterized by spontaneous generation of action potentials (spikes), which appear without any apparent or controlled stimulation. When a stimulus is applied, the spontaneous firing may prevail and hamper identification of the effect of the stimulus. Therefore, for any rigorous analysis of evoked neuronal activity, the presence of spontaneous firing has to be taken into account. If the background signal is ignored, however small it is compared to the response activity, and however large is the delay, estimation of the response latency will be wrong, and the error will persist even when sample size is increasing. The first question is: what is the response latency to the stimulus? Answering this question becomes even more difficult if the latency is of a complex nature, for example composed of a physically implied deterministic part and a stochastic part. This scenario is considered here, where the response time is a sum of two components; the delay and the relative latency. Parametric estimators for the time delay and the response latency are derived. These estimators are evaluated on simulated data and their properties are discussed. Finally, we show that the mean of the response latency is always satisfactorily estimated, even assuming a wrong distribution for the response latency.     

Fast combinatorial methods to estimate the probability of complex temporal patterns of spikes

 This study presents two efficient algorithms – combinatorial and probabilistic combinatorial methods (CM and PCM) – for estimation of a number of precise patterns of discharges that occur by chance in records of multiple single-unit spike trains. The confidence limits estimated by these methods are in good agreement with different sets of simulated test data as well as with the ad-hoc method. Both combinatorial methods provided a better accuracy than the bootstrap algorithm and in most cases of nonstationary data PCM provided better estimations than the ad-hoc method. Introduction of a jitter for searching patterns with a precision of a few milliseconds and burst filtering may introduce biases in the estimations. Comparison of a new filtering procedure based upon a filtering frequency with previously described schemes of filtering indicates the possibility of using a simple setting which remains accurate over a wide range of parameters. We aim to implement a combination of PCM for estimations of the number of patterns formed by three to seven spikes and CM for higher-order complexities for estimations during experiments in progress. Received: 12 June 1995 / Accepted in revised form: 5 February 1997     

Searching for cell assemblies: How many electrodes do I need?

Two methods were derived to estimate the probability of recording cell assemblies using multiple simultaneous electrode recordings. The derivations are independent of the definition of a cell assembly, and require only a statistic for evaluating cell assembly membership from spike train data. The resulting equations are functions of 1) the size of the search area, 2) the smallest expected assembly size, 3) the number of recorded neurons, and 4) the predicted spatial distribution of assembly neurons. The equations can be used to estimate the following three quantities. First, the equations directly calculate the probability of detecting i or more cells of an hypothesized assembly. Second, by making several such calculations, one can estimate when sufficient sampling has been performed to claim, at any desired confidence level, that a posited type of cell assembly does not exist. Third, the probability of detecting one out of several active assemblies can be calculated, given assumptions about assembly-assembly interactions.     

Identification of oviposition attractants for the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) in volatiles of faeces from vertebrates

Abstract. Extracts of volatiles from rabbit and chicken faeces preferentially attracted gravid sandflies, Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva), in an oviposition bioassay. In electrophysiology experiments, the same extracts selectively stimulated two olfactory cells while inhibiting another in ascoid sensilla on the antennae of these flies. Analysis of faeces volatiles by gas chromatography linked to ascoid sensillum recording revealed two early eluting electrophysiologically active components of rabbit faeces. These active compounds were identified in both rabbit and chicken faeces volatile extracts by gas chromatography -mass spectrometry as hexanal and 2-methyl-2-butanol. Hexanal stimulated one cell type and inhibited another, whereas 2-methyl-2-butanol stimulated a third cell type. A 1:l mixture of synthetic hexanal and 2-methyl-2-butanol elicited the same targeted oviposition response from gravid females on the treatment septum of the bioassay as did the total volatile extract of rabbit or chicken faeces.
The monoterpenes α(+)-pinene (plus some optical and positional isomers) and a-terpinene activated a separate cell type, whereas benzaldehyde stimulated the same receptor as hexanal, but with a higher threshold. Furthermore, an olfactory cell selectively tuned to the perception of the male sex pheromone of this species was also found in the ascoid sensillum.     

Detecting tropical nocturnal birds using automated audio recordings

ABSTRACT Nocturnal bird assemblages are poorly known in most tropical locations, and information about their presence and behavior is often limited to the results of dawn or dusk surveys. We investigated the use of manual‐ and automatic‐detection methods to identify nocturnal birds in acoustic recordings made at Soberania National Park, Republic of Panama. Five nocturnal species were detected in dusk recordings, and a sixth species (Great Potoo, Nyctibius grandis) was detected only after dark. Automatic data template detectors (DTD's) were developed and used to detect Crested Owls (Lophostrix cristata), Black‐and‐White Owls (Ciccaba nigrolineata), Vermiculated Screech‐Owls (Megasops guatemalae), and Great Potoos. Manual analysis of 300 h of overnight recordings allowed us to quantify DTD performance. Sensitivity, the proportion of known calls of target species identified by DTDs, ranged from 0.17 for Black‐and‐White Owls to 0.79 for Vermiculated Screech‐Owls. Positive predictive value, the proportion of detected sounds that corresponded to the target species, ranged from 0.39 for Black‐and‐White Owls to 0.60 for Crested Owls. Our results demonstrate that a combination of manual and automated analysis of audio recordings can provide a verifiable, systematic method to determine the presence of nocturnal birds in tropical forests, investigate temporal activity, and calculate detection probability.     

Neuroscience and the Art of Single Cell Recordings

This article examines how scientists move from physical measurementsto actual observation of single-cell recordings in the brain. We highlight how easy it is to change the fundamental nature of ourobservations using accepted methodological techniques for manipulatingraw data. Collecting single-cell data is thoroughly pragmatic. Weconclude that there is no deep or interesting difference betweenaccounting for observations by measurements and accounting forobservations by theories.