Electrical potentials of the vagal and sympathetic pathways of the stomach during elaboration of conditioned reflexes]

In chronic experiments on dogs discharges were recorded in efferent fibers of the vagal and splanchnic nerves and gastric branches of the solar plexus in the form of slow low-voltage and rapid high-voltage potentials. Alimentary conditioning to a previously indifferent stimulus produced a clear efferent reaction expressed in an increased number of oscillations. The magnitude of efferent electrical responses in all the examined structures is dissimilar and depends on the nerve nature (sympathetic or parasympathetic). The greatest electric reactions occur in the vagal gastric pathways.     

Pinealocyte functioning in stress during daytime in rats

Several types of unit activity were detected in the rat pineal gland during a 48-hour water and food deprivation. The unit activity rate in stress was higher by 4-6 times than in intact rats (due to an increase in the "fast" cells number and switching of some cells from regular to a burst type of activity). Electrical stimulation of olfactory epithelium decreased the unit activity rate in the most active pinealocytes. The daytime increase in the pineal electrical activity reflects an intensification of secretion of the protein/peptide substances and, probably, serotonin but not the melatonin. Blocking exocytosis with colchicin revealed a close relation of the pinealocytes secretion with their electrical activity. Existence of central (olfactory in particular) mechanisms limiting the pineal activation, was shown.     

Regulation of respiration: visceral and behavioural components

The review segregates two aspects of respiration regulation: autonomous respiration regulation as a visceral function ensuring metabolic needs of a body by maintaining stability of own respiratory environment, on the one hand, and behavioural regulation of respiration under control of the volitional sphere, on the other hand. The authors focus on respiratory rythmogenesis, the problem that has not yet been resolved, and on the mechanism of precise correlation of lung ventillation with the metabolic level, in case of muscular exercise, in particular. The authors discuss interaction of visceral and behavioural mechanisms of respiratory regulation. The substance of the phenomenon of respiratory embarrassment is considered in this connection as a visceral signal addressed to the behavioural sphere. Reasonableness of introduction of a new breathing system in a healthy person is doubted. The article justifies the pracice of bioregulation of the respiratory function.     

A view of the cardiac rhythm control: Intrinsic regulation

Regulation of the cardiac rhythm is intricate and occurs at least at two major levels, intrinsic and extrinsic. In turn, each of these levels can be divided into several sublevels. The factors regulating the cardiac activity eventually affect the duration of spontaneous diastolic depolarization of pacemaker myocytes of the sinoatrial node and, to a far lesser extent, the conduction velocity in the conduction system of the heart. Intrinsic regulation of the heart rate (HR) includes the myogenic sublevel and the sublevels of cell-to-cell communication, the cardiac nervous system, and humoral factors produced within the heart. Myogenic regulation is considered to be the first sublevel in control of the cardiac function. The available data suggest myogenic regulation only for the contractility of the myocardium. The cell-to-cell regulation sublevel involves two principal mechanisms. One depends on the heterogeneous structure of the sinoatrial node and within-node shifts of the dominant pacemaker, which is a group of cells that determine the HR and govern all other cells of the sinoatrial node. The other mechanism is based on the effects of peptides produced by cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells on pacemaker cells of the sinoatrial node. Regulatory peptides are also produced by the cardiac nervous system, which includes sensory and effector autonomic fibers, represents the cardiac part of the metasympathetic system, and forms intramural ganglia. In addition to modulating the HR, these peptides affect the contractility, microcirculation, coronary blood flow, preload, and afterload. Currently available data demonstrate that the autonomic nervous system is far more intricate than believed earlier. Using various neuropeptides, this system provides for fine adjustment of the cell functions, subject to its immediate control.Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2005, pp. 116–129.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Nozdrachev, Kotelnikov, Mazhara, Naumov.Deceased.