Coyote predation control by aversive conditioning

Conditioned aversions were induced in coyotes by producing lithium chloride illness in them following a meal, and the effects upon eating and attack behavior were observed. One trial with a given meat and lithium is sufficient to establish a strong aversion which inhibits eating the flesh of that prey. One or two trials with a given flesh (lamb or rabbit) specifically suppresses the attack upon the averted prey but leaves the coyote free to attack the alternative prey. A method of saving both prey and predator is discussed.     

Operant conditioning of cortical unit activity

The activity of single neurons in precentral cortex of unanesthetized monkeys (Macaca mulatta) was conditioned by reinforcing high rates of neuronal discharge with delivery of a food pellet. Auditory or visual feedback of unit firing rates was usually provided in addition to food reinforcement. After several training sessions, monkeys could increase the activity of newly isolated cells by 50 to 500 percent above rates before reinforcement.     

Hippocampal unit activity during classical aversive and appetitive conditioning

Rats were trained with a tone being followed by either food or electric shock, on alternate days. Unit activity during application of the conditioned stimulus was recorded from the dorsal hippocampus. The results indicate differentiation of the hippocampal system. Dentate units respond by augmentation to a conditioned stimulus which leads to food and by inhibition to the same stimulus when it precedes electric shock. The hippocampus proper responds by augmentation in both situations. The intensity of the hippocampal response to the conditioned stimulus on the first day of training is higher if the unconditioned stimulus is food than if it is electric shock. These data cast light on the functions of the dorsal dentate-hippocampal connections and the hippocampus proper during aversive and appetitive conditioning.     

Operant conditioning of specific patterns of neural and muscular activity

In awake monkeys we recorded activity of single "motor" cortex cells, four contralateral arm muscles, and elbow position, while operantly reinforcing several patterns of motor activity. With the monkey's arm held semiprone in a cast hinged at the elbow, we reinforced active elbow movements and tested cell responses to passive elbow movements. With the cast immobilized we reinforced isometric contraction of each of the four muscles in isolation, and bursts of cortical cell activity with and without simultaneous suppression of muscle activity. Correlations between a precentral cell and specific arm muscles consistently appeared under several behavioral conditions, but could be dissociated by reinforcing cell activity and muscle suppression.     

Taste-aversion conditioning of crows to control predation on eggs

Free-ranging crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) that ate chicken eggs that were painted green and contained a nonlethal toxin subsequently avoided green eggs at various locations, whether or not they contained toxin. The crows also continued to eat unpainted and nontoxic chicken eggs. Illness-induced aversions among predators in nature may be a powerful determiner of the evolution of Batesian mimicry and, in human hands, serve as a practical tool for wildlife ecologists.     

Local retinal regions control local eye growth and myopia

In chicks, visual deprivation leads to myopia and enlargement of the vitreous chamber of the eye. When chicks were raised with white translucent occluders over their eyes so that either the nasal half, the temporal half, or all of the retina was visually deprived, the resulting myopia (median = -15 diopters) was limited to the deprived part of the retina, regardless of which half of the retina was visually deprived; the nondeprived part remained nearly emmetropic. Correspondingly, the vitreous chamber was elongated only in the region of the visual deprivation, resulting in eyes with different asymmetric shapes depending on which retinal region was deprived. These results argue for a local regulation of ocular growth that is dependent on vision and suggest a hypothesis to explain the epidemiological association of myopia in humans with large amounts of reading. Because most nonfoveal retinal neurons have large receptive fields, they cannot resolve the individual letters on the printed page; this may lead to their activity being less during reading than during most other forms of visual stimulation. Thus, the impoverished stimulus situation of reading may lead to myopia, as do other types of visual form deprivation.     

一类加权有理插值样条曲面及局部约束控制

目的 构造一类新的基于函数值与偏导数值的加权有理插值样条曲面,讨论该样条曲面的相关性质并分析曲面的局部约束控制。方法 一方面,先从x方向构造有理三次插值样条,再从y方向构造二元有理插值样条曲面;另一方面,按相反次序构造另一个二元有理插值样条曲面;最后将两种插值曲面加权得到一类新的有理插值样条曲面。结果 讨论插值曲面的性质,包括基函数、边界性质、积分加权系数的性质以及误差估计。通过选择合适的参数和加权系数,在不改变插值数据的前提下实现对插值区域内的局部约束控制。结论 实验结果表明,新的加权有理插值样条曲面具有良好的约束控制性质。     

Cell type-specific loss of BDNF signaling mimics optogenetic control of cocaine reward

The nucleus accumbens is a key mediator of cocaine reward, but the distinct roles of the two subpopulations of nucleus accumbens projection neurons, those expressing dopamine D1 versus D2 receptors, are poorly understood. We show that deletion of TrkB, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptor, selectively from D1+ or D2+ neurons oppositely affects cocaine reward. Because loss of TrkB in D2+ neurons increases their neuronal excitability, we next used optogenetic tools to control selectively the firing rate of D1+ and D2+ nucleus accumbens neurons and studied consequent effects on cocaine reward. Activation of D2+ neurons, mimicking the loss of TrkB, suppresses cocaine reward, with opposite effects induced by activation of D1+ neurons. These results provide insight into the molecular control of D1+ and D2+ neuronal activity as well as the circuit-level contribution of these cell types to cocaine reward.     

Facilitation of spindle-burst sleep by conditioning of electroencephalographic activity while awake

A slow-wave electroencephalographic rhythm recorded from the sensorimotor cortex of the waking cat has been correlated behaviorally with the suppression of movement. Facilitation of this rhythm through conditioning selectively enhances a similar pattern recorded during sleep, the familiar spindle burst. The training also produced longer epochs of undisturbed sleep. The specific neural mechanism manipulated during wakefulness appears to function also in sleep and to be involved with the regulation of phasic motor behavior.     

Single unit activity of anterior hypothalamus during local heating

There are heat-sensitive units in the anterior hypothalamus which respond with an increase of discharge frequency to a rise in hypothalamic temperature of less than 1 degrees C. The increase of unit discharge occurred in advance of the onset of polypnea , and the unit has little phasic response or after discharge, and shows little adaptation.     

液体发酵局域环境温度的智能控制系统

研制了一种基于数字温度传感器DS1621的液体发酵局域环境温度智能控制系统，介绍了其工作原理、硬件设计及软件工作流程．     

Clonal production and organization of inhibitory interneurons in the neocortex

The neocortex contains excitatory neurons and inhibitory interneurons. Clones of neocortical excitatory neurons originating from the same progenitor cell are spatially organized and contribute to the formation of functional microcircuits. In contrast, relatively little is known about the production and organization of neocortical inhibitory interneurons. We found that neocortical inhibitory interneurons were produced as spatially organized clonal units in the developing ventral telencephalon. Furthermore, clonally related interneurons did not randomly disperse but formed spatially isolated clusters in the neocortex. Individual clonal clusters consisting of interneurons expressing the same or distinct neurochemical markers exhibited clear vertical or horizontal organization. These results suggest that the lineage relationship plays a pivotal role in the organization of inhibitory interneurons in the neocortex.     

Sorting of striatal and cortical interneurons regulated by semaphorin-neuropilin interactions

Most striatal and cortical interneurons arise from the basal telencephalon, later segregating to their respective targets. Here, we show that migrating cortical interneurons avoid entering the striatum because of a chemorepulsive signal composed at least in part of semaphorin 3A and semaphorin 3F. Migrating interneurons expressing neuropilins, receptors for semaphorins, are directed to the cortex; those lacking them go to the striatum. Loss of neuropilin function increases the number of interneurons that migrate into the striatum. These observations reveal a mechanism by which neuropilins mediate sorting of distinct neuronal populations into different brain structures, and provide evidence that, in addition to guiding axons, these receptors also control neuronal migration in the central nervous system.     

Identified interneurons produce both primary afferent depolarization and presynaptic inhibition

Crayfish interneurons were identified that appear to be directly responsible for presynaptic inhibition of primary afferent synapses during crayfish escape behavior. The interneurons are fired by a polysynaptic pathway triggered by the giant escape command axons. When directly stimulated, these interneurons produce short-latency, chloride-dependent primary afferent depolarizations and presynaptically inhibit primary afferent input to mechanosensory interneurons.     

基于单片机的直流数控电压源设计

介绍了一款以MCU-51系列单片机为控制单元实现对电源电路输出电压控制的简易直流数控电压源设计方案。该方案通过MCU-51控制D/A的输出电压的大小,MCU-51按键设置输出电压数值,并送D/A转换器。D/A输出与参考电压比较后送出控制信号以调整稳压电源输出电压的大小,同时送数显系统进行显示。     

Role of EphA4 and EphrinB3 in local neuronal circuits that control walking

Local circuits in the spinal cord that generate locomotion are termed central pattern generators (CPGs). These provide coordinated bilateral control over the normal limb alternation that underlies walking. The molecules that organize the mammalian CPG are unknown. Isolated spinal cords from mice lacking either the EphA4 receptor or its ligand ephrinB3 have lost left-right limb alternation and instead exhibit synchrony. We identified EphA4-positive neurons as an excitatory component of the locomotor CPG. Our study shows that dramatic locomotor changes can occur as a consequence of local genetic rewiring and identifies genes required for the development of normal locomotor behavior.     

Stimulus polarity and conditioning in planaria

Orientation in the monopolar pulse field used as the unconditioned stimulus was found to influence formation of a conditioned response to light in planarians. Planarians trained while oriented with the head toward the cathode reached maximal response rates rapidly, while those trained while oriented toward the anode showed no evidence of conditioned response formation.