Awake hippocampal sharp-wave ripples support spatial memory

The hippocampus is critical for spatial learning and memory. Hippocampal neurons in awake animals exhibit place field activity that encodes current location, as well as sharp-wave ripple (SWR) activity during which representations based on past experiences are often replayed. The relationship between these patterns of activity and the memory functions of the hippocampus is poorly understood. We interrupted awake SWRs in animals learning a spatial alternation task. We observed a specific learning and performance deficit that persisted throughout training. This deficit was associated with awake SWR activity, as SWR interruption left place field activity and post-experience SWR reactivation intact. These results provide a link between awake SWRs and hippocampal memory processes, which suggests that awake replay of memory-related information during SWRs supports learning and memory-guided decision-making.     

Independent codes for spatial and episodic memory in hippocampal neuronal ensembles

Hippocampal neurons were recorded under conditions in which the recording chamber was varied but its location remained unchanged versus conditions in which an identical chamber was encountered in different places. Two forms of neuronal pattern separation occurred. In the variable cue-constant place condition, the firing rates of active cells varied, often over more than an order of magnitude, whereas the location of firing remained constant. In the variable place-constant cue condition, both location and rates changed, so that population vectors for a given location in the chamber were statistically independent. These independent encoding schemes may enable simultaneous representation of spatial and episodic memory information.     

Loss of hippocampal theta rhythm results in spatial memory deficit in the rat

Rats learned, using distal room cues, to run to a goal on an elevated, circular track starting from any position on the track. The goal was one of eight equidistant, recessed cups set around the track, the goal cup being distinguished from the others solely by its position in the room. After learning, electrolytic lesions were made in the medial septal nucleus eliminating hippocampal theta rhythm in some animals but not in others. Rats without theta rhythm were no longer able to perform the spatial task, whereas rats with undisturbed theta rhythm retrained normal performance. Although rats without theta rhythm could not find their way directly to the goal, they recognized its location when they came upon it by chance. This type of spatial deficit appears similar to that shown by hippocampally lesioned patient H.M. Subsequent tests demonstrated that rats deprived of theta rhythm before training could nevertheless learn the task.     

GABA免疫阳性神经元在三黄鸡小脑内的分布

为探明三黄鸡小脑皮质各层的细胞构筑和GABA免疫反应神经元在其小脑内的分布情况,采用尼氏染色和免疫组织化学SABC技术,对10羽三黄鸡的小脑进行了研究。研究发现:三黄鸡小脑皮质各层的细胞构筑与北京鸭、乌鸡、鸽子和非洲鸵鸟的大体相似;GABA免疫阳性细胞位于小脑皮质的蒲肯野细胞层中,阳性较明显;小脑中央核也有大量阳性神经元,多数呈梭形或不规则多边形,多数神经元胞质呈强阳性染色。以上结果表明:GABA阳性神经元在三黄鸡小脑皮质各层均有分布,GABA可能在介导小脑复杂功能中发挥重要作用。     

How bees remember flower shapes

Bees are able to learn to distinguish between flowers with different shapes or patterns. Some studies have suggested that bees remember only isolated features such as spatial frequency and line angles, rather than the photographic search images that are characteristic of vertebrates. New data indicate that this presumptive vertebrate-invertebrate dichotomy is false; bees can store flower patterns as a low-resolution eidetic image or photograph.     

Cerebellum activation associated with performance change but not motor learning

The issue of whether the cerebellum contributes to motor skill learning is controversial, principally because of the difficulty of separating the effects of motor learning from changes in performance. We performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation during an implicit, motor sequence-learning task that was designed to separate these two processes. During the sequence-encoding phase, human participants performed a concurrent distractor task that served to suppress the performance changes associated with learning. Upon removal of the distractor, participants showed evidence of having learned. No cerebellar activation was associated with the learning phase, despite extensive involvement of other cortical and subcortical regions. There was, however, significant cerebellar activation during the expression of learning; thus, the cerebellum does not contribute to learning of the motor skill itself but is engaged primarily in the modification of performance.     

The Effect of Tryptophan on Serotonin-Like Neurons in Duck Cerebellum

Healthy Cherry Valley ducks were used in the present study. Different doses of tryptophan were injected intraperitoneally to them after being fasted 4 h （8：00 a.m.-12：00 a.m.）. One hour later, they were deeply anaesthetized and perfused. The cerebellum was removed to make serial paraffin longitudinal sections. The streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase complex （SABC） method was used to study the distribution of serotonin-like neurons in the cerebellum. All films were analysed by using a computer-assisted image analysis system. Serotonin-like neurons are only localized in cerebellar Purkinje cell layer. The optical density averages of serotonin-like neurons in 200 and 100 mg kg^-1 group are significantly higher than that of 0 mg kg^-1 group （P〈0.01）. These results show that serotonin-like neurons are distributed in Purkinje cell layer and that excessive tryptophan can affect the content of serotonin in cerebellum.     

Reading a neural code

Traditional approaches to neural coding characterize the encoding of known stimuli in average neural responses. Organisms face nearly the opposite task--extracting information about an unknown time-dependent stimulus from short segments of a spike train. Here the neural code was characterized from the point of view of the organism, culminating in algorithms for real-time stimulus estimation based on a single example of the spike train. These methods were applied to an identified movement-sensitive neuron in the fly visual system. Such decoding experiments determined the effective noise level and fault tolerance of neural computation, and the structure of the decoding algorithms suggested a simple model for real-time analog signal processing with spiking neurons.     

桃不同树形光合特性的研究

【目的】研究不同树形对桃树光合特性的影响。【方法】以6年生桃品种‘甜桃王’为试材,于2007年6~10月份,对开心形和纺锤形2种树形桃树的相关光合特性指标进行了测定,分析了不同树形光合特性的差异。【结果】(1)开心形和纺锤形桃树叶片光合速率的年变化均呈单峰型曲线,且峰值均出现在9月;同一月内,开心形桃树与纺锤形桃树的光合速率无显著差异。(2)开心形和纺锤形桃树的光合速率和光合有效辐射日变化均呈双峰曲线,峰值均出现在11:00和15:00;13:00时开心形桃树的光合速率显著高于纺锤形,其他时间二者间无显著差异;同一时间内纺锤形桃树的光合有效辐射始终显著高于开心形。(3)开心形和纺锤形桃树不同叶幕层的光合速率和光合有效辐射日变化均呈双峰曲线,且在同一时间内,两种树形上层、中层叶幕的光合速率均显著高于下层叶幕。(4)开心形和纺锤形桃树的冠层温度差异不显著,纺锤形树形冠层内的相对湿度均显著高于开心形。【结论】建议在桃树栽培中采用纺锤形树形,其可以在不影响对光能合理利用的条件下提高栽植密度、增加产量和经济效益。     

An expanded eukaryotic genetic code

We describe a general and rapid route for the addition of unnatural amino acids to the genetic code of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Five amino acids have been incorporated into proteins efficiently and with high fidelity in response to the nonsense codon TAG. The side chains of these amino acids contain a keto group, which can be uniquely modified in vitro and in vivo with a wide range of chemical probes and reagents; a heavy atom-containing amino acid for structural studies; and photocrosslinkers for cellular studies of protein interactions. This methodology not only removes the constraints imposed by the genetic code on our ability to manipulate protein structure and function in yeast, it provides a gateway to the systematic expansion of the genetic codes of multicellular eukaryotes.