scholarly journals Adaptation and cross-adaptation to odor stimulation of olfactory receptors in the tiger salamander.

1979 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Baylin ◽  
D G Moulton

We have used the effects of self- and cross-adaptation on the unitary responses of olfactory receptors of the tiger salamander to odor stimulation to investigate the stimulus-specific components of these responses and to provide information about the cross-cell variations in the numbers and numbers of types of constitutent receptive sites. An olfactometer delivered sequential odorous pulses, either juxtaposed or separated by a variable time delay. We used four pairs of odorants judged to be similar within a given pair. The unitary response to the test stimulation relative to that of the conditioning stimulation varied from being unchanged to being completely eliminated. We sometimes observed substantial poststimulus increases in the firing rate following stimulation with juxtaposed odorous pulse. Except in the case of one odorant pair, cross-adaptation occurred both with juxtaposed pulses and with pulses separated in time. With the methyl butyrate/ethyl butyrate odorant pair, however, statistically significant cross-adaptation appeared only with juxtaposed pulses. We propose a simple model to aid in explaining these phenomena. The experimental observations in conjunction with this model are used to obtain estimates of the maximal and minimal number of receptive site types available for interaction with the chosen odorants.

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 2944-2955 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. V. Nguyen ◽  
H. L. Atwood

1. Crayfish phasic motor synapses produce large initial excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) that fatigue rapidly during high-frequency stimulation. Periodic in vivo stimulation of an identified phasic abdominal extensor motor neuron (axon 3) induced long-term adaptation (LTA) of neuromuscular transmission: initial EPSP amplitude became smaller and synaptic depression was significantly reduced. We tested the hypothesis that activity-induced synaptic fatigue-resistance seen during LTA was dependent upon, or correlated with, mitochondrial oxidative competence. 2. Periodic unilateral conditioning stimulation of axon 3 entering each of two adjacent homologous abdominal segments (segments 2 and 3) increased the synaptic stamina in both "conditioned" axons; mean final EPSP amplitudes, recorded after 20 min of 5-Hz test stimulation, were significantly larger than those measured with the same protocol from contralateral unstimulated axons. 3. During 5-Hz test stimulation of the conditioned axon 3 of segment 3, acute superfusion with 0.8 mM dinitrophenol or 20 mM sodium azide [inhibitors of oxidative adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) synthesis] produced increased synaptic depression. Drug-free saline superfusion of the conditioned axon 3 of segment 2 in these same animals did not affect the increased synaptic fatigue resistance seen in this segment. Thus both successful induction (in axon 3 of saline-perfused segment 2) and attenuation (in axon 3 of drug-perfused segment 3) of the increased synaptic stamina can be demonstrated with this twin-segment conditioning protocol. 4. Confocal microscopic imaging of mitochondrial rhodamine-123 (Rh123) fluorescence was used to assess relative oxidative competence of conditioned and unconditioned phasic axons. Conditioned phasic axons showed significantly higher mean mitochondrial Rh123 fluorescence than contralateral unstimulated axons. In the same preparations that showed increased postconditioning Rh123 fluorescence, the synaptic fatigue resistance measured from conditioned axon 3 was also significantly greater than that recorded from contralateral unstimulated axon 3. 5. Axotomy of the phasic extensor nerve root (containing axon 3), before in vivo conditioning stimulation of its decentralized segment, prevented induction of both the increased synaptic stamina in axon 3 and the enhanced mitochondrial fluorescence in decentralized motor axons of the nerve root. Hence, induction of both changes requires axonal transport of materials between the soma and the motor synapses of axon 3. 5. Axotomy of the phasic extensor nerve root (containing axon 3), before in vivo conditioning stimulation of its decentralized segment, Prevented induction of both the increased synaptic stamina in axon 3 and the enhanced mitochondrial fluorescence in decentralized motor axons of the nerve root Hence, induction of both changes requires axonal transport of materials between the soma and the motor synapses of axon 3 6. Because mitochondrial Rh123 fluorescence is primarily dependent upon the oxidative activity of these organelles, our findings suggest that conditioning stimulation of phasic extensor axon 3 increases its mitochondrial oxidative competence and that the enhanced synaptic stamina seen during LTA in axon 3 is correlated with, and dependent upon, oxidative activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Komatsu ◽  
S. Nakajima ◽  
K. Toyama

1. Intracellular recording was made from layer II-III cells in slice preparations of kitten (30-40 days old) visual cortex. Low-frequency (0.1 Hz) stimulation of white matter (WM) usually evoked an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) followed by an inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) showed strong dependence on stimulus frequency. Early component of EPSP and IPSP evoked by weak stimulation both decreased monotonically at frequencies greater than 0.5-1 Hz. Strong stimulation similarly depressed the early EPSP at higher frequencies (greater than 2 Hz) and replaced the IPSP with a late EPSP, which had a maximum amplitude in the stimulus frequency range of 2-5 Hz. 2. Very weak WM stimulation sometimes evoked EPSPs in isolation from IPSPs. The falling phase of the EPSP revealed voltage dependence characteristic to the responses mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and was depressed by application of an NMDA antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), whereas the rising phase of the EPSP was insensitive to APV. 3. The early EPSPs followed by IPSPs were insensitive to APV but were replaced with a slow depolarizing potential by application of a non-NMDA antagonist 6,7-dinitro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), indicating that the early EPSP is mediated by non-NMDA receptors. The slow depolarization was mediated by NMDA receptors because it was depressed by membrane hyperpolarization or addition of APV. 4. The late EPSP evoked by higher-frequency stimulation was abolished by APV, indicating that it is mediated by NMDA receptors, which are located either on the recorded cell or on presynaptic cells to the recorded cells. 5. Long-term potentiation (LTP) of EPSPs was examined in cells perfused with solutions containing 1 microM bicuculline methiodide (BIM), a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist. WM was stimulated at 2 Hz for 15 min as a conditioning stimulus to induce LTP, and the resultant changes were tested by low-frequency (0.1 Hz) stimulation of WM. 6. LTP of early EPSPs occurred in more than one-half of the cells (8/13) after strong conditioning stimulation. The rising slope of the EPSP was increased 1.6 times on average. 7. To test involvement of NMDA receptors in the induction of LTP in the early EPSP, the effect of conditioning stimulation was studied in a solution containing 100 microM APV, which was sufficient to block completely synaptic transmission mediated by NMDA receptors. LTP occurred in the same frequency and magnitude as in control solution.


1985 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1383-1395 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Gregory ◽  
D. L. Morgan ◽  
U. Proske

A continuing controversy surrounds the question of whether Golgi tendon organs are examples of receptors in which impulses may be generated at more than one site. This paper reports a systematic examination of a number of models incorporating single or multiple impulse generators and of the compatibility of their predictions with experimental observations. Two phenomena, in particular, that must be accounted for are nonlinear summation and cross-adaptation. When two motor units each with a direct effect on the tendon organ are stimulated together, the rate of discharge is greater than either individual rate but is less than their sum. In cross-adaptation a conditioning response elicited by one motor unit contraction produces adaptation of the discharge associated with stimulation of a second motor unit. A model with a central impulse generator can be modified to account for nonlinear summation by postulating a nonlinear transformation in the generator current-to-impulse rate conversion. Experiments measuring summation of responses to stimulation of three inputs produced results that did not support this model. Another variation of the model, which had a nonlinearity in the tension-to-current step and cross-connections (mechanical or neural) between tendon strands stressed by contracting muscle fibers, was able to account for the observations. A second model that provided the right predictions was a multiple impulse generator with cross-connections. Which of the two models best fits the experimental observations can be decided by comparing the calculated summation coefficients and cross-adaptation coefficients. A central impulse generator predicts a negative correlation, the multiple impulse generator a positive correlation. All of the observations were made using tendon organs of cat soleus muscle. Responses were recorded to stimulation of filaments of ventral root. In a comparison between 20 pairs of responses from six tendon organs the correlation between summation and cross-adaptation coefficients was found to be significantly positive. We conclude that the tendon organ model that accurately predicts all of the experimental observations incorporates multiple generators.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 850-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Radan Čapek ◽  
Barbara Esplin

Effects of taurine and homotaurine (3-aminopropancsuIfonic acid), on excitability of primary afferents were compared with effects of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in spinal unanaesthesized cats. Homotaurine and GABA, administered intravenously or topically, produced a marked increase in afferent excitability. Homotaurine was about 10 times more potent than GABA. Taurine (up to 2 mmol/kg i.v., or 10 mM topically) did not produce a consistent change in afferent excitability. The effect of homotaurine was antagonized by bicuculline or picrotoxin in doses which suppressed the primary afferent depolarization, as indicated by an increase of afferent excitability, evoked by conditioning stimulation of an antagonistic muscle nerve. Semicarbazidc, an inhibitor of GABA synthesis, did not attenuate the homotaurine-induced excitability changes of afferents while suppressing entirely the primary afferent depolarization. These findings suggest that homotaurine exerts a direct GABA-like action on feline primary afferents.


1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 2430-2445 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Y. Chiang ◽  
J. W. Hu ◽  
B. J. Sessle

1. The aim of this study was to test whether parabrachial area (PBA) stimulation exerts inhibitory influences on the spontaneous activity and responses evoked by skin and deep afferent inputs in trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) neurons, and to compare these effects with those of nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) stimulation. A total of 92 nonnociceptive and nociceptive Vc neurons was recorded in urethan/alpha-chloralose-anesthetized rats. Each neuron was functionally classified as low-threshold mechanoceptive (LTM), wide dynamic range (WDR), nociceptive-specific (NS), nociceptive convergent with both skin and deep inputs (S+D), or deep nociceptive (D); the LTM neurons could be subdivided as rapidly adapting (RA) or slowly adapting (SA). Conditioning stimulation was applied to histologically verified sites in PBA and NRM. 2. The spontaneous or evoked activity of all classes of neurons could be inhibited by PBA as well as by NRM stimulation, but generally the incidence and magnitude of inhibition were lower for the LTM neurons. Occasionally, facilitation of neuronal activity was also produced by PBA and NRM stimulation. 3. The spontaneous activity of 11 LTM neurons (6 RA, 5 SA), 13 nociceptive neurons (6 WDR, 7 NS), and 5 D neurons was tested with stimulation of PBA or NRM or both. LTM spontaneous activity was more significantly inhibited by NRM stimulation than by PBA stimulation, whereas both NRM and PBA stimulation had similar and significant inhibitory effects on NS, WDR, and D neurons. 4. The evoked nonnociceptive responses of 28 LTM neurons (16 RA, 12 SA) and of 6 WDR neurons were also tested with stimulation of PBA or NRM or both. The magnitudes of inhibition of the responses produced by PBA conditioning stimulation were statistically significantly less than those induced by NRM conditioning stimulation. 5. The cutaneous and deep nociceptive responses of cutaneous nociceptive neurons (9 NS, 19 WDR) and seven D neurons, respectively, were also tested with PBA and NRM stimulation. There was a significant difference in potency between PBA- and NRM-induced inhibition, but no difference in the magnitude of inhibitory effects among NS, WDR, and D neurons. For both PBA and NRM conditioning stimulation, graded increases in intensities of stimulation produced linear increases in inhibitory effects on nociceptive responses; an increase in stimulation frequency from 5 to 400 Hz also produced increases in inhibition of the nociceptive responses. 6. In five S+D nociceptive convergent neurons, the responses elicited by deep inputs were more powerfully inhibited by PBA stimulation than those elicited by cutaneous inputs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (1) ◽  
pp. R134-R144 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kinkead ◽  
W. Milsom

Breathing was monitored during normocarbia, hypercarbia (6% CO2 in air), and the period immediately after the return to normocarbic conditions in intact, olfactory-denervated, and vagotomized bullfrogs. In intact frogs, ventilation increased during hypercarbia, but the breathing pattern remained episodic. Immediately upon return to air, there was a further paradoxical increase in breathing frequency, and breathing became continuous in most frogs. Results obtained from animals after olfactory receptor denervation indicate that tonic stimulation of olfactory receptors by airway CO2 inhibited breathing during hypercarbia. Measurements of the kinetics of changes in airway and arterial blood CO2 levels support the suggestion that the sudden release of this inhibition on the return to normocarbic conditions was responsible for the posthypercarbic hyperpnea. Vagotomy increased ventilation during normocarbia. Hypercarbia now caused a change in breathing pattern but had no net effect on total ventilation, suggesting that pulmonary vagal feedback inhibited ventilation during normocarbia but stimulated ventilation during hypercarbia. Although olfactory and pulmonary receptor feed-back shape the breathing pattern, they were not responsible for initiating or terminating the episodes of breathing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 1256-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Chen ◽  
Derek Yung ◽  
Jie-Yuan Li

Motor cortex stimulation has both excitatory and inhibitory effects on ipsilateral muscles. Excitatory effects can be assessed by ipsilateral motor-evoked potentials (iMEPs). Inhibitory effects include an interruption of ipsilateral voluntary muscle activity known as the silent period (iSP) and a reduction in corticospinal excitability evoked by conditioning stimulation of the contralateral motor cortex (interhemispheric inhibition, IHI). Both iSP and IHI may be mediated by transcallosal pathways. Their relationship to the contralateral corticospinal projection and whether iSP and IHI represent the same phenomenon remain unclear. The neuronal population activated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is highly dependent on the direction of the induced current in the brain. We examined the relationship among iMEP, iSP, IHI, and the contralateral corticospinal system by examining the effects of different stimulus intensities and current directions. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from both first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscles. The iSP in the right FDI muscle was obtained by right motor cortex stimulation during voluntary muscle contraction. IHI was examined by conditioning stimulation of the right motor cortex followed by test stimulation of the left motor cortex at interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 2–80 ms. The induced current directions tested in the right motor cortex were anterior medial (AM), posterior medial (PM), posterior lateral, and anterior lateral (AL). Contralateral MEPs (cMEPs) had the lowest threshold with the AM direction and the shortest latency with the PM direction. iMEPs were present in 8 of 10 subjects. Both iMEP and IHI did not show significant directional preference. iSP was observed in all subjects with the highest threshold for the AL direction and the longest duration for the AM direction. cMEP, iSP, and IHI all increased with stimulus intensity up to ∼75% stimulator output. Target muscle activation decreased IHI at 8-ms ISI but had little effect on IHI at 40-ms ISI. iSP and IHI at 8-ms ISI did not correlate at any stimulus intensities and current directions tested, and factor analysis showed that they are explained by different factors. However, active IHI at 40-ms ISI was explained by the same factor as iSP. The different directional preference for cMEP compared with iMEP and IHI suggests that these ipsilateral effects are mediated by populations of cortical neurons that are different from those activating the corticospinal neurons. iSP and IHI do not represent the same phenomenon and should be considered complementary measures of ipsilateral inhibition.


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