scholarly journals Local Cortical Activity of Distant Brain Areas can Phase-Lock to the Respiratory Rhythm in the Freely Behaving Rat

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Rojas-Líbano ◽  
Jonathan Wimmer del Solar ◽  
Marcelo Aguilar ◽  
Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund ◽  
Pedro E. Maldonado

ABSTRACTAn important unresolved question about neural processing is the mechanism by which distant brain areas coordinate their activities and relate their local processing to global neural events. A potential candidate for the local-global integration are slow rhythms such as respiration, which is also linked to sensory exploration. In this article, we asked if there are modulations of local cortical processing which are time-locked to (peripheral) sensory-motor exploratory rhythms. We studied rats freely behaving on an elevated platform where they would display exploratory and rest behaviors. Concurrent with behavior, we monitored orofacial sampling rhythms (whisking and sniffing) and local field potentials (LFP) from olfactory bulb, dorsal hippocampus, primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex and primary visual cortex. We defined exploration as simultaneous whisking and sniffing above 5 Hz and found that this activity peaked at about 8 Hz. We considered rest as the absence of whisking and sniffing, and in this case, mean respiration occurred at about 3 Hz. We found a consistent shift across all areas toward these rhythm peaks accompanying behavioral state changes. We also found, across areas, that LFP gamma (70-100 Hz) amplitude could phase-lock to the animal’s respiratory rhythm, a finding indicative of respiration-locked changes in local processing. The respiratory rhythm, although occurring at the same frequencies of hippocampal theta, was not spectrally coherent with it, implying a different oscillator. Our results are consistent with the notion of respiration as a binder or integrator of activity between distant brain regions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (3) ◽  
pp. 960-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Rojas-Líbano ◽  
Jonathan Wimmer del Solar ◽  
Marcelo Aguilar-Rivera ◽  
Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund ◽  
Pedro E. Maldonado

An important unresolved question about neural processing is the mechanism by which distant brain areas coordinate their activities and relate their local processing to global neural events. A potential candidate for the local-global integration are slow rhythms such as respiration. In this study, we asked if there are modulations of local cortical processing that are phase-locked to (peripheral) sensory-motor exploratory rhythms. We studied rats on an elevated platform where they would spontaneously display exploratory and rest behaviors. Concurrent with behavior, we monitored whisking through electromyography and the respiratory rhythm from the olfactory bulb (OB) local field potential (LFP). We also recorded LFPs from dorsal hippocampus, primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, and primary visual cortex. We defined exploration as simultaneous whisking and sniffing above 5 Hz and found that this activity peaked at ~8 Hz. We considered rest as the absence of whisking and sniffing, and in this case, respiration occurred at ~3 Hz. We found a consistent shift across all areas toward these rhythm peaks accompanying behavioral changes. We also found, across areas, that LFP gamma (70–100 Hz) amplitude could phase-lock to the animal’s OB respiratory rhythm, a finding indicative of respiration-locked changes in local processing. In a subset of animals, we also recorded the hippocampal theta activity and found that occurred at frequencies overlapped with respiration but was not spectrally coherent with it, suggesting a different oscillator. Our results are consistent with the notion of respiration as a binder or integrator of activity between brain regions. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In freely behaving rats, we found that local cortical activity within distant brain areas can phase-lock to the respiratory rhythm, more prominently during exploratory behavior than during basal respiration conditions. The findings suggest that the respiration rhythm can provide a common neural clock to integrate activity across brain areas. Our methodology also shows that the animal’s internal rhythms can be used as a reference time frame to analyze physiological activity in free behavior conditions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling-min Jin ◽  
Cai-juan Qin ◽  
Lei Lan ◽  
Jin-bo Sun ◽  
Fang Zeng ◽  
...  

Background.Development of non-deqicontrol is still a challenge. This study aims to set up a potential approach to non-deqicontrol by using lidocaine anesthesia at ST36.Methods.Forty healthy volunteers were recruited and they received two fMRI scans. One was accompanied with manual acupuncture at ST36 (DQ group), and another was associated with both local anesthesia and manual acupuncture at the same acupoint (LA group).Results.Comparing to DQ group, more than 90 percentdeqisensations were reduced by local anesthesia in LA group. The mainly activated regions in DQ group were bilateral IFG, S1, primary motor cortex, IPL, thalamus, insula, claustrum, cingulate gyrus, putamen, superior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum. Surprisingly only cerebellum showed significant activation in LA group. Compared to the two groups, bilateral S1, insula, ipsilateral IFG, IPL, claustrum, and contralateral ACC were remarkably activated.Conclusions.Local anesthesia at ST36 is able to block most of thedeqifeelings and inhibit brain responses todeqi, which would be developed into a potential approach for non-deqicontrol. Bilateral S1, insula, ipsilateral IFG, IPL, claustrum, and contralateral ACC might be the key brain regions responding todeqi.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoxia Qin ◽  
Jingjing Su ◽  
Xin-Wei He ◽  
Shiyu Ban ◽  
Qian Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Migraine is a severe and disabling brain disorder, and the exact neurological mechanisms remain unclear. Migraineurs have altered pain perception, and headache attacks disrupt their sensory information processing and sensorimotor integration. The altered functional connectivity of sub-regions of sensorimotor brain areas with other brain cortex associated with migraine needs further investigation.Methods: Forty-eight migraineurs without aura during the interictal phase and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. We utilized seed-based functional connectivity analysis to investigate whether patients exhibited abnormal functional connectivity between sub-regions of sensorimotor brain areas and cortex regions.Results: We found that patients with migraineurs without aura exhibited disrupted functional connectivities between the sensorimotor areas and the visual cortex, temporal cortex, posterior parietal lobule, prefrontal areas, precuneus, cingulate gyrus, sensorimotor areas proper and cerebellum areas compared with healthy controls. In addition, the clinical data of the patients, such as disease duration, pain intensity and HIT-6 score, were negatively correlated with these impaired functional connectivities.Conclusion: In patients with migraineurs without aura, the functional connectivities between the sensorimotor brain areas and other brain regions was reduced. These disrupted functional connectivities might contribute to abnormalities in visual processing, multisensory integration, nociception processing, spatial attention and intention and dysfunction in cognitive evaluation and modulation of pain. Recurrent headache attacks might lead to the disrupted network between primary motor cortex and temporal regions and between primary somatosensory cortex and temporal regions. Pain sensitivity and patient quality of life are closely tied to the abnormal functional connectivity between sensorimotor regions and other brain areas.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoxia Qin ◽  
Jingjing Su ◽  
Xin-Wei He ◽  
Shiyu Ban ◽  
Qian Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Migraine is a severe and disabling brain disorder, and the exact neurological mechanisms remain unclear. Migraineurs have altered pain perception, and headache attacks disrupt their sensory information processing and sensorimotor integration. The altered functional connectivity (FC) of sub-regions of sensorimotor brain areas with other brain cortex associated with migraine needs further investigation. Methods: Forty-eight migraine without aura (MWoAs) during the interictal phase and 48 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. We utilized seed-based functional connectivity analysis to investigate whether patients exhibited abnormal functional connectivity between sub-regions of sensorimotor brain areas and cortex regions. Results : We found that MWoAs exhibited disrupted FC between the sensorimotor areas and the visual cortex, temporal cortex, posterior parietal lobule, prefrontal areas, precuneus, cingulate gyrus, sensorimotor areas proper and cerebellum areas compared with healthy controls. In addition, the clinical data of the patients, such as disease duration, pain intensity and HIT-6 score, were negatively correlated with these impaired FC s. Conclusion : In MWoAs, the FCs between the sensorimotor brain areas and other brain regions was reduced. These disrupted FCs might contribute to abnormalities in visual processing, multisensory integration, nociception processing, spatial attention and intention and dysfunction in cognitive evaluation and modulation of pain. Recurrent headache attacks might lead to the disrupted network between L M1 (primary motor cortex) and temporal regions and between L S1 (primary somatosensory cortex) and temporal regions. Pain sensitivity and patient quality of life are closely tied to the abnormal functional connectivity between sensorimotor regions and other brain regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1284
Author(s):  
Ruei-Yi Tai ◽  
Jun-Ding Zhu ◽  
Chih-Chi Chen ◽  
Yu-Wei Hsieh ◽  
Chia-Hsiung Cheng

Background. Several brain regions are activated in response to mirror visual feedback (MVF). However, less is known about how these brain areas and their connectivity are modulated in stroke patients. This study aimed to explore the effects of MVF on brain functional connectivity in stroke patients. Materials and Methods. We enrolled 15 stroke patients who executed Bilateral-No mirror, Bilateral-Mirror, and Unilateral-Mirror conditions. The coherence values among five brain regions of interest in four different frequency bands were calculated from magnetoencephalographic signals. We examined the differences in functional connectivity of each two brain areas between the Bilateral-No mirror and Bilateral-Mirror conditions and between the Bilateral-Mirror and Unilateral-Mirror conditions. Results. The functional connectivity analyses revealed significantly stronger connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and primary motor cortex in the beta band (adjusted p = 0.04) and possibly stronger connectivity between the precuneus and primary visual cortex in the theta band (adjusted p = 0.08) in the Bilateral-Mirror condition than those in the Bilateral-No mirror condition. However, the comparisons between the Bilateral-Mirror and Unilateral-Mirror conditions revealed no significant differences in cortical coherence in all frequency bands. Conclusions. Providing MVF to stroke patients may modulate the lesioned primary motor cortex through visuospatial and attentional cortical networks.


2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 1677-1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIO CHAVEZ ◽  
MIGUEL VALENCIA ◽  
VITO LATORA ◽  
JACQUES MARTINERIE

Today, the human brain can be studied as a whole. Electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques provide functional connectivity patterns between different brain areas, and during different pathological and cognitive neuro-dynamical states. In this tutorial, we review novel complex networks approaches to unveil how brain networks can efficiently manage local processing and global integration for the transfer of information, while being at the same time capable of adapting to satisfy changing neural demands.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roel M. Willems ◽  
Franziska Hartung

Behavioral evidence suggests that engaging with fiction is positively correlated with social abilities. The rationale behind this link is that engaging with fictional narratives offers a ‘training modus’ for mentalizing and empathizing. We investigated the influence of the amount of reading that participants report doing in their daily lives, on connections between brain areas while they listened to literary narratives. Participants (N=57) listened to two literary narratives while brain activation was measured with fMRI. We computed time-course correlations between brain regions, and compared the correlation values from listening to narratives to listening to reversed speech. The between-region correlations were then related to the amount of fiction that participants read in their daily lives. Our results show that amount of fiction reading is related to functional connectivity in areas known to be involved in language and mentalizing. This suggests that reading fiction influences social cognition as well as language skills.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. S136-S143
Author(s):  
Chunting He ◽  
Qingfen Chen ◽  
Longkun Zhu

Aim of this study was to locate the brain regions where Cryptococcus interact with brain cells and invade into brain. After 7 days of intratracheal inocula-tion of GFP-tagged Cryptococcus neoformans strains H99, serial cryosections (10 ?m) from 3 C57 BL/6 J mice brains were imaged with immunofluorescence microscopy. GFP-tagged H99 were found in some brain regions such as primary motor cortex-secondary motor cortex, caudate putamen, stratum lucidum of hippocampus, field CA1 of hippocampus, dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, lateral posterior thalamic nucleus, laterorostral part, lateral posterior thalamic nucleus, mediorostral part, retrosplenial agranular cortex, lateral area of secondary visual cortex, and lacunosum molecular layer of the hippocampus. The results will be very useful for further exploring the mechanism of C. neoformans infection of brain. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 4503
Author(s):  
Sabah Nisar ◽  
Ajaz A. Bhat ◽  
Sheema Hashem ◽  
Najeeb Syed ◽  
Santosh K. Yadav ◽  
...  

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly disabling condition, increasingly recognized as both a disorder of mental health and social burden, but also as an anxiety disorder characterized by fear, stress, and negative alterations in mood. PTSD is associated with structural, metabolic, and molecular changes in several brain regions and the neural circuitry. Brain areas implicated in the traumatic stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, which play an essential role in memory function. Abnormalities in these brain areas are hypothesized to underlie symptoms of PTSD and other stress-related psychiatric disorders. Conventional methods of studying PTSD have proven to be insufficient for diagnosis, measurement of treatment efficacy, and monitoring disease progression, and currently, there is no diagnostic biomarker available for PTSD. A deep understanding of cutting-edge neuroimaging genetic approaches is necessary for the development of novel therapeutics and biomarkers to better diagnose and treat the disorder. A current goal is to understand the gene pathways that are associated with PTSD, and how those genes act on the fear/stress circuitry to mediate risk vs. resilience for PTSD. This review article explains the rationale and practical utility of neuroimaging genetics in PTSD and how the resulting information can aid the diagnosis and clinical management of patients with PTSD.


Author(s):  
Judy A. Prasad ◽  
Aishwarya H. Balwani ◽  
Erik C. Johnson ◽  
Joseph D. Miano ◽  
Vandana Sampathkumar ◽  
...  

AbstractNeural cytoarchitecture is heterogeneous, varying both across and within brain regions. The consistent identification of regions of interest is one of the most critical aspects in examining neurocircuitry, as these structures serve as the vital landmarks with which to map brain pathways. Access to continuous, three-dimensional volumes that span multiple brain areas not only provides richer context for identifying such landmarks, but also enables a deeper probing of the microstructures within. Here, we describe a three-dimensional X-ray microtomography imaging dataset of a well-known and validated thalamocortical sample, encompassing a range of cortical and subcortical structures. In doing so, we provide the field with access to a micron-scale anatomical imaging dataset ideal for studying heterogeneity of neural structure.


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