Can Delay-Period Activity Explain Working Memory?

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislaw Sobotka ◽  
Mark D. Diltz ◽  
James L. Ringo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Mild Stimulation

Working-memory tasks often lead to elevated delay-period discharge rates in cortical neurons. When this altered neuronal discharge rate, called delay activity, shows stimulus specificity, it is a good candidate for a neuronal mechanism of working memory. If the delay activity is indeed the carrier of memory, then experimental manipulation during the delay period that disrupts delay activity should also disrupt behavioral performance. We tested this hypothesis in two macaque monkeys with a delayed matching-to-sample task (delay time: 8 or 10 s) in which only two visual images were used. In each trial, one of the images was randomly chosen as the sample. In control trials (without disruptive stimulation), the monkeys performed at the level of 74.3% correct recognition. Three electrical stimulation levels (mild: a 0.25-s train of electrical pulses; medium: 1-s train; strong: 4 s), delivered to the hippocampal formation or to the orbito-frontal and inferotemporal cortices during delay period, decreased the performance to 71.4, 66.8, and 58.0% respectively (all are significantly less than control performance, P < 0.05 for mild stimulation and P < 0.0001 for other stimulation levels). Three hundred and thirty-four cells were recorded from inferotemporal (211 cells) and prefrontal (123 cells) cortices. Significant ( P < 0.05) stimulus-specific delay activity was found in about one-third of recorded cells. For these cells in control trials, the mean difference in delay-period spike rates between preferred and nonpreferred images was 26%. The electrical stimulation reduced this difference to 20% (not a statistically significant reduction) in trials with mild stimulation, to 14% ( P < 0.05) with medium stimulation, and just to 4% ( P < 0.0005) with strong stimulation. These results, that increasing electrical stimulation reduced neuronal selectivity and at the same time reduced behavioral performance, directly support the hypothesis that delay activity is the carrier of memory through the delay period.

Functional Connectivity Between the Red Nucleus and the Hippocampus Supports the Role of Hippocampal Formation in Sensorimotor Integration

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 2040-2050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audny T. Dypvik ◽  
Brian H. Bland
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Sensorimotor Integration ◽  
Hippocampal Formation ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Red Nucleus ◽  
Medial Septum ◽  
Procaine Hydrochloride ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Functional Connections ◽  
Field Activity

Experiments were carried out in urethane-anesthetized rats to evaluate the hypothesis that the red nucleus has functional connections with the hippocampal formation. Depth profiles of electrical stimulation in experiment 1 confirmed that stimulation administered to the red nucleus elicited theta field activity in the hippocampal formation with a linear relationship between stimulus intensity and theta frequency. Experiment 2 showed that microinfusion of local anesthetic procaine hydrochloride into the medial septum resulted in a reversible blockade of theta field activity elicited by electrical stimulation of the red nucleus. In experiment 3, the discharge activity of red nucleus cells was recorded during the field conditions of hippocampal synchrony (theta) and hippocampal asynchrony [large amplitude irregular activity (LIA)]. Analysis revealed that 26/46 (56%) of red nucleus cells were theta-related, whereas the remaining 20 (44%) were nonrelated. The majority of theta-related cells were classified as tonic theta-on. A brief increase above the basal discharge rate of tonic theta-on red nucleus cells during LIA predicted the transition from LIA to theta with 400- to 500-ms latency. Furthermore, higher frequency transitional discharges predicted higher theta frequencies, whereas higher discharge rates during theta predicted shifts to higher theta frequencies. The results supported the conclusion that the red nucleus, traditionally associated with motor functions, is functionally connected with the neural circuitry involved in the generation of theta band oscillation and synchrony in the hippocampal formation, in agreement with the predictions of the sensorimotor integration model of hippocampal function.

scholarly journals Spatial working memory representations in human cortex are robust to a task-irrelevant interrupting stimulus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin Vu-Cheung ◽  
Edward F Ester ◽  
Thomas C Sprague
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Reconstruction Technique ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Visual working memory (WM) enables the maintenance and manipulation of information no longer accessible in the visual world. Previous research has identified spatial WM representations in activation patterns in visual, parietal, and frontal cortex. In natural vision, the period between the encoding of information into WM and the time when it is used to guide behavior (the delay period) is rarely "empty", as is the case in most of the above laboratory experiments. In naturalistic conditions, eye movements, movement of the individual, and events in the environment result in visual signals which may overwrite or impair the fidelity of WM representations, especially in early sensory cortices. Here, we evaluated the extent to which a brief, irrelevant interrupting visual stimulus presented during a spatial WM delay period impaired behavioral performance and WM representation fidelity assayed using an image reconstruction technique (inverted encoding model). On each trial, participants (both sexes) viewed two target dots and were immediately post-cued to remember the precise spatial position of one dot. On 50% of trials, a brief interrupter stimulus appeared. While we observed strong transient univariate visual responses to the distracter stimulus, we saw no change in reconstructed neural WM representations under distraction, nor a change in behavioral performance on a continuous recall task. This suggests that spatial WM representations may be particularly robust to interference from incoming task-irrelevant visual information, perhaps related to their role in guiding movements.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of behavioral amplitude modulation sensitivity in the budgerigar midbrain

2016 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 1905-1916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Henry ◽  
Erikson G. Neilans ◽  
Kristina S. Abrams ◽  
Fabio Idrobo ◽  
Laurel H. Carney
Keyword(s):  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Auditory Midbrain ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Behavioral Sensitivity ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Multiunit Recording

Amplitude modulation (AM) is a crucial feature of many communication signals, including speech. Whereas average discharge rates in the auditory midbrain correlate with behavioral AM sensitivity in rabbits, the neural bases of AM sensitivity in species with human-like behavioral acuity are unexplored. Here, we used parallel behavioral and neurophysiological experiments to explore the neural (midbrain) bases of AM perception in an avian speech mimic, the budgerigar ( Melopsittacus undulatus). Behavioral AM sensitivity was quantified using operant conditioning procedures. Neural AM sensitivity was studied using chronically implanted microelectrodes in awake, unrestrained birds. Average discharge rates of multiunit recording sites in the budgerigar midbrain were insufficient to explain behavioral sensitivity to modulation frequencies <100 Hz for both tone- and noise-carrier stimuli, even with optimal pooling of information across recording sites. Neural envelope synchrony, in contrast, could explain behavioral performance for both carrier types across the full range of modulation frequencies studied (16–512 Hz). The results suggest that envelope synchrony in the budgerigar midbrain may underlie behavioral sensitivity to AM. Behavioral AM sensitivity based on synchrony in the budgerigar, which contrasts with rate-correlated behavioral performance in rabbits, raises the possibility that envelope synchrony, rather than average discharge rate, might also underlie AM perception in other species with sensitive AM detection abilities, including humans. These results highlight the importance of synchrony coding of envelope structure in the inferior colliculus. Furthermore, they underscore potential benefits of devices (e.g., midbrain implants) that evoke robust neural synchrony.

The ENT emergency clinic: does senior input matter?

2012 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Mirza ◽  
L McClelland ◽  
M Daniel ◽  
N Jones
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Surrogate Marker ◽  
Operating Theatre ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Number Of Patients

AbstractBackground:Many ENT conditions can be treated in the emergency clinic on an ambulatory basis. Our clinic traditionally had been run by foundation year two and specialty trainee doctors (period one). However, with perceived increasing inexperience, a dedicated registrar was assigned to support the clinic (period two). This study compared admission and discharge rates for periods one and two to assess if greater registrar input affected discharge rate; an increase in discharge rate was used as a surrogate marker of efficiency.Method:Data was collected prospectively for patients seen in the ENT emergency clinic between 1 August 2009 and 31 July 2011. Time period one included data from patients seen between 1 August 2009 and 31 July 2010, and time period two included data collected between 1 August 2010 and 31 July 2011.Results:The introduction of greater registrar support increased the number of patients that were discharged, and led to a reduction in the number of children requiring the operating theatre.Conclusion:The findings, which were determined using clinic outcomes as markers of the quality of care, highlighted the benefits of increasing senior input within the ENT emergency clinic.

Activity of single neurons in the monkey amygdala during performance of a visual discrimination task

1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1447-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nakamura ◽  
A. Mikami ◽  
K. Kubota
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Visual Discrimination Task ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
Visual Neurons ◽  
Human Faces

1. The activity of single neurons was recorded extracellularly from the monkey amygdala while monkeys performed a visual discrimination task. The monkeys were trained to remember a visual stimulus during a delay period (0.5-3.0 s), to discriminate a new visual stimulus from the stimulus, and to release a lever when the new stimulus was presented. Colored photographs (human faces, monkeys, foods, and nonfood objects) or computer-generated two-dimensional shapes (a yellow triangle, a red circle, etc.) were used as visual stimuli. 2. The activity of 160 task-related neurons was studied. Of these, 144 (90%) responded to visual stimuli, 13 (8%) showed firing during the delay period, and 9 (6%) responded to the reward. 3. Task-related neurons were categorized according to the way in which various stimuli activated the neurons. First, to evaluate the proportion of all tested stimuli that elicited changes in activity of a neuron, selectivity index 1 (SI1) was employed. Second, to evaluate the ability of a neuron to discriminate a stimulus from another stimulus, SI2 was employed. On the basis of the calculated values of SI1 and SI2, neurons were classified as selective and nonselective. Most visual neurons were categorized as selective (131/144), and a few were characterized as nonselective (13/144). Neurons active during the delay period were also categorized as selective visual and delay neurons (6/13) and as nonselective delay neurons (7/13). 4. Responses of selective visual neurons had various temporal and stimulus-selective properties. Latencies ranged widely from 60 to 300 ms. Response durations also ranged widely from 20 to 870 ms. When the natures of the various effective stimuli were studied for each neuron, one-fourth of the responses of these neurons were considered to reflect some categorical aspect of the stimuli, such as human, monkey, food, or nonfood object. Furthermore, the responses of some neurons apparently reflected a certain behavioral significance of the stimuli that was separate from the task, such as the face of a particular person, smiling human faces, etc. 5. Nonselective visual neurons responded to a visual stimulus, regardless of its nature. They also responded in the absence of a visual stimulus when the monkey anticipated the appearance of the next stimulus. 6. Selective visual and delay neurons fired in response to particular stimuli and throughout the subsequent delay periods. Nonselective delay neurons increased their discharge rates gradually during the delay period, and the discharge rate decreased after the next stimulus was presented. 7. Task-related neurons were identified in six histologically distinct nuclei of the amygdala.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

New analytical solution for the study of hydraulic interaction between Alpine tunnels and groundwater

2003 ◽  
Vol 174 (5) ◽  
pp. 441-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Christophe Maréchal ◽  
Pierre Perrochet
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Solution ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Water Discharge ◽  
Rate Condition ◽  
Type Curves ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Surface Monitoring ◽  
Tunnel Discharge

Abstract The present paper addresses two major problems encountered during tunnel drilling and related to the hydraulic interaction with surrounding groundwater bodies. The first one is the prediction of water discharge into the tunnel, as a function of the geometric and hydrogeological data. The second problem is related to the assessment of the draining effects on surface waters (springs, lakes, wetlands). Surface monitoring campaigns are costly and evaluating their duration is a sensitive question. Both problems are tightly related and depend on aquifer dynamics. It is shown that in a geological context with steeply dipping structures, nearly vertical, inducing series of aquifers and aquicludes such as in the Alps, the drainage of the aquifer by the tunnel can be modelled by the analytical solution of Jacob and Lohman [1952] for artesian wells. First developed for horizontal, confined unsteady flow towards a vertical well with constant drawdown, it is adapted here to a horizontal tunnel by a rotation of π/2. The main difference between this solution and more classical Theis’ solutions is that a constant drawdown condition replaces the constant discharge rate condition. Hence, a relation is obtained for the time-dependent discharge rate Q(t) detected at the tunnel after drilling, as a function of aquifer transmissivity (T), storage coefficient (S), initial drawdown (so) and tunnel radius (ro). This analytical solution is compared to a finite-elements model simulating a draining tunnel in a simplified 2D vertical cross-section. The comparisons show that the decay of the tunnel discharge can be divided into two periods. During the first period, radial drawdown develops around the tunnel and there is excellent match between analytical and numerical results. Tunnel discharge results from the decompression of rock and water (storage effects) as a response to the sudden initial drawdown at the tunnel location. During the second period, the drawdown cone reaches the aquifer limits (lateral and upper) and numerical discharge rates decrease faster than analytical rates because of hydraulic heads decline at the aquifer limits. In the Alps, such trends were observed for the discharge rates into the Simplon and Mont-Blanc tunnels, and the analytical solution of Jacob and Lohman [1952] was applied to the first discharge period to evaluate aquifer transmissivity and storage coefficients. As indicated by the simulations, and corroborated by field observations, the analytical solution is only valid during a first period after tunnel opening, the duration of which scaling with the inverse of the aquifer diffusivity (T/S). In the second part of the paper, dimensionless type-curves are presented to enable rapid evaluation of the time where a given drawdown is observed at a given distance from the tunnel. Accounting for tunnel geometry (radius and depth) and aquifer parametres (T and S), these curves could for instance help in practice to determine when surface waters would start to be affected by a draining tunnel underneath. Although neglecting the boundary effects discussed in the first part of the paper, these type-curves demonstrate the great inertia of mountain aquifers, and could be used to adjust the duration of surface monitoring campaigns according to the specific tunnel/aquifer settings.

Pain-induced changes in motor unit discharge depend on recruitment threshold and contraction speed

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Martinez-Valdes ◽  
Francesco Negro ◽  
Michail Arvanitidis ◽  
Dario Farina ◽  
Deborah Falla
Keyword(s):  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Tibialis Anterior Muscle ◽  
Maximum Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Motor Units ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Voluntary Contraction ◽  
Recruitment Threshold ◽  
Contraction Speed ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Hypertonic Saline Injection

At high forces, the discharge rates of lower and higher threshold motor units (MU) are influenced in a different way by muscle pain. These differential effects may be particularly important for performing contractions at different speeds since the proportion of lower and higher threshold MUs recruited varies with contraction velocity. We investigated whether MU discharge and recruitment strategies are differentially affected by pain depending on their recruitment threshold (RT), across a range of contraction speeds. Participants performed ankle dorsiflexion sinusoidal-isometric contractions at two frequencies (0.25Hz and 1Hz) and two modulation amplitudes [5% and 10% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] with a mean target torque of 20%MVC. High-density surface electromyography recordings from the tibialis anterior muscle were decomposed and the same MUs were tracked across painful (hypertonic saline injection) and non-painful conditions. Torque variability, mean discharge rate (MDR), DR variability (DRvar), RT and the delay between the cumulative spike train and the resultant torque output (neuromechanical delay, NMD) were assessed. The average RT was greater at faster contraction velocities (p=0.01) but was not affected by pain. At the fastest contraction speed, torque variability and DRvar were reduced (p<0.05) and MDR was maintained. Conversely, MDR decreased and DRvar and NMD increased significantly during pain at slow contraction speeds (p<0.05). These results show that reductions in contraction amplitude and increased recruitment of higher threshold MUs at fast contraction speeds appears to compensate for the inhibitory effect of nociceptive inputs on lower threshold MUs, allowing the exertion of fast submaximal contractions during pain.

Binaural processing of sound pressure level in the inferior colliculus

1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 1130-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. N. Semple ◽  
L. M. Kitzes
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Colliculus ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Central Nucleus ◽  
Intensity Difference ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Directional Information ◽  
Discharge Rates

The central auditory system could encode information about the location of a high-frequency sound source by comparing the sound pressure levels at the ears. Two potential computations are the interaural intensity difference (IID) and the average binaural intensity (ABI). In this study of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) of the anesthetized gerbil, we demonstrate that responses of 85% of the 97 single units in our sample were jointly influenced by IID and ABI. For a given ABI, discharge rate of most units is a sigmoidal function of IID, and peak rates occur at IIDs favoring the contralateral ear. Most commonly, successive increments of ABI cause successive shifts of the IID functions toward IIDs favoring the ipsilateral ear. Neurons displaying this behavior include many that would conventionally be classified EI (receiving predominantly excitatory input arising from one ear and inhibitory input from the other), many that would be classified EE (receiving predominantly excitatory input arising from each ear), and all that are responsive only to contralateral stimulation. The IID sensitivity of a very few EI neurons is unaffected by ABI, except near threshold. Such units could provide directional information that is independent of source intensity. A few EE neurons are very sensitive to ABI, but are minimally sensitive to IID. Nevertheless, our data indicate that responses of most EE units in ICC are strongly dominated by excitation of contralateral origin. For some units, discharge rate is nonmonotonically related to IID and is maximal when the stimuli at the two ears are of comparable sound pressure. This preference for zero IID is common for all binaural levels. Many EI neurons respond nonmonotonically to ABI. Discharge rates are greater for IIDs representative of contralateral space and are maximal at a single best ABI. For a subset of these neurons, the influence arising from the ipsilateral ear is comprised of a mixture of excitation and inhibition. As a consequence, discharge rates are nonmonotonically related not only to ABI but also to IID. This dual nonmonotonicity creates a clear focus of peak response at a particular ABI/IID combination. Because of their mixed monaural influences, such units would be ascribed to different classes of the conventional (EE/EI) binaural classification scheme depending on the binaural level presented. Several response classes were identified in this study, and each might contribute differently to the encoding of spatial information.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals A Case Study On Predicting The Environmental Impacts Of Untreated Effluent Generated From Tannery Industrial Estate In Dhaka, Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Shakil A. Masum ◽  
Md. Sultanul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Soil Aggregates ◽  
Elevated Concentration ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Industrial Site ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Regulatory Standard ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Recommended Guidelines

Significant amounts of heavy metals in the directly discharged wastewater released from the newly built tannery industrial site in Dhaka, Bangladesh are reported. Despite their detrimental impacts on public health and natural ecosystem, no environmental impact study is yet conducted. Therefore, information on safe discharge rates are not available. In this study, the extent of pollution around the industrial site is investigated for four representative trace metals. Temporal and spatial distributions of chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) have been predicted using a numerical model with the aim to estimate safe discharge of these metal contaminants. From multiple simulation runs it has been estimated that a discharge of0.026 m3 of wastewater per day can lead to high levels of Cr and Pb accumulation, exceeding the regulatory standard limits, in the study area. Whilst As and Cd concentrations remain below the advised limits in most cases at this rate. However, an order of magnitude reduction in the total discharge rate, i.e.,0.0026 m3 per day, results into the metal accumulation below the recommended guidelines in all cases. Elevated concentration of Pb is found to be limited to the top 0.5 m of the soil as compared to Cr, As and Cd, which exhibit larger spread along the depth of the soil. The relative dominance of the metal contamination follows the sequence: Pb>Cr>As>Cd as sorbed concentration in soil aggregates and Cr>Pb>As>Cd as aqueous concentration in soil porewater. Further investigations that are essential for a comprehensive environmental impact assessment have been highlighted.

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