Search results for "Potentials"
showing 10 items of 1072 documents
Pronounced cholinergic but only moderate purinergic effects in isolated atrial and ventricular heart muscle from cats.
1989
1 The effects of cholinergic and purinergic stimulation on action potential, force of contraction and 86Rb efflux were investigated in cat atrial and/or ventricular heart muscle. 2 Acetylcholine and carbachol exerted a concentration-dependent negative inotropic effect in cat atrial heart muscle. Carbachol 10 μmol l−1 completely abolished the force of contraction and increased the rate constant of 86Rb efflux 2–3 fold, whereas the action potential duration was shortened to about 1/10 of its length under control conditions. 3 The effects of acetylcholine and carbachol in cat atrial heart muscle were mimicked, qualitatively, by adenosine and its analogues 5′-(N-ethyl)-carboxamido-adenosine (NE…
Effects of melatonin on spontaneous electrical activity of neurons in rat suprachiasmatic nuclei: an in vitro iontophoretic study.
1989
Circadian rhythms, endogenously generated in suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), seem to be under the direct influence of melatonin. Therefore, the effect of iontophoretically applied melatonin on electrical activity of SCN neurons was investigated in vitro. Usually, melatonin had an inhibitory effect. In the 3-h periods before (2.00-5.00 p.m.) or after (5.00-8.00 p.m.) the light-dark transition the percentage of SCN neurons sensitive to melatonin was very high (80% and 100%, respectively). However, efficacy of melatonin was low in the periods preceeding (20%) and following (33%) this 6-h time interval.
Effects of histamine on spontaneous electrical activity of neurons in rat suprachiasmatic nucleus
1991
Abstract The hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is thought to be a light-entrained pacemaker in mammals, inducing a wide range of endogenous circadian events. In rat brain, histaminergic (HAergic) fibres are particulary rich in the hypothalamus. This prompted an investigation of the influence of bath-applied HAergic compounds on the spontaneous electrical activity of SCN neurons, recorded extracellularly in the hypothalamic slice preparation. Cells activated by bath application of HA ( n = 28) outnumbered those inhibited by HA ( n = 6). 48% of cells tested ( n = 28) were unresponsive to HA application. HA-induced activation of SCN neurons' discharge rate could be suppressed by the H…
Ursodeoxycholic acid protects against secondary biliary cirrhosis in rats by preventing mitochondrial oxidative stress
2004
Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) improves clinical and biochemical indices in primary biliary cirrhosis and prolongs survival free of liver transplantation. Recently, it was suggested that the cytoprotective mechanisms of UDCA may be mediated by protection against oxidative stress, which is involved in the development of cirrhosis induced by chronic cholestasis. The aims of the current study were 1) to identify the mechanisms involved in glutathione depletion, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial impairment during biliary cirrhosis induced by chronic cholestasis in rats; and 2) to determine the mechanisms associated with the protective effects of UDCA against secondary biliary cirrhosis. The find…
Contribution of both ?- and ?-adrenoceptors to the inotropic effects of catecholamines in the rabbit heart
1992
The functional role of alpha-adrenoceptors was investigated in different parts of the rabbit heart. Phenylephrine (PE) caused a marked increase in force of contraction (Fc) and a prolongation of the action potential (AP) in preparations from the left atrium and the right ventricle. The response was less pronounced in the right atrium and in the left ventricle, whereas APs of spontaneously beating sinoatrial preparations remained completely unchanged. Phentolamine as well as the diesters phorbol 12,13 dibutyrate (PDBu) or 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) eliminated the effects of PE. The contribution of alpha-adrenoceptors to the effects of adrenaline (Adr) and noradrenaline (NA) …
Fixation-related potentials in naming speed: A combined EEG and eye-tracking study on children with dyslexia.
2021
Abstract Objective We combined electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking recordings to examine the underlying factors elicited during the serial Rapid-Automatized Naming (RAN) task that may differentiate between children with dyslexia (DYS) and chronological age controls (CAC). Methods Thirty children with DYS and 30 CAC (Mage = 9.79 years; age range 7.6 through 12.1 years) performed a set of serial RAN tasks. We extracted fixation-related potentials (FRPs) under phonologically similar (rime-confound) or visually similar (resembling lowercase letters) and dissimilar (non-confounding and discrete uppercase letters, respectively) control tasks. Results Results revealed significant differe…
Enhancement of Gamma Oscillations Indicates Preferential Processing of Native over Foreign Phonemic Contrasts in Infants
2013
Young infants discriminate phonetically relevant speech contrasts in a universal manner, that is, similarly across languages. This ability fades by 12 months of age as the brain builds language-specific phonemic maps and increasingly responds preferentially to the infant's native language. However, the neural mechanisms that underlie the development of infant preference for native over non-native phonemes remain unclear. Since gamma-band power is known to signal infants' preference for native language rhythm, we hypothesized that it might also indicate preference for native phonemes. Using high-density electroencephalogram/event-related potential (EEG/ERP) recordings and source-localization…
A muscarinic receptor different from the M1, M2, M3 and M4 subtypes mediates the contraction of the rabbit iris sphincter
1992
In order to analyse the subtype of muscarinic receptors involved in the methacholine-induced contraction of the rabbit iris sphincter we have determined equilibrium dissociation constants (KB) of various antagonists in the sphincter muscle. The values were compared with those observed at M1 (rabbit vas deferens), M2 (heteroreceptors in rat iris) and M3 receptors (guinea-pig ileum), or at the muscarinic receptors in the guinea-pig uterus. The methacholine-induced contraction of the uterus from immature guinea-pigs was competitively antagonized by pirenzepine (6.64, -log KB), 4-DAMP (8.39), hexahydrodifenidol (HHD; 7.00 for the (R)- and 5.40 for the (S)-enantiomer), p-fluoro-hexahydrosiladife…
Electrical responses of pineal cells to melatonin and putative transmitters
1981
The effects of microelectrophoretically applied melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxy-tryptamine), noradrenaline (NOR) or acetylcholine (ACH) on the electrical activity of pineal cells during both the day- and night-time were studied in urethane anesthetised guinea-pigs. A total of 288 cells were tested with melatonin, and in addition with either NOR (120 cells) or ACH (138 cells). Of the 206 cells responding to melatonin application, 139 were excited and 67 inhibited. A total of 85 cells responded to the application of NOR, 45 being excited and 40 inhibited. Responses to ACH application were observed in 75 pineal cells, 49 units being inhibited and 26 excited. It was possible to observe excitation…
Pre- and postjunctional effects of diadenosine polyphosphates in the guinea-pig vas deferens.
1995
Abstract The pre- and postjunctional activities of a number of diadenosine polyphosphates were examined in the guinea-pig isolated vas deferens at the level of the membrane-potential, using a modified sucrose-gap technique. P1,P3-Di(adenosine 5′)triphosphate (Ap3A), P1,P4-di(adenosine 5′)tetraphosphate (Ap4A) and P1,P5-di(adenosine 5′)pentaphosphate (Ap5 A) all caused concentration-dependent depolarization of the smooth muscle membrane. The potency order was: Ap5A > Ap4A. Ap3A. P1, P2-Di(adenosine 5′)pyrophosphate (Ap2A) did not evoke depolarization even at the highest concentration tested (1 mM). All the dinucleotides caused a reduction in the amplitude of evoked excitatory junction…