Search results for "cerebral cortex"
showing 10 items of 529 documents
Predicting domain-specific actions in expert table tennis players activates the semantic brain network.
2018
Motor expertise acquired during long-term training in sports enables top athletes to predict the outcomes of domain-specific actions better than nonexperts do. However, whether expert players encode actions, in addition to the concrete sensorimotor level, also at a more abstract, conceptual level, remains unclear. The present study manipulated the congruence between body kinematics and the subsequent ball trajectory in videos of an expert player performing table tennis serves. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain activity was evaluated in expert and nonexpert table tennis players during their predictions on the fate of the ball trajectory in congruent versus incongruent…
Cytopathologic and neurochemical correlates of progression to motor/cognitive impairment in SIV-infected rhesus monkeys.
1994
Neurochemical, pathologic, virologic, and histochemical correlates of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-associated central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction were assessed serially or at necropsy in rhesus monkeys that exhibited motor and cognitive deficits after SIV infection. Some infected monkeys presented with signs of acquired immunodeficiency disease (AIDS) at the time of sacrifice. Seven of eight animals exhibited motor skill impairment which was associated with elevated quinolinic acid in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Examination of the brains revealed diffuse increases in glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreacti vity in cerebral cortex in all animals, regardless of evidence of imm…
Regional blood flow in deep structures of the brain measured in acute cat experiments by means of a new beta-sensitive semiconductor needle detector.
1967
Regional cerebral blood flow was measured by means of isotope clearance with a new type of solid state beta-sensitive needle detector (diameter 0.9 mm) introduced into the brain tissue in acute cat experiments. The flow values obtained within the cortex were compared with values recorded above the same cortical region with the same needle detector, or with a small GM-tube. The insertion of the needle detector into the brain tissue gave rise to injury (checked histologically) which deformed the clearance curves in a manner suggesting that the normal circulation had been destroyed within the tissue from which the measurements were made.
PSA-NCAM immunocytochemistry in the cerebral cortex and other telencephalic areas of the lizard Podarcis hispanica: differential expression during me…
2002
The lizard medial cortex, a region homologous to the mammalian dentate gyrus, shows postnatal neurogenesis and the surprising ability to replace its neurons after being lesioned specifically with the neurotoxin 3-acetylpyridine. As the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is expressed during neuronal migration and differentiation, we have studied its distribution in adult lizards and also during the lesion-regeneration process. In the medial cortex of control animals, many labeled fusiform somata, presumably corresponding to migratory neuroblasts, appeared in the inner plexiform layer. There were also scattered immunoreactive granule neurons in the cell layer.…
Intrinsic organization of the medial cerebral cortex of the lizardLacerta pityusensis: A golgi study
1987
The morphology of cells and the organization of axons were studied in Golgi-Colonnier and toluidine blue stained preparations from the medial cerebral cortex of the lizard Lacerta pityusensis. In the medial cortex, six strata were distinguished between the superficial glial membrane and the ependyma. Strata I and II formed the outer plexiform layer, stratum III formed the cellular layer, and strata IV go VI the inner plexiform layer. The outer plexiform layer contained smooth bipolar neurons; their dendrites were oriented anteroposteriorly and their axons were directed towards the posterior zone of the brain. Five neuronal types were observed in the cellular layer. The spinous pyramidal neu…
KA-672 inhibits rat brain acetylcholinesterase in vitro but not in vivo.
1999
Abstract KA-672, a lipophilic benzopyranone derivative which is currently under development as a cognitive enhancer and antidementia drug, has previously been shown to have facilitatory effects on learning and memory in rats at doses of 0.1–1 mg/kg. We now report that KA-672 inhibited the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), measured in vitro in rat brain cortical homogenate, with an IC 50 value of 0.36 μ M indicating that KA-672 may improve cognitive functions as a consequence of AChE inhibition. However, when we employed the microdialysis procedure to monitor acetylcholine (ACh) release from rat hippocampus, no effect of KA-672 (0.1–10 mg/kg) was found, indicating a lack of inhibition…
Local H2-Clearance and PO2-Measurements in Microareas of the Brain Tissue in Rats
1969
Lubbers [5], as well as others, measured the oxygen partial pressure of the exposed cerebral cortex by means of small platinum microelectrodes. They registered low pO2 values between 1 and 3 mmHg in certain areas of the cortex, despite the fact that the EEG was of normal pattern. In order to decide whether these low pO2 values are a result of low rCBF, or high local oxygen consumption of brain tissue, we developed a new method. Using the same platinum needle, we measured both local pO2 values and H2-clearance curves in microareas of the brain tissue. Cater and Silver [2], Lubbers [4, 5], and others used glass-insulated platinum microelectrodes to measure local pO2. Further, Aukland, Bower a…
Cortical inhibition and habituation to evoked potentials: relevance for pathophysiology of migraine
2009
Dysfunction of neuronal cortical excitability has been supposed to play an important role in etiopathogenesis of migraine. Neurophysiological techniques like evoked potentials (EP) and in the last years non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation gave important contribution to understanding of such issue highlighting possible mechanisms of cortical dysfunctions in migraine. EP studies showed impaired habituation to repeated sensorial stimulation and this abnormality was confirmed across all sensorial modalities, making defective habituation a neurophysiological hallmark of the disease. TMS was employed to…
Gyrification from constrained cortical expansion
2014
The exterior of the mammalian brain - the cerebral cortex - has a conserved layered structure whose thickness varies little across species. However, selection pressures over evolutionary time scales have led to cortices that have a large surface area to volume ratio in some organisms, with the result that the brain is strongly convoluted into sulci and gyri. Here we show that the gyrification can arise as a nonlinear consequence of a simple mechanical instability driven by tangential expansion of the gray matter constrained by the white matter. A physical mimic of the process using a layered swelling gel captures the essence of the mechanism, and numerical simulations of the brain treated a…
Spatiotemporal receptive fields: A dynamical model derived from cortical architectonics
1986
We assume that the mammalian neocortex is built up out of some six layers which differ in their morphology and their external connections. Intrinsic connectivity is largely excitatory, leading to a considerable amount of positive feedback. The majority of cortical neurons can be divided into two main classes: the pyramidal cells, which are said to be excitatory, and local cells (most notably the non-spiny stellate cells), which are said to be inhibitory. The form of the dendritic and axonal arborizations of both groups is discussed in detail. This results in a simplified model of the cortex as a stack of six layers with mutual connections determined by the principles of fibre anatomy. This …