The paper deals with the mechanical vibrational motion ofvibrissae during natural exploratory behaviour of mammals. The theoretical analysis is based on a mechanical model of a cylindrical beam with circular natural c...The paper deals with the mechanical vibrational motion ofvibrissae during natural exploratory behaviour of mammals. The theoretical analysis is based on a mechanical model of a cylindrical beam with circular natural configuration under an applied periodic force at the tip, which corresponds to the surface roughness of an investigated object. The equation of motion of the beam is studied using the Euler-Bemoulli beam theory and asymptotic methods of mechanics. It is shown that from the me- chanical point of view the phenomenon of parametric resonance of the vibrissa is possible. It means that the amplitude of forced vibrations of a vibrissa increases exponentially with time, if it is stimulated within a specific resonance frequency range, which depends on biomechanical parameters of the vibrissa. The most intense parametric resonance occurs, when the excitation frequency is close to the doubled natural frequency of free vibrations. Thus, it may be used to distinguish and amplify specific periodic components of a complex roughness profile during texture discrimination.展开更多
Recently,we have shown that manual stimulation of paralyzed vibrissal muscles after facial-facial anastomosis reduced the poly-innervation of neuromuscular junctions and restored vibrissal whisking.Using gene knock ou...Recently,we have shown that manual stimulation of paralyzed vibrissal muscles after facial-facial anastomosis reduced the poly-innervation of neuromuscular junctions and restored vibrissal whisking.Using gene knock outs,we found a differential dependence of manual stimulation effects on growth factors.Thus,insulin-like growth factor-1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are required to underpin manual stimulation-mediated improvements,whereas FGF-2 is not.The lack of dependence on FGF-2 in mediating these peripheral effects prompted us to look centrally,i.e.within the facial nucleus where increased astrogliosis after facial-facial anastomosis follows ＂synaptic stripping＂.We measured the intensity of Cy3-fluorescence after immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein（GFAP） as an indirect indicator of synaptic coverage of axotomized neurons in the facial nucleus of mice lacking FGF-2（FGF-2^（-/-） mice）.There was no difference in GFAP-Cy3-fluorescence（pixel number,gray value range17-103） between intact wildtype mice（2.12± 0.37×10~7） and their intact FGF-2^（-/-） counterparts（2.12±0.27×10~7） nor after facial-facial anastomosis ＋handling（wildtype：4.06±0.32×10~7;FGF-2^（-/-）：4.39±0.17×10~7）.However,after facial-facial anastomosis,GFAP-Cy3-fluorescence remained elevated in FGF-2^（-/-）-animals（4.54±0.12×10~7）,whereas manual otimulation reduced the intensity of GFAP-immunofluorescence in wild type mice to values that were not significantly different from intact mice（2.63±0.39×10）.We conclude that FGF-2 is not required to underpin the beneficial effects of manual stimulation at the neuro-muscular junction,but it is required to minimize astrogliosis in the brainstem and,by implication,restore synaptic coverage of recovering facial motoneurons.展开更多
文摘The paper deals with the mechanical vibrational motion ofvibrissae during natural exploratory behaviour of mammals. The theoretical analysis is based on a mechanical model of a cylindrical beam with circular natural configuration under an applied periodic force at the tip, which corresponds to the surface roughness of an investigated object. The equation of motion of the beam is studied using the Euler-Bemoulli beam theory and asymptotic methods of mechanics. It is shown that from the me- chanical point of view the phenomenon of parametric resonance of the vibrissa is possible. It means that the amplitude of forced vibrations of a vibrissa increases exponentially with time, if it is stimulated within a specific resonance frequency range, which depends on biomechanical parameters of the vibrissa. The most intense parametric resonance occurs, when the excitation frequency is close to the doubled natural frequency of free vibrations. Thus, it may be used to distinguish and amplify specific periodic components of a complex roughness profile during texture discrimination.
基金financially supported by the Koln Fortune Programmthe Jean-Uhrmacher FoundationAkdeniz University Research Fund
文摘Recently,we have shown that manual stimulation of paralyzed vibrissal muscles after facial-facial anastomosis reduced the poly-innervation of neuromuscular junctions and restored vibrissal whisking.Using gene knock outs,we found a differential dependence of manual stimulation effects on growth factors.Thus,insulin-like growth factor-1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor are required to underpin manual stimulation-mediated improvements,whereas FGF-2 is not.The lack of dependence on FGF-2 in mediating these peripheral effects prompted us to look centrally,i.e.within the facial nucleus where increased astrogliosis after facial-facial anastomosis follows ＂synaptic stripping＂.We measured the intensity of Cy3-fluorescence after immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein（GFAP） as an indirect indicator of synaptic coverage of axotomized neurons in the facial nucleus of mice lacking FGF-2（FGF-2^（-/-） mice）.There was no difference in GFAP-Cy3-fluorescence（pixel number,gray value range17-103） between intact wildtype mice（2.12± 0.37×10~7） and their intact FGF-2^（-/-） counterparts（2.12±0.27×10~7） nor after facial-facial anastomosis ＋handling（wildtype：4.06±0.32×10~7;FGF-2^（-/-）：4.39±0.17×10~7）.However,after facial-facial anastomosis,GFAP-Cy3-fluorescence remained elevated in FGF-2^（-/-）-animals（4.54±0.12×10~7）,whereas manual otimulation reduced the intensity of GFAP-immunofluorescence in wild type mice to values that were not significantly different from intact mice（2.63±0.39×10）.We conclude that FGF-2 is not required to underpin the beneficial effects of manual stimulation at the neuro-muscular junction,but it is required to minimize astrogliosis in the brainstem and,by implication,restore synaptic coverage of recovering facial motoneurons.
