Microelectrode Recording of Tissue Neural Oscillations for a Bionic Olfactory Biosensor

In olfactory research, neural oscillations exhibit excellent temporal regularity, which are functional and necessary at thephysiological and cognitive levels. In this paper, we employed a bionic tissue biosensor which treats intact epithelium as sensing element to record the olfactory oscillations extracellularly. After being stimulated by odorant of butanedione, the olfactory receptor neurons generated different kinds of oscillations, which can be described as pulse firing oscillation, transient firing oscillation, superposed firing oscillation, and sustained firing oscillation, according to their temporal appearances respectively. With a time-frequency analysis of sonogram, the oscillations also demonstrated different frequency properties, such as δ, θ, α, β and γ oscillations. The results suggest that the bionic biosensor cooperated with sonogram analysis can well improve the in- vestigation of olfactory oscillations, and provide a novel model for artificial olfaetion sensor design.

Dopamine in the prefrontal cortex plays multiple roles in the executive function of patients with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson’s disease can affect not only motor functions but also cognitive abilities,leading to cognitive impairment.One common issue in Parkinson’s disease with cognitive dysfunction is the difficulty in executive functioning.Executive functions help us plan,organize,and control our actions based on our goals.The brain area responsible for executive functions is called the prefrontal co rtex.It acts as the command center for the brain,especially when it comes to regulating executive functions.The role of the prefrontal cortex in cognitive processes is influenced by a chemical messenger called dopamine.However,little is known about how dopamine affects the cognitive functions of patients with Parkinson’s disease.In this article,the authors review the latest research on this topic.They start by looking at how the dopaminergic syste m,is alte red in Parkinson’s disease with executive dysfunction.Then,they explore how these changes in dopamine impact the synaptic structure,electrical activity,and connection components of the prefrontal cortex.The authors also summarize the relationship between Parkinson’s disease and dopamine-related cognitive issues.This information may offer valuable insights and directions for further research and improvement in the clinical treatment of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease.

Frequency Switches at Transition Temperature in Voltage-Gated Ion Channel Dynamics of Neural Oscillators

Understanding of the mechanisms of neural phase transitions is crucial for clarifying cognitive processes in the brain. We investigate a neural oscillator that undergoes different bifurcation transitions from the big saddle homoclinic orbit type to the saddle node on an invariant circle type, and the saddle node on an invariant circle type to the small saddle homoclinic orbit type. The bifurcation transitions are accompanied by an increase in thermodynamic temperature that affects the voltage-gated ion channel in the neural oscillator. We show that nonlinear and thermodynamical mechanisms are responsible for different switches of the frequency in the neural oscillator. We report a dynamical role of the phase response curve in switches of the frequency, in terms of slopes of frequency-temperature curve at each bifurcation transition. Adopting the transition state theory of voltagegated ion channel dynamics, we confirm that switches of the frequency occur in the first-order phase transition temperature states and exhibit different features of their potential energy derivatives in the ion channel. Each bifurcation transition also creates a discontinuity in the Arrhenius plot used to compute the time constant of the ion channel.

Neurodynamics analysis of brain information transmission

This paper proposes a model of neural networks consisting of populations of perceptive neurons, inter-neurons, and motor neurons according to the theory of stochastic phase resetting dynamics. According to this model, the dynamical characteristics of neural networks are studied in three coupling cases, namely, series and parallel coupling, series coupling, and unilateral coupling. The results show that the indentified structure of neural networks enables the basic characteristics of neural information processing to be described in terms of the actions of both the optional motor and the reflected motor. The excitation of local neural networks is caused by the action of the optional motor. In particular, the excitation of the neural population caused by the action of the optional motor in the motor cortex is larger than that caused by the action of the reflected motor. This phenomenon indicates that there are more neurons participating in the neural information processing and the excited synchronization motion under the action of the optional motor.

Do brain oscillations orchestrate memory?

Rhythmicity and oscillations are common features in nature, and can be seen in phenomena such as seasons, breathing, and brain activity. Despite the fact that a single neuron transmits its activity to its neighbor through a transient pulse, rhythmic activity emerges from large population-wide activity in the brain, and such rhythms are strongly coupled with the state and cognitive functions of the brain. However, it is still debated whether the oscillations of brain activity actually carry information. Here, we briefly introduce the biological findings of brain oscillations, and summarize the recent progress in understanding how oscillations mediate brain function. Finally, we examine the possible relationship between brain cognitive function and oscillation, focusing on how oscillation is related to memory, particularly with respect to state-dependent memory formation and memory retrieval under specific brain waves. We propose that oscillatory waves in the neocortex contribute to the synchronization and activation of specific memory trace ensembles in the neocortex by promoting long-range neural communication.

Adaptive Walking Control of Biped Robots Using Online Trajectory Genera- tion Method Based on Neural Oscillators

This work concerns biped adaptive walking control on irregular terrains with online trajectory generation. A new trajectory generation method is proposed based on two neural networks. One oscillatory network is designed to generate foot trajectory, and another set of neural oscillators can generate the trajectory of Center of Mass （CoM） online. Using a motion engine, the characteristics of the workspace are mapped to the joint space. The entraining property of the neural oscillators is exploited for adaptive walking in the absence of a priori knowledge of walking conditions. Sensory feedback is applied to modify the gen- erated trajectories online to improve the walking quality. Furthermore, a staged evolutionary algorithm is developed to tune system parameters to improve walking performance. The developed control strategy is tested using a humanoid robot on ir- regular terrains. The experiments verify the success of the presented strategy. The biped robot can walk on irregular terrains with varying slopes, unknown bumps and stairs through autonomous adjustment of its walking patterns.

Neuro-Behavioral Dynamic Prediction of Interpersonal Cooperation and Aggression

How to quickly predict an individual’s behavioral choices is an important issue in the field of human behavior research.Using noninvasive electroencephalography,we aimed to identify neural markers in the prior outcome-evaluation stage and the current option-assessment stage of the chicken game that predict an individual’s behavioral choices in the subsequent decision-output stage.Hierarchical linear modeling-based brain-behavior association analyses revealed that midfrontal theta oscillation in the prior outcome-evaluation stage positively predicted subsequent aggressive choices;also,beta oscillation in the current option-assessment stage positively predicted subsequent cooperative choices.These findings provide electrophysiological evidence for the three-stage theory of decision-making and strengthen the feasibility of predicting an individual’s behavioral choices using neural oscillations.