Neural modulation in inferior colliculus and central auditory plasticity

The neural modulation in central auditory system plays an important role in perception and processing of sound signal and auditory cognition.The inferior colliculus(IC)is both a relay station in central auditory pathway and a sub-cortical auditory center doing the sound signal processing.IC is also modulated by the descending projections from the cortex and auditory thalamus,medial geniculate body,and these neural modulations not only can affect ongoing sound signal processing but can also induce plastic changes in IC.

Neural and Spinal Modules in Implementation of a Simple Ballistic Movement

A simple ballistic movement and two of its attributes (namely, reversal in time and synchronization with external events) are formulated. A three-dimensional, three-link musculoskeletal arm is subjected to a fast ballistic type movement. The central components of the movement from hippocampal, cerebellar, basal ganglia and reticular formation structures that may be involved in timing are identified. The role of agonist muscles and spinal reflexes in the execution of ballistic movements (namely, in fast starts and fast stops) is discussed. The needed three time intervals are constructed in real time and can be coordinated with external events. Delaying or advancing in time, synchronization, time scaling and inverting events in time relative to the movement is formulated. Digital computer simulations are presented to test the behavior of the formulated neural and spinal processing and demonstrate the behavior of the arm under such control.

Nanoliposome-encapsulated caged-GABA for modulating neural electrophysiological activity with simultaneous detection by microelectrode arrays

Effective and precise neural modulation with real-time detection in the brain is of great importance and represents a significant challenge.Nanoliposome-encapsulated light-sensitive compounds have excellent characteristics such as high temporal and spatial resolution,delayed drug clearance,and restricted drug biodistribution for neural modulation.In this study,we developed a nanoliposome-based delivery system for ruthenium-based caged GABA compounds(Nanolipo-Ru)to modulate neural activity and allow for real-time monitoring using the microelectrode arrays(MEAs).The Nanolipo-Ru nanoparticles had an average size of 134.10±4.30 nm and exhibited excellent stability for seven weeks.For the in vivo experiment in the rat,release of GABA by Nanolipo-Ru under blue light illumination resulted in an average firing rate reduction in interneurons and pyramidal neurons in the same brain region of 79.4%and 81.6%,respectively.Simultaneously,the average power of local field potentials in the 0–15 Hz range degraded from 4.34 to 0.85 mW.In addition,the Nanolipo-Ru nanoparticles have the potential to provide more flexible timing of modulation than unencapsulated RuBi-GABA in the experiments.These results indicated that Nanolipo-Ru could be an effective platform for regulating neuronal electrophysiology.Furthermore,nanoliposomes with appropriate modifications would render promising utilities for targeting of specific types of neurons in the future.