Possibility for Recognition of Psychic Brain Activity with Continuous Wavelet Analysis of EEG

The brain is a unique organization in nature, possessing the ability for psychic activity, which manifests itself in thoughts, feelings and emotions. In present days, numbers of mathematical methods for analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) were developed with continuous wavelet transform being one of the most successive approaches for studying of brain activity. This paper is aimed to develop methods for investigation of psychic brain activity with help of continuous wavelet analysis of EEG. Ability of human to realize semantic content of the image presented on the screen was tested. Experiment was accompanied with simultaneous EEG recording, which was held with developed software and PC-based experimental setup. The information capabilities of continuous wavelet transform-based method for EEG analysis were improved for the recognition of specific patterns in human brain activity. Comparative wavelet analysis was carried out for EEG recordings at the moment of awareness of the semantic content of the image and for EEG recordings in the absence of conscious (subjective) perception of the semantic content of the image. Significant differences were shown in the alpha rhythm of EEG for the moments of awareness of the semantic content of the image and for the moments of absence of conscious perception. Continuous wavelet analysis of EEG showed that the alpha rhythm is the main EEG rhythm, which can be used to estimate the presence of subjective perception of the visual image. Significant differences were shown in the alpha rhythm of EEG for the moments of awareness of the semantic content of the image and for the moments of absence of conscious perception. Conducted studies allow to conclude that revealing of brain activity related to visual image awareness is possible through analysis of EEG.

The Molecularly Fielding Psychophysical Nature of the Brain Mental Activity

The brain is a unique organization in nature, having the psychic activity, which is expressed in subjective states: thoughts, feelings, emotions. Knowledge of the nature of mental activity of the brain is the most urgent and the most challenging task of physiology. Historically the neurophysiology developed on the basis of physical and chemical laws discovered in an inanimate nature. Our investigation is devoted towards the origin of a human subjective state, and presents a new methodology for studying of the nature psychic brain activity. We have established the existence of physical phenomena unique for the living brain so-called “psychogenic field”, which reflects the expressed psychic state of human brain. The subjective state of a human being was shown to affect remotely the physicochemical properties of the blood. An original schematic diagram is presented to describe the formation of the brain psychic activity. This approach is based on the feedback influence of a psychogenic field on neuronal molecular processes (self-induction in the brain). We propose a paradigm for the origin of psychic state and possible existence of the fields, which are unique for the brain. The presented scheme and paradigm of systemic organization of psychic activity of the brain are a prerequisite for the subsequent development of the theory consciousness.

Biogenic Amine Neurotransmitter Response to Morphine in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Predicts Propensity for Acquiring Self-Administration and the Intensity of the Withdrawal Syndrome

Individual differences in behavioral characteristics or initial responses to abused drugs had been recently demonstrated to have predictive value in the propensity of later abuse. The research described here was initiated to determine the initial response of rats to administration of morphine if the physiological response has predictive value for the propensity of the animals to later self-administration. The initial response of extracellular fluid levels of the biogenic monoamine neurotransmitters in the anterior cingulate cortex (aCC) was assessed in drug rats with in vivo microdialysis following administration of morphine. Rats that did not acquire morphine self-administration (NSA) had higher baseline levels of aCC extracellular fluid levels of dopamine (DA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) than animals that developed stable morphine self-administration (SA). However, the response independent administration of morphine resulted in a dramatic increase in (DA) in aCC in the SA group, while the morphine injection in the NSA rats increased extracellular fluid levels of noradrenaline (NA). It is possible that these differences might be related to the development of physical dependence. Therefore, the development of physical dependence was observed in these animals. There was no relationship between the propensity to self-administration morphine and the development of physical dependence. Rats that showed the highest withdrawal scores had lower extracellular fluid levels of serotonin (5-HT) compared to rats showing low withdrawal scores. Thus, monoamine neuronal innervations of the aCC respond to an initial dose of morphine that is predictive of the later propensity to self-administration and the resistance and predisposition to the formation of opiate dependence, but there is no relationship between these two indices in individual animals. These data add to a growing body of evidence for the involvement of neuronal systems in the aCC in the actions of opiates.

The Action of Chronic Nicotine on the Effects of Ethanol on Anxiety, Locomotion and Metabolism and the Feeding and Drinking Behaviors of Rats

The objective of these experiments was to study the effects of ethanol on the anxiety level, activity, metabolic rate, and feeding and drinking behaviors of rats that were chronically treated with nicotine. The chronic intake of nicotine changed the effects of the acute administration of ethanol. Thus, the nicotine-dependent rats demonstrated a significantly decreased anxiolytic-like effect in response to ethanol than did the control rats. This decrease may lead to a decrease in the sensitivity of animals to the positive reinforcing effects of ethanol and an increase in their consumption to achieve the desired effect. The negative action of ethanol on the metabolism, motor activity and drinking behavior of rats that chronically consumed nicotine was increased. Chronic nicotine intake can be assumed to lead to cross-tolerance of the effects of ethanol. On the contrary, the sensitivity to the action of ethanol increased.

Importance of Monitoring of Emotional Stress and Physiological Functions of Humans during the Night Sleep

The diagnosis of disease and prescription of therapy are mainly realized through the control of physiological functions in humans during wakefulness. However, little attention is paid to evaluate the functional state of a patient in sleep. The efficiency of prescribed medicines is also determined in wakefulness. The effects of these drugs during sleep are usually out-of-sight of a physician. Human psychoemotional state during wakefulness is closely related to sleep. Various serious disturbances in physiological functions appear during the night sleep. They include cardiovascular disorders （hypertensive crisis, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, stroke, etc.）, which may cause sudden death. A large body of evidence shows that stress is followed by sleep disorders. They serve as a factor, which contributes to the development of stress. It should be noted that sleep is the major anti-stress factor. The vicious circle is formed, which can be revealed by a complex control of human physiological functions during wakefulness and sleep. We developed a new methodology and constructed an information-and-equipment device for monitoring of vital physiological functions of humans during sleep in a real everyday life. This approach holds much promise for the diagnosis of disease and evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.

Effects of Peripherally Acting Opioid Ligands on Central Opioid Receptors and <i>β</i>-Endorphin Release in Stressed Rats

Using the radioreceptor binding assay, μ-opioid receptor (MOR) affinity in the midbrain of stressed rats was higher than in naive controls. MOR density in the rat frontal cortex was reduced after stress. Intragastric administration of the MOR antagonist naloxone methiodide was followed by an increase in the number of MORs in the frontal cortex. However, the MOR agonist loperamide significantly decreased the density of MORs in the frontal cortex and midbrain of naive animals. Loperamide and naloxone methiodide were shown to prevent an increase in MOR affinity and a decrease in MOR density in the midbrain of rats after restraint stress. The restraint stress was accompanied by an increase in the release of β-endorphin (BE) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of control rats. After administration, loperamide slightly decreased the release of BE, naloxone methiodide significantly increased the release of BE in the cingulate cortex (CC) of untreated animals, while drugs had no effect on the release of BE in the VTA. The drugs significantly increased the extracellular level of BE in the CC of stressed animals. Loperamide abolished the increase in the stress-induced release of BE in the VTA. By contrast, naloxone methiodide significantly increased the release of BE in the VTA of stressed rats. Our data indicated that activation of peripheral MORs induces depression of the central part of the μ-opioid system, but suppression of peripheral MOR activity induces activation of the central μ-opioid system, the interaction of which can be modulated by stress.

Clustered c-Fos Activation in Rat Hippocampus at the Acquisition Stage of Appetitive Instrumental Learning

To address the issue of how hippocampal neurons are involved into learning progress, we studied c-Fos expression in rat hippocampal subfields at different stages of appetitive instrumental learning. To model the first stage of learning, we pre-trained animals to approach the lever to obtain the food, and then made this behavior ineffective by not reinforcing it during the last session (“mismatch” group). Another group just acquired lever-pressing behavior at that day (“acquisition” group). Animals of the third group performed this well-trained behavior (“performance” group). The number of Fos-positive neurons in all hippocampal regions of the “mismatch” group animals was higher than in the ones of the home cage control group animals. The number of Fos-positive neurons was increased in CA1 and CA3 areas, but not in the dentate gyrus of both the “acquisition” and “performance” group animals as compared with the control group. We also found segmented c-Fos expression, which was more evident in “acquisition” group animals. Thus, our results suggest that during the first (mismatch) stage of learning hippocampal neurons are activated in an equally distributed manner. The following clustered pattern of activated CA1 neurons during the acquisition stage may reflect specialization of these neurons in respect to the specific lever-pressing behavior.

The Acoustic Sensorimotor Gating Predicts the Efficiency of Hypoxic Preconditioning. Participation of the Cholinergic System in This Phenomenon

Moderate one-off hypobaric hypoxia (HBH) provokes preconditioning and prolongs the resistance (T, the time before apnoea) to severe hypobaric hypoxia (SHBH). Hypoxic preconditioning has therapeutic potential;however, the efficiency of hypoxic preconditioning varies greatly and the methods for its preliminary evaluation are absent in both animals and humans. This rodent study evaluates the dependence of SHBH resistance, initiated by HBH, on the rate of sensorimotor gating estimated in the model of the acoustic startle prepulse inhibition (PPI). A stable negative correlation was found between PPI and T. Low doses of the α7 nicotinic receptor agonist, PNU-282987 (PNU), and more pronouncedly dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (a PNU solvent), inverted the correlation between PPI and T from negative to positive. The DMSO and PNU effects were reversed at PPIs of 0.36 - 0.40 (36% - 40%). DMSO increased T values by 52.2% ± 9.7% in the region of lower HBH efficiency (PPI ≥ 0.40) and reduced it by 35.2% ± 9.3% in the region of higher HBH efficiency (PPI < 0.40). PNU reduced both DMSO effects. The involvement of the central cholinergic mechanisms was substantiated in both DMSO and PNU influences on HBH. In conclusion, 1) PPI can be used to predict the efficiency of hypoxic preconditioning and to study its mechanisms, 2) two opposite cholinergic PPI-related mechanisms participate in the preconditioning effects of HBH, 3) the sensitivity of rats to DMSO and PNU diverges when the PPI is 0.36 - 0.40, and 4) DMSO can enhance resistance to severe hypoxia in the region of the lower preconditioning efficiency of HBH at PPI ≥ 0.4.

Mental Activity of the Brain and Emotional Stress

The article considers the biological nature and origins of emotional stress. Emotional stress is primarily formed in the mental activity of the brain in the form of pronounced long-term negative emotions and is secondarily manifested in neurophysiological mechanisms and somatovegetative processes. However, all studies of the development of emotional stress are focused on the study of central neurophysiological mechanisms, excluding the possibility of analysis for the “sources” of emotional stress, which is primarily formed in the subjective sphere of brain activity, i.e., in the mechanisms of emotions. In our studies, we propose a fundamentally new methodology for studying the mental activity of the human brain and, in particular, the mechanisms of emotions. Thereby, modern methods of psychophysiology make it possible to come closer to understanding the nature of emotional stress.

Light-stimulated adaptive artificial synapse based on nanocrystalline metal-oxide film

Artificial synapses utilizing spike signals are essential elements of new generation brain-inspired computers.In this paper,we realize light-stimulated adaptive artificial synapse based on nanocrystalline zinc oxide film.The artificial synapse photoconductivity shows spike-type signal response,long and short-term memory(LTM and STM),STM-to-LTM transition and paired-pulse facilitation.It is also retaining the memory of previous exposures and demonstrates spike-frequency adaptation properties.A way to implement neurons with synaptic depression,tonic excitation,and delayed accelerating types of response under the influence of repetitive light signals is discussed.The developed artificial synapse is able to become a key element of neuromorphic chips and neuromorphic sensorics systems.