Spiking patterns of a hippocampus model in electric fields

We develop a model of CA3 neurons embedded in a resistive array to mimic the effects of electric fields from a new perspective. Effects of DC and sinusoidal electric fields on firing patterns in CA3 neurons are investigated in this study. The firing patterns can be switched from no firing pattern to burst or from burst to fast periodic firing pattern with the increase of DC electric field intensity. It is also found that the firing activities are sensitive to the frequency and amplitude of the sinusoidal electric field. Different phase-locking states and chaotic firing regions are observed in the parameter space of frequency and amplitude. These findings are qualitatively in accordance with the results of relevant experimental and numerical studies. It is implied that the external or endogenous electric field can modulate the neural code in the brain. Furthermore, it is helpful to develop control strategies based on electric fields to control neural diseases such as epilepsy.     

Parkinsonian oscillations and their suppression by closed-loop deep brain stimulation based on fuzzy concept

This paper provides an adaptive closed-loop strategy for suppressing the pathological oscillations of the basal ganglia based on a variable universe fuzzy algorithm. The pathological basal ganglia oscillations in the theta (4-9 Hz) and beta (12-35 Hz) frequency bands have been demonstrated to be associated with the tremor and rigidity/bradykinesia symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although the clinical application of open-loop deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective, the stimulation waveform with the fixed parameters cannot be self-adjusted as the disease progresses, and thus the stimulation effects go poor. To deal with this difficult problem, a variable universe fuzzy closed-loop strategy is proposed to modulate different PD states. We establish a cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical network model to simulate pathological oscillations and test the control effect. The results suggest that the proposed closed-loop control strategy can accommodate the variation of brain states and symptoms, which may become an alternative method to administrate the symptoms in PD.     

Modulation of electroencephalograph activity by manual acupuncture stimulation in healthy subjects:An autoregressive spectral analysis

To investigate whether and how manual acupuncture(MA) modulates brain activities,we design an experiment where acupuncture at acupoint ST36 of the right leg is used to obtain electroencephalograph(EEG) signals in healthy subjects.We adopt the autoregressive(AR) Burg method to estimate the power spectrum of EEG signals and analyze the relative powers in delta(0 Hz-4 Hz),theta(4 Hz-8 Hz),alpha(8 Hz-13 Hz),and beta(13 Hz-30 Hz) bands.Our results show that MA at ST36 can significantly increase the EEG slow wave relative power(delta band) and reduce the fast wave relative powers(alpha and beta bands),while there are no statistical differences in theta band relative power between different acupuncture states.In order to quantify the ratio of slow to fast wave EEG activity,we compute the power ratio index.It is found that the MA can significantly increase the power ratio index,especially in frontal and central lobes.All the results highlight the modulation of brain activities with MA and may provide potential help for the clinical use of acupuncture.The proposed quantitative method of acupuncture signals may be further used to make MA more standardized.     

Characterizing neural activities evoked by manual acupuncture through spiking irregularity measures

The neural system characterizes information in external stimulations by different spiking patterns. In order to examine how neural spiking patterns are related to acupuncture manipulations, experiments are designed in such a way that different types of manual acupuncture （MA） manipulations are taken at the ＇Zusanli＇ point of experimental rats, and the induced electrical signals in the spinal dorsal root ganglion are detected and recorded. The interspike interval （ISI） statistical histogram is fitted by the gamma distribution, which has two parameters： one is the time-dependent firing rate and the other is a shape parameter characterizing the spiking irregularities. The shape parameter is the measure of spiking irregularities and can be used to identify the type of MA manipulations. The coefficient of variation is mostly used to measure the spike time irregularity, but it overestimates the irregularity in the case of pronounced firing rate changes. However, experiments show that each acupuncture manipulation will lead to changes in the firing rate. So we combine four relatively rate- independent measures to study the irregularity of spike trains evoked by different types of MA manipulations. Results suggest that the MA manipulations possess unique spiking statistics and characteristics and can be distinguished according to the spiking irregularity measures. These studies have offered new insights into the coding processes and information transfer of acupuncture.     

耦合小世界神经网络的随机共振

噪声广泛存在于生物神经系统中,对系统功能具有重要作用.采用神经元二维映射模型构建一个复杂神经网络,由多个小世界子网络构成,研究了Gaussian白噪声诱导的随机共振现象.研究发现,只有合适的噪声强度才能使神经网络对输入刺激信号的频率响应达到峰值.另外,网络结构对系统随机共振特性有重要影响.在固定的耦合强度下,存在一个最优的局部小世界子网络结构,使得整个系统的频率响应最佳.     

Characteristics analysis of acupuncture electroencephalograph based on mutual information Lempel-Ziv complexity

As a convenient approach to the characterization of cerebral cortex electrical information,electroencephalograph (EEG) has potential clinical application in monitoring the acupuncture effects.In this paper,a method composed of the mutual information method and Lempel-Ziv complexity method (MILZC) is proposed to investigate the effects of acupuncture on the complexity of information exchanges between different brain regions based on EEGs.In the experiments,eight subjects are manually acupunctured at ’Zusanli’ acupuncture point (ST-36) with different frequencies (i.e.,50,100,150,and 200 times/min) and the EEGs are recorded simultaneously.First,MILZC values are compared in general.Then average brain connections are used to quantify the effectiveness of acupuncture under the above four frequencies.Finally,significance index P values are used to study the spatiality of the acupuncture effect on the brain.Three main findings are obtained:(i) MILZC values increase during the acupuncture;(ii) manual acupunctures (MAs) with 100 times/min and 150 times/min are more effective than with 50 times/min and 200 times/min;(iii) contralateral hemisphere activation is more prominent than ipsilateral hemisphere’s.All these findings suggest that acupuncture contributes to the increase of brain information exchange complexity and the MILZC method can successfully describe these changes.     

最小神经元模型放电起始动态控制与分析

本文采用最小神经元模型,从生理学角度设计wash-out滤波器,实现了不同放电起始动态机理之间的转换,并证明wash-out滤波器控制通过影响阈下电流的竞争结果改变了神经元的放电起始动态机理. 关键词： 放电起始动态机理 阈下电流竞争 最小神经元模型 wash-out滤波器     

基于复杂度的针刺脑电信号特征提取

为探究针灸刺激对大脑活动产生的影响,文章设计了4种针刺频率针刺右腿足三里穴获取脑电的实验.首次采用排序递归图和关联维数方法提取针刺脑电信号的复杂度参数来反映针刺大脑的功能状态,并基于这些方法研究了针刺作用对大脑功能区域的影响以及不同针刺频率与脑电复杂度的相关性.发现针刺时脑电的复杂度高于针刺前,尤以频率为100次/min的针刺影响最为明显;从FP2, F7, T3导联脑电中提取的确定性指标(DET)可作为区分针刺状态与针刺前状态的一种特征参数. 关键词： 针灸 脑电 排序递归图 关联维数     

Bursting synchronization in clustered neuronal networks

Neuronal networks in the brain exhibit the modular (clustered) property, i.e., they are composed of certain subnetworks with differential internal and external connectivity. We investigate bursting synchronization in a clustered neuronal network. A transition to mutual-phase synchronization takes place on the bursting time scale of coupled neurons, while on the spiking time scale, they behave asynchronously. This synchronization transition can be induced by the variations of inter- and intra- coupling strengths, as well as the probability of random links between different subnetworks. Considering that some pathological conditions are related with the synchronization of bursting neurons in the brain, we analyze the control of bursting synchronization by using a time-periodic external signal in the clustered neuronal network. Simulation results show a frequency locking tongue in the driving parameter plane, where bursting synchronization is maintained, even in the presence of external driving. Hence, effective synchronization suppression can be realized with the driving parameters outside the frequency locking region.     

The modulation of brain functional connectivity with manual acupuncture in healthy subjects:An electroencephalograph case study

Manual acupuncture is widely used for pain relief and stress control.Previous studies on acupuncture have shown its modulatory effects on the functional connectivity associated with one or a few preselected brain regions.To investigate how manual acupuncture modulates the organization of functional networks at a whole-brain level,we acupuncture at ST36 of a right leg to obtain electroencephalograph(EEG) signals.By coherence estimation,we determine the synchronizations between all pairwise combinations of EEG channels in three acupuncture states.The resulting synchronization matrices are converted into functional networks by applying a threshold,and the clustering coefficients and path lengths are computed as a function of threshold.The results show that acupuncture can increase functional connections and synchronizations between different brain areas.For a wide range of thresholds,the clustering coefficient during acupuncture and postacupuncture period is higher than that during the pre-acupuncture control period,whereas the characteristic path length is shorter.We provide further support for the presence of "small-world" network characteristics in functional networks by using acupuncture.These preliminary results highlight the beneficial modulations of functional connectivity by manual acupuncture,which could contribute to the understanding of the effects of acupuncture on the entire brain,as well as the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying acupuncture.Moreover,the proposed method may be a useful approach to the further investigation of the complexity of patterns of interrelations between EEG channels.