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Wang X, Leong ATL, Tan SZK, Wong EC, Liu Y, Lim LW, Wu EX. Functional MRI reveals brain-wide actions of thalamically-initiated oscillatory activities on associative memory consolidation. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2195. [PMID: 37069169 PMCID: PMC10110623 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37682-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023] Open
Abstract
As a key oscillatory activity in the brain, thalamic spindle activities are long believed to support memory consolidation. However, their propagation characteristics and causal actions at systems level remain unclear. Using functional MRI (fMRI) and electrophysiology recordings in male rats, we found that optogenetically-evoked somatosensory thalamic spindle-like activities targeted numerous sensorimotor (cortex, thalamus, brainstem and basal ganglia) and non-sensorimotor limbic regions (cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus) in a stimulation frequency- and length-dependent manner. Thalamic stimulation at slow spindle frequency (8 Hz) and long spindle length (3 s) evoked the most robust brain-wide cross-modal activities. Behaviorally, evoking these global cross-modal activities during memory consolidation improved visual-somatosensory associative memory performance. More importantly, parallel visual fMRI experiments uncovered response potentiation in brain-wide sensorimotor and limbic integrative regions, especially superior colliculus, periaqueductal gray, and insular, retrosplenial and frontal cortices. Our study directly reveals that thalamic spindle activities propagate in a spatiotemporally specific manner and that they consolidate associative memory by strengthening multi-target memory representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xunda Wang
- Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Alex T L Leong
- Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Shawn Z K Tan
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Eddie C Wong
- Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yilong Liu
- Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lee-Wei Lim
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ed X Wu
- Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Mostame P, Sadaghiani S. Phase- and amplitude-coupling are tied by an intrinsic spatial organization but show divergent stimulus-related changes. Neuroimage 2020; 219:117051. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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Hunt BAE, Scratch SE, Mossad SI, Emami Z, Taylor MJ, Dunkley BT. Disrupted Visual Cortex Neurophysiology Following Very Preterm Birth. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2019; 5:951-960. [PMID: 31706907 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2019] [Revised: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Visual regions develop rapidly in utero and throughout early childhood, but very preterm (VPT) birth can disrupt the typical maturation of primary cortices, with VPT children exhibiting mild visual impairments in early life and throughout development. This is thought to be due to dysfunctional maturation of occipital cortices. A way to readily index brain function is to examine neural oscillations; these mechanisms play a central role in the modeling and pruning of connections, providing an intrinsic temporal structure that refines the precise alignment of spiking, processing information in the brain, and coordinating networks. METHODS Using magnetoencephalography, we examined regional oscillatory patterns and functional coupling in VPT and full-term children. Five minutes of eyes-open resting-state data were acquired from 27 VPT and 32 full-term children at 8 years of age. RESULTS As hypothesized, the VPT group, when compared with control children, had elevated theta-band power, while alpha amplitude envelope coupling, a marker of connectivity, was found to be decreased. CONCLUSIONS These results support the hypothesis of spectral slowing in VPT children and more broadly suggest that the developmental arc of visual neurophysiology is disrupted by VPT birth. We conclude that these deficits underlie difficulties in complex visual perceptual processing evident during childhood and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin A E Hunt
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Shannon E Scratch
- Holland Bloorview Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Bloorview Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sarah I Mossad
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zahra Emami
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Margot J Taylor
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Benjamin T Dunkley
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Galindo-Leon EE, Stitt I, Pieper F, Stieglitz T, Engler G, Engel AK. Context-specific modulation of intrinsic coupling modes shapes multisensory processing. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaar7633. [PMID: 30989107 PMCID: PMC6457939 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar7633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Intrinsically generated patterns of coupled neuronal activity are associated with the dynamics of specific brain states. Sensory inputs are extrinsic factors that can perturb these intrinsic coupling modes, creating a complex scenario in which forthcoming stimuli are processed. Studying this intrinsic-extrinsic interplay is necessary to better understand perceptual integration and selection. Here, we show that this interplay leads to a reconfiguration of functional cortical connectivity that acts as a mechanism to facilitate stimulus processing. Using audiovisual stimulation in anesthetized ferrets, we found that this reconfiguration of coupling modes is context specific, depending on long-term modulation by repetitive sensory inputs. These reconfigured coupling modes lead to changes in latencies and power of local field potential responses that support multisensory integration. Our study demonstrates that this interplay extends across multiple time scales and involves different types of intrinsic coupling. These results suggest a previously unknown large-scale mechanism that facilitates multisensory integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar E. Galindo-Leon
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Iain Stitt
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Florian Pieper
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Stieglitz
- Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gerhard Engler
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas K. Engel
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
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Helfrich RF, Breska A, Knight RT. Neural entrainment and network resonance in support of top-down guided attention. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 29:82-89. [PMID: 30690228 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Which neural mechanisms provide the functional basis of top-down guided cognitive control? Here, we review recent evidence that suggest that the neural basis of attention is inherently rhythmic. In particular, we discuss two physical properties of self-sustained networks, namely entrainment and resonance, and how these shape the timescale of attentional control. Several recent findings revealed theta-band (3-8 Hz) dynamics in top-down guided behavior. These reports were paralleled by intracranial recordings, which implicated theta oscillations in the organization of functional attention networks. We discuss how the intrinsic network architecture shapes covert attentional sampling as well as overt behavior. Taken together, we posit that theta rhythmicity is an inherent feature of the attention network in support of top-down guided goal-directed behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Randolph F Helfrich
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, 132 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Assaf Breska
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, 132 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Dept. of Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Robert T Knight
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, 132 Barker Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Dept. of Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Bockhorst T, Pieper F, Engler G, Stieglitz T, Galindo-Leon E, Engel AK. Synchrony surfacing: Epicortical recording of correlated action potentials. Eur J Neurosci 2018; 48:3583-3596. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.14167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2018] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Bockhorst
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Hamburg Germany
| | - Florian Pieper
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Hamburg Germany
| | - Gerhard Engler
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Hamburg Germany
| | - Thomas Stieglitz
- Department of Microsystems Engineering -IMTEK; Laboratory for Biomedical Microsystems; Albert-Ludwig-University of Freiburg; Freiburg Germany
- BrainLinks-BrainTools; Albert-Ludwig-University of Freiburg; Freiburg Germany
- Bernstein Center Freiburg; Albert-Ludwig-University of Freiburg; Freiburg Germany
| | - Edgar Galindo-Leon
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Hamburg Germany
| | - Andreas K. Engel
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology; University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf; Hamburg Germany
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7
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Stitt I, Zhou ZC, Radtke-Schuller S, Fröhlich F. Arousal dependent modulation of thalamo-cortical functional interaction. Nat Commun 2018; 9:2455. [PMID: 29941957 PMCID: PMC6018110 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04785-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Ongoing changes in arousal influence sensory processing and behavioral performance. Yet the circuit-level correlates for this influence remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate how functional interaction between posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and lateral posterior (LP)/Pulvinar is influenced by ongoing fluctuations in pupil-linked arousal, which is a non-invasive measure of neuromodulatory tone in the brain. We find that fluctuations in pupil-linked arousal correlate with changes to PPC to LP/Pulvinar oscillatory interaction, with cortical alpha oscillations driving activity during low arousal states, and LP/Pulvinar driving PPC in the theta frequency band during higher arousal states. Active visual exploration by saccadic eye movements elicits similar transitions in thalamo-cortical interaction. Furthermore, the presentation of naturalistic video stimuli induces thalamo-cortical network states closely resembling epochs of high arousal in the absence of visual input. Thus, neuromodulators may play a role in dynamically sculpting the patterns of thalamo-cortical functional interaction that underlie visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain Stitt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Zhe Charles Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Susanne Radtke-Schuller
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Flavio Fröhlich
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Neurobiology Curriculum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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Dunkley BT, Urban K, Da Costa L, Wong SM, Pang EW, Taylor MJ. Default Mode Network Oscillatory Coupling Is Increased Following Concussion. Front Neurol 2018; 9:280. [PMID: 29755402 PMCID: PMC5932404 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 04/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Concussion is a common form of mild traumatic brain injury. Despite the descriptor "mild," a single injury can leave long-lasting and sustained alterations to brain function, including changes to localized activity and large-scale interregional communication. Cognitive complaints are thought to arise from such functional deficits. We investigated the impact of injury on neurophysiological and functionally specialized resting networks, known as intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs), using magnetoencephalography. We assessed neurophysiological connectivity in 40 males, 20 with concussion and 20 without. Regions-of-interest that comprise nodes of ICNs were defined, and their time courses derived using a beamformer approach. Pairwise fluctuations and covariations in band-limited amplitude envelopes were computed reflecting measures of functional connectivity. Intra-network connectivity was compared between groups using permutation testing and correlated with symptoms. We observed increased resting spectral connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) and motor networks (MOTs) in our concussion group when compared with controls, across alpha through gamma ranges. Moreover, these differences were not explained by power spectrum density within the ICNs. Furthermore, this increased coupling was significantly associated with symptoms in the DMN and MOTs-but once accounting for comorbidities (including, depression, anxiety, and ADHD) only the DMN continued to be associated with symptoms. The DMN plays a critical role in shifting between cognitive tasks. These data suggest even a single concussion can perturb the intrinsic coupling of this functionally specialized network in the brain, and may explain persistent and wide-ranging symptomatology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin T. Dunkley
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, Sick Kids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Karolina Urban
- Holland-Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Simeon M Wong
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Elizabeth W. Pang
- Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, Sick Kids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margot J. Taylor
- Department of Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Neurosciences & Mental Health Program, Sick Kids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Abstract
Our continuous perception of the world could be the result of discrete sampling, where individual snapshots are seamlessly fused into a coherent stream. It has been argued that endogenous oscillatory brain activity could provide the functional substrate of cortical rhythmic sampling. A new study demonstrates that cortical rhythmic sampling is tightly linked to the oculomotor system, thus providing a novel perspective on the neural network underlying top-down guided visual perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Randolph F. Helfrich
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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10
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Zijlmans M, Worrell GA, Dümpelmann M, Stieglitz T, Barborica A, Heers M, Ikeda A, Usui N, Le Van Quyen M. How to record high-frequency oscillations in epilepsy: A practical guideline. Epilepsia 2017. [PMID: 28622421 DOI: 10.1111/epi.13814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Technology for localizing epileptogenic brain regions plays a central role in surgical planning. Recent improvements in acquisition and electrode technology have revealed that high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) within the 80-500 Hz frequency range provide the neurophysiologist with new information about the extent of the epileptogenic tissue in addition to ictal and interictal lower frequency events. Nevertheless, two decades after their discovery there remain questions about HFOs as biomarkers of epileptogenic brain and there use in clinical practice. METHODS In this review, we provide practical, technical guidance for epileptologists and clinical researchers on recording, evaluation, and interpretation of ripples, fast ripples, and very high-frequency oscillations. RESULTS We emphasize the importance of low noise recording to minimize artifacts. HFO analysis, either visual or with automatic detection methods, of high fidelity recordings can still be challenging because of various artifacts including muscle, movement, and filtering. Magnetoencephalography and intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) recordings are subject to the same artifacts. SIGNIFICANCE High-frequency oscillations are promising new biomarkers in epilepsy. This review provides interested researchers and clinicians with a review of current state of the art of recording and identification and potential challenges to clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maeike Zijlmans
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands
| | - Gregory A Worrell
- Mayo Systems Electrophysiology Laboratory, Departments of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.A
| | - Matthias Dümpelmann
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Stieglitz
- Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology, Department of Microsystems Engineering-IMTEK and BrainLinks-BrainTools Cluster of Excellence, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Marcel Heers
- Epilepsy Center, Medical Center - Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Brainlinks-Braintools, Cluster of Excellence, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,Ruhr-Epileptology/Department of Neurology, University Hospital Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Akio Ikeda
- Department of Epilepsy, Movement Disorders and Physiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Naotaka Usui
- National Epilepsy Center, Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Michel Le Van Quyen
- Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, Paris, France
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Sukhinin DI, Engel AK, Manger P, Hilgetag CC. Building the Ferretome. Front Neuroinform 2016; 10:16. [PMID: 27242503 PMCID: PMC4861729 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2016.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2015] [Accepted: 04/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Databases of structural connections of the mammalian brain, such as CoCoMac (cocomac.g-node.org) or BAMS (https://bams1.org), are valuable resources for the analysis of brain connectivity and the modeling of brain dynamics in species such as the non-human primate or the rodent, and have also contributed to the computational modeling of the human brain. Another animal model that is widely used in electrophysiological or developmental studies is the ferret; however, no systematic compilation of brain connectivity is currently available for this species. Thus, we have started developing a database of anatomical connections and architectonic features of the ferret brain, the Ferret(connect)ome, www.Ferretome.org. The Ferretome database has adapted essential features of the CoCoMac methodology and legacy, such as the CoCoMac data model. This data model was simplified and extended in order to accommodate new data modalities that were not represented previously, such as the cytoarchitecture of brain areas. The Ferretome uses a semantic parcellation of brain regions as well as a logical brain map transformation algorithm (objective relational transformation, ORT). The ORT algorithm was also adopted for the transformation of architecture data. The database is being developed in MySQL and has been populated with literature reports on tract-tracing observations in the ferret brain using a custom-designed web interface that allows efficient and validated simultaneous input and proofreading by multiple curators. The database is equipped with a non-specialist web interface. This interface can be extended to produce connectivity matrices in several formats, including a graphical representation superimposed on established ferret brain maps. An important feature of the Ferretome database is the possibility to trace back entries in connectivity matrices to the original studies archived in the system. Currently, the Ferretome contains 50 reports on connections comprising 20 injection reports with more than 150 labeled source and target areas, the majority reflecting connectivity of subcortical nuclei and 15 descriptions of regional brain architecture. We hope that the Ferretome database will become a useful resource for neuroinformatics and neural modeling, and will support studies of the ferret brain as well as facilitate advances in comparative studies of mesoscopic brain connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitrii I Sukhinin
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andreas K Engel
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany
| | - Paul Manger
- School of Anatomical Science, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Claus C Hilgetag
- Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany; Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, BostonMA, USA
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