Nonlinear, fractal, and spectral analysis of the EEG of lizard, Gallotia galloti

Mammalian NREM and REM sleep: Why, when and how

This report proposes that fish use the spinal-rhombencephalic regions of their brain to support their activities while awake. Instead, the brainstem-diencephalic regions support the wakefulness in amphibians and reptiles. Lastly, mammals developed the telencephalic cortex to attain the highest degree of wakefulness, the cortical wakefulness. However, a paralyzed form of spinal-rhombencephalic wakefulness remains in mammals in the form of REMS, whose phasic signs are highly efficient in promoting maternal care to mammalian litter. Therefore, the phasic REMS is highly adaptive. However, their importance is low for singletons, in which it is a neutral trait, devoid of adaptive value for adults, and is mal-adaptive for marine mammals. Therefore, they lost it. The spinal-rhombencephalic and cortical wakeful states disregard the homeostasis: animals only attend their most immediate needs: foraging defense and reproduction. However, these activities generate allostatic loads that must be recovered during NREMS, that is a paralyzed form of the amphibian-reptilian subcortical wakefulness. Regarding the regulation of tonic REMS, it depends on a hypothalamic switch. Instead, the phasic REMS depends on an independent proportional pontine control.

Multiple-Resampling Cross-Spectral Analysis: An Unbiased Tool for Estimating Fractal Connectivity With an Application to Neurophysiological Signals

Investigating scale-free (i.e., fractal) functional connectivity in the brain has recently attracted increasing attention. Although numerous methods have been developed to assess the fractal nature of functional coupling, these typically ignore that neurophysiological signals are assemblies of broadband, arrhythmic activities as well as oscillatory activities at characteristic frequencies such as the alpha waves. While contribution of such rhythmic components may bias estimates of fractal connectivity, they are also likely to represent neural activity and coupling emerging from distinct mechanisms. Irregular-resampling auto-spectral analysis (IRASA) was recently introduced as a tool to separate fractal and oscillatory components in the power spectrum of neurophysiological signals by statistically summarizing the power spectra obtained when resampling the original signal by several non-integer factors. Here we introduce multiple-resampling cross-spectral analysis (MRCSA) as an extension of IRASA from the univariate to the bivariate case, namely, to separate the fractal component of the cross-spectrum between two simultaneously recorded neural signals by applying the same principle. MRCSA does not only provide a theoretically unbiased estimate of the fractal cross-spectrum (and thus its spectral exponent) but also allows for computing the proportion of scale-free coupling between brain regions. As a demonstration, we apply MRCSA to human electroencephalographic recordings obtained in a word generation paradigm. We show that the cross-spectral exponent as well as the proportion of fractal coupling increases almost uniformly over the cortex during the rest-task transition, likely reflecting neural desynchronization. Our results indicate that MRCSA can be a valuable tool for scale-free connectivity studies in characterizing various cognitive states, while it also can be generalized to other applications outside the field of neuroscience.

Analysis of the shapes of coelomocytes of Aphelasterias japonica in vitro (Echinodermata: Asteroidea)

A description and formal classification of in vitro spreading coelomocytes from the Aphelasterias japonica sea star was performed using 39 parameters of linear and nonlinear morphometry based on the correlation, factor, and cluster analysis. The comparison of a variety of clustering models revealed the optimum classification parameters and algorithms. As a result, four morphological types of spreading cells significantly differing in a number of structural parameters were identified. This approach may be an important alternative or addition to classical methods of classification of polymorphic, irregularly shaped cells, in particular, cell elements of the invertebrate immune system. It provides the optimum methodology for structural analysis and classification of cells as a part of their further investigation in terms of structure, function, ontogeny, and diversity.

Toddlers' dysregulated fear predicts delta-beta coupling during preschool

Dysregulated fear, or the persistence of high levels of fear in low-threat contexts, is an early risk factor for the development of anxiety symptoms. Previous work has suggested both propensities for over-control and under-control of fearfulness as risk factors for anxiety problems, each of which may be relevant to observations of dysregulated fear. Given difficulty disentangling over-control and under-control through traditional behavioral measures, we used delta–beta coupling to begin to understand the degree to which dysregulated fear may reflect propensities for over- or under-control. We found that toddlers who showed high levels of dysregulated fear evidenced greater delta–beta coupling at frontal and central electrode sites as preschoolers relative to children who were low in dysregulated fear. Importantly, these differences were not observed when comparisons were made based on fear levels in high threat contexts. Results suggest dysregulated fear may involve tendencies toward over-control at the neural level.

Separating Fractal and Oscillatory Components in the Power Spectrum of Neurophysiological Signal

Neurophysiological field-potential signals consist of both arrhythmic and rhythmic patterns indicative of the fractal and oscillatory dynamics arising from likely distinct mechanisms. Here, we present a new method, namely the irregular-resampling auto-spectral analysis (IRASA), to separate fractal and oscillatory components in the power spectrum of neurophysiological signal according to their distinct temporal and spectral characteristics. In this method, we irregularly resampled the neural signal by a set of non-integer factors, and statistically summarized the auto-power spectra of the resampled signals to separate the fractal component from the oscillatory component in the frequency domain. We tested this method on simulated data and demonstrated that IRASA could robustly separate the fractal component from the oscillatory component. In addition, applications of IRASA to macaque electrocorticography and human magnetoencephalography data revealed a greater power-law exponent of fractal dynamics during sleep compared to wakefulness. The temporal fluctuation in the broadband power of the fractal component revealed characteristic dynamics within and across the eyes-closed, eyes-open and sleep states. These results demonstrate the efficacy and potential applications of this method in analyzing electrophysiological signatures of large-scale neural circuit activity. We expect that the proposed method or its future variations would potentially allow for more specific characterization of the differential contributions of oscillatory and fractal dynamics to distributed neural processes underlying various brain functions.

Evaluation of four methods for inducing death during slaughter of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate physical methods for inducing death during the slaughter of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).

ANIMALS

24 captive hatched-and-reared American alligators.

PROCEDURES

Baseline electroencephalograms (EEGs) were obtained for awake and anesthetized alligators. Corneal reflex, spontaneous blinking, and EEGs were evaluated after severance of the spinal cord, severance of the spinal cord followed by pithing of the brain, application of a penetrating captive bolt, or application of a nonpenetrating captive bolt (6 alligators/group).

RESULTS

Overall, alligators subjected to spinal cord severance alone differed from those subjected to the other techniques. Spinal cord severance alone resulted in postprocedure EEG power values greater than those in anesthetized alligators, whereas the postprocedure EEG power values were isoelectric for the other 3 techniques. Corneal reflex and spontaneous blinking were absent in all alligators immediately after application of a penetrating or nonpenetrating captive bolt. One of 6 alligators had a corneal reflex up to 1 minute after pithing, but all others within that group had immediate cessation of reflexes after pithing. Mean time to loss of spontaneous blinking and corneal reflex for alligators subjected to spinal cord severance alone was 18 minutes (range, 2 to 37 minutes) and 54 minutes (range, 34 to 99 minutes), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Spinal cord severance followed by pithing of the brain and application of a penetrating or nonpenetrating captive bolt appeared to be humane and effective techniques for inducing death in American alligators, whereas spinal cord severance alone was not found to be an appropriate method.

Unraveling the complexities of circadian and sleep interactions with memory formation through invertebrate research

Across phylogeny, the endogenous biological clock has been recognized as providing adaptive advantages to organisms through coordination of physiological and behavioral processes. Recent research has emphasized the role of circadian modulation of memory in generating peaks and troughs in cognitive performance. The circadian clock along with homeostatic processes also regulates sleep, which itself impacts the formation and consolidation of memory. Thus, the circadian clock, sleep and memory form a triad with ongoing dynamic interactions. With technological advances and the development of a global 24/7 society, understanding the mechanisms underlying these connections becomes pivotal for development of therapeutic treatments for memory disorders and to address issues in cognitive performance arising from non-traditional work schedules. Invertebrate models, such as Drosophila melanogaster and the mollusks Aplysia and Lymnaea, have proven invaluable tools for identification of highly conserved molecular processes in memory. Recent research from invertebrate systems has outlined the influence of sleep and the circadian clock upon synaptic plasticity. In this review, we discuss the effects of the circadian clock and sleep on memory formation in invertebrates drawing attention to the potential of in vivo and in vitro approaches that harness the power of simple invertebrate systems to correlate individual cellular processes with complex behaviors. In conclusion, this review highlights how studies in invertebrates with relatively simple nervous systems can provide mechanistic insights into corresponding behaviors in higher organisms and can be used to outline possible therapeutic options to guide further targeted inquiry.

Malondialdehyde suppresses cerebral function by breaking homeostasis between excitation and inhibition in turtle Trachemys scripta

The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) are high in the brain during carbonyl stress, such as following daily activities and sleep deprivation. To examine our hypothesis that MDA is one of the major substances in the brain leading to fatigue, the influences of MDA on brain functions and neuronal encodings in red-eared turtle (Trachemys scripta) were studied. The intrathecal injections of MDA brought about sleep-like EEG and fatigue-like behaviors in a dose-dependent manner. These changes were found associated with the deterioration of encoding action potentials in cortical neurons. In addition, MDA increased the ratio of γ-aminobutyric acid to glutamate in turtle's brain, as well as the sensitivity of GABAergic neurons to inputs compared to excitatory neurons. Therefore, MDA, as a metabolic product in the brain, may weaken cerebral function during carbonyl stress through breaking the homeostasis between excitatory and inhibitory neurons.

Reciprocal relationships between the oscillatory systems of the brain

Resting EEG recordings were made from cohorts of 146 children aged 7-17 years and 132 adults aged 18-32 years and the levels of personality features and psychopathology were assessed using the Eysenck, Spilberger, Gray-Wilson, and Goodman questionnaires. Factor analysis was used to discriminate covariance of measures of the spectral power of EEG rhythms into positive and negative components. The latter were interpreted as a measure of inhibitory interactions between oscillatory systems. In children, positive covariance of rhythms was stronger than in adults, while reciprocal relationships between oscillatory systems were weaker. In adults, trait anxiety correlated positively with the strength of the reciprocal relationship between the alpha and delta oscillatory systems. In children, an analogous relationship was seen between anxiety and the strength of the reciprocal relationship between the theta and delta systems. The data are discussed in the light of the evolutionary interpretation of EEG rhythms.

Nonlinear features of surface EEG showing systematic brain signal adaptations with muscle force and fatigue

Nonlinear dynamics has been introduced to the analysis of biological data and increasingly recognized to be functionally relevant. The purpose of this study was to examine chaotic properties of human scalp EEG signals associated with voluntary motor tasks using the largest Lyapunov exponent (L1). 64-channel scalp EEG data were recorded from eight healthy subjects in two tasks: (1) intermittent handgrip contractions at 20, 40, 60, and 80% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) with 20 trials at each level. No significant fatigue were induced; (2) intermittent handgrip MVCs (100 trials) that resulted in significant fatigue. The L1 values of all EEG channels were calculated in each trial first then averaged across the 20 trials at each force level (Task 1) or over each of the 5-trial blocks (Task 2) before the group means were obtained. A multivariate statistical model was used to examine the effect of force and fatigue on L1. L1 values were greater with higher force (Task 1), and decreased significantly with fatigue (Task 2). The L1 of the EEG signals changes systematically and correlates significantly with muscle force and fatigue. The results suggest that nonlinear chaotic index L1 may serve as a quantitative measure for motor control-related cortical signal adaptations.

Motivation, emotion, and their inhibitory control mirrored in brain oscillations

Recent studies suggest brain oscillations as a mechanism for cerebral integration. Such integration can exist across a number of functional domains, with different frequency rhythms associated with each domain. Here, evidence is summarized which shows that delta oscillations depend on activity of motivational systems and participate in salience detection. Theta oscillations are involved in memory and emotional regulation. Alpha oscillations participate in inhibitory processes which contribute to a variety of cognitive operations such as attention and memory. The importance of inhibitory functions associated with alpha oscillations increases during the course of evolution. In ontogenesis, these functions develop later and may be more sensitive to a variety of detrimental environmental influences. In a number of developmental stages and pathological conditions, a deficient alpha and/or increased slow-wave activity are associated with cognitive deficits and a lack of inhibitory control. It is shown that slow-wave and alpha oscillations are reciprocally related to each other. This reciprocal relationship may reflect an inhibitory control over motivational and emotional drives which is implemented by the prefrontal cortex.

Mammalian sleep

This review examines the biological background to the development of ideas on rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep), so-called paradoxical sleep (PS), and its relation to dreaming. Aspects of the phenomenon which are discussed include physiological changes and their anatomical location, the effects of total and selective sleep deprivation in the human and animal, and REM sleep behavior disorder, the latter with its clinical manifestations in the human. Although dreaming also occurs in other sleep phases (non-REM or NREM sleep), in the human, there is a contingent relation between REM sleep and dreaming. Thus, REM is taken as a marker for dreaming and as REM is distributed ubiquitously throughout the mammalian class, it is suggested that other mammals also dream. It is suggested that the overall function of REM sleep/dreaming is more important than the content of the individual dream; its function is to place the dreamer protagonist/observer on the topographical world. This has importance for the developing infant who needs to develop a sense of self and separateness from the world which it requires to navigate and from which it is separated for long periods in sleep. Dreaming may also serve to maintain a sense of 'I'ness or "self" in the adult, in whom a fragility of this faculty is revealed in neurological disorders.