Cognitive functions are often studied using eventrelated potentials(ERPs)that are usually estimated by an averaging algorithm.Clearly,estimation of single-trial ERPs can provide researchers with many more details of cognitive activity than the averaging algorithm.A novel method to estimate single-trial ERPs is proposed in this paper.This method includes two key ideas.First,singular value decomposition was used to construct a matrix,which mapped singletrial electroencephalographic recordings(EEG)into a low-dimensional vector that contained little information from the spontaneous EEG.Second,we used the theory of compressed sensing to build a procedure to restore single-trial ERPs from this low-dimensional vector.ERPs are sparse or approximately sparse in the frequency domain.This fact allowed us to use the theory of compressed sensing.We verified this method in simulated and real data.Our method and dVCA(differentially variable component analysis),another method of single-trial ERPs estimation,were both used to estimate single-trial ERPs from the same simulated data.Results demonstrated that our method significantly outperforms dVCA under various conditions of signal-to-noise ratio.Moreover,the single-trial ERPs estimated from the real data by our method are statistically consistent with the theories of cognitive science.
Recently, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging has been used to parcellate the brain into functionally distinct regions based on the information available in functional connectivity maps. However, brain voxels are not independent units and adjacent voxels are always highly correlated, so functional connectivity maps contain redundant information, which not only impairs the computational efficiency during clustering, but also reduces the accuracy of clustering results. The aim of this study was to propose feature-reduction approaches to reduce the redundancy and to develop semisimulated data with defined ground truth to evaluate these approaches. We proposed a feature-reduction approach based on the Affinity Propagation Algorithm (APA) and compared it with the classic featurereduction approach based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We tested the two approaches to the parcellation of both semisimulated and real seed regions using the K-means algorithm and designed two experiments to evaluate their noiseresistance. We found that all functional connectivity maps (with/without feature reduction) provided correct information for the parcellation of the semisimulated seed region and the computational efficiency was greatly improved by both featurereduction approaches. Meanwhile, the APA-based feature-reduction approach outperformed the PCAbased approach in noise-resistance. The results suggested that functional connectivity maps can provide correct information for cortical parcellation, and feature-reduction does not significantly change the information. Considering the improvement in computational efficiency and the noise-resistance, feature-reduction of functional connectivity maps before cortical parcellation is both feasible and necessary.
Xiaoguang TianCirong LiuTianzi JiangJoshua RizakYuanye MaXintian Hu
Opiates and dopamine (DA) play key roles in learning and memory in humans and animals. Although interactions between these neurotransmitters have been found, their functional roles remain to be fully elucidated, and their dysfunction may contribute to human diseases and addiction. Here we investigated the interactions of morphine and dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems with respect to learning and memory in rhesus monkeys by using the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA) delayed-response task. Morphine and DA agonists (SKF-38393, apomorphine and bromocriptine) or DA antagonists (SKF-83566, haloperidol and sulpiride) were co-administered to the monkeys 30 min prior to the task. We found that dose-patterned co-administration of morphine with D1 or D2 antagonists or agonists reversed the impaired spatial working memory induced by morphine or the compounds alone. For example, morphine at 0.01 mg/kg impaired spatial working memory, while morphine (0.01 mg/kg) and apomorphine (0.01 or 0.06 mg/kg) co-treatment ameliorated this effect. Our findings suggest that the interactions between morphine and dopaminergic compounds influence spatial working memory in rhesus monkeys. A better understanding of these interactive relationships may provide insights into human addiction.
Jian-Hong WangJoshua Dominie RizakYan-Mei ChenLiang LiXin-Tian HuYuan-Ye Ma
条件化位置偏好(conditioned place preference,CPP),常用于研究药物成瘾的相关记忆。这里主要综述了一些药物对CPP的影响。神经肽S,神经肽FF,肌肽,孤啡肽,α-2受体激动剂,L-左旋千金藤啶碱,东莨菪碱,丙戊酸钠,巴氯芬对吗啡CPP有抑制效应;聚肌胞苷酸,氟伏沙明和金刚烷胺能增强吗啡CPP;阿坎酸能抑制乙醇和某些类别的滥用药物的条件化奖赏效应,但不影响吗啡引起的条件化奖赏效应;褪黑激素逆转吗啡诱导的奖赏效应;人重组干扰素-α导致吗啡CPP的恢复。
Morphine can modulate the processes underlying memory in vertebrates. However, studies have shown various modulations by morphine: positive, negative and even neutral. The honeybee is a potential platform for evaluating the effects of drugs, especially addictive drugs, on the nervous system. However, the involvement of morphine in learning and memory in insects or other invertebrates is poorly understood. The current work evaluated whether morphine affects memory acquisition, consolidation and retrieval in honeybees, using the proboscis extension response (PER) paradigm. We demonstrated that morphine treatment (5 μg/bee) before training decreased the percentage of correct PERs and the response latency related to aversive rather than rewarding odors when tested after 1 or 24 h. Morphine treatment after training also caused a decrease in this latency when tested after 24 h. Meanwhile, morphine treatment reduced the ambulation distance when tested after 30 min. Our findings suggest that morphine impairs the acquisition of short-and long-term associative memory and slightly disrupts the consolidation of long-term memory in honeybees. These negative effects cannot be explained by reduced locomotion but by impaired memory associated with aversion.
Yu FuYanmei ChenTao YaoPeng LiYuanye MaJianhong Wang
The prefrontal cortex is implicated in cognitive functioning and schizophrenia. Prefrontal dysfunction is closely associated with the symptoms of schizophrenia. In addition to the features typical of schizophrenia, patients also present with aspects of cognitive disorders. Based on these relationships, a monkey model mimicking the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia has been made using treatment with the non-specific competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, phencyclidine. The symptoms are ameliorated by atypical antipsychotic drugs such as clozapine. The beneficial effects of clozapine on behavioral impairment might be a specific indicator of schizophrenia-related cognitive impairment.
Prepulse inhibition(PPI) refers to a decreased response to a startling stimulus when another weaker stimulus precedes it. Most PPI studies have focused on the physiological startle reflex and fewer have reported the PPI of cortical responses. We recorded local field potentials(LFPs) in four monkeys and investigated whether the PPI of auditory cortical responses(alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations and evoked potentials) can be demonstrated in the caudolateral belt of the superior temporal gyrus(STGcb). We also investigated whether the presence of a conspecific, which draws attention away from the auditory stimuli, affects the PPI of auditory cortical responses. The PPI paradigm consisted of Pulse-only and Prepulse + Pulse trials that were presented randomly while the monkey was alone(ALONE) and while another monkey was present in the same room(ACCOMP). The LFPs to the Pulse were significantly suppressed by the Prepulse thus, demonstrating PPI of cortical responses in the STGcb. The PPI-related inhibition of the N1 amplitude of the evoked responses and cortical oscillations to the Pulse were not affected by the presence of a conspecific. In contrast, gamma oscillations and the amplitude of the N1 response to Pulse-only were suppressed in the ACCOMP condition compared to the ALONE condition. Thesefindings demonstrate PPI in the monkey STGcb and suggest that the PPI of auditory cortical responses in the monkey STGcb is a pre-attentive inhibitory process that is independent of attentional modulation.
Studies estimating eye movements have demonstrated that non-human primates have fixation patterns similar to humans at the first sight of a picture.In the current study,three sets of pictures containing monkeys,humans or both were presented to rhesus monkeys and humans.The eye movements on these pictures by the two species were recorded using a Tobii eye-tracking system.We found that monkeys paid more attention to the head and body in pictures containing monkeys,whereas both monkeys and humans paid more attention to the head in pictures containing humans.The humans always concentrated on the eyes and head in all the pictures,indicating the social role of facial cues in society.Although humans paid more attention to the hands than monkeys,both monkeys and humans were interested in the hands and what was being done with them in the pictures.This may suggest the importance and necessity of hands for survival.Finally,monkeys scored lower in eye-tracking when fixating on the pictures,as if they were less interested in looking at the screen than humans.The locations of fixation in monkeys may provide insight into the role of eye movements in an evolutionary context.
Ying-Zhou HuHui-Hui JiangCi-Rong LiuJian-Hong WangCheng-Yang YuSynnve CarlsonShang-Chuan YangVeli-Matti SaarinenJoshua D RizakXiao-Guang TianHen TanZhu-Yue ChenYuan-Ye MaXin-Tian Hu
