Current opinion in neurobiology
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Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. · Oct 2017
Computational training for the next generation of neuroscientists.
Neuroscience research has become increasingly reliant upon quantitative and computational data analysis and modeling techniques. However, the vast majority of neuroscientists are still trained within the traditional biology curriculum, in which computational and quantitative approaches beyond elementary statistics may be given little emphasis. Here we provide the results of an informal poll of computational and other neuroscientists that sought to identify critical needs, areas for improvement, and educational resources for computational neuroscience training. Motivated by this survey, we suggest steps to facilitate quantitative and computational training for future neuroscientists.
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Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. · Jun 2017
ReviewNeural oscillations demonstrate that general anesthesia and sedative states are neurophysiologically distinct from sleep.
General anesthesia is a man-made neurophysiological state comprised of unconsciousness, amnesia, analgesia, and immobility along with maintenance of physiological stability. Growing evidence suggests that anesthetic-induced neural oscillations are a primary mechanism of anesthetic action. ⋯ Physiological measurements (electrooculogram, electromyogram) and neural oscillatory (electroencephalogram) dynamics are used to empirically characterize sleep into rapid eye movement sleep and the three stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep. In this review, we discuss the differences between anesthesia- and sleep-induced altered states from the perspective of neural oscillations.
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Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. · Feb 2016
ReviewAfferent hyperexcitability in neuropathic pain and the inconvenient truth about its degeneracy.
Neuropathic pain, which arises from damage to the nervous system, is a major unmet clinical challenge. Reversing the neuronal hyperexcitability induced by nerve damage is a logical treatment strategy but has proven frustratingly difficult. Here, we propose a novel explanation for that difficulty. ⋯ Despite offering multiple drug targets, this scenario is problematic: if multiple sufficient changes are triggered by nerve injury, then no single change is necessary for hyperexcitability. This so-called degeneracy compromises therapeutic interventions because drug effects on any one ion channel can be circumvented by changes occurring in other ion channels. Overcoming degeneracy demands a more integrative approach to drug discovery.
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Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. · Aug 2015
ReviewSkilled forelimb movements and internal copy motor circuits.
Mammalian skilled forelimb movements are remarkable in their precision, a feature that emerges from the continuous adjustment of motor output. Here we discuss recent progress in bridging the gap between theory and neural implementation in understanding the basis of forelimb motor refinement. One influential theory is that feedback from internal copy motor pathways enables fast prediction, through a forward model of the limb, an idea supported by behavioral studies that have explored how forelimb movements are corrected online and can adapt to changing conditions. In parallel, neural substrates of forelimb internal copy pathways are coming into clearer focus, in part through the use of genetically tractable animal models to isolate spinal and cerebellar circuits and explore their contributions to movement.
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Recent work involving intracranial recording during human memory performance provides superb spatiotemporal resolution on mnemonic processes. These data demonstrate that the cortical regions identified in neuroimaging studies of memory fall into temporally distinct networks and the hippocampal theta activity reported in animal memory literature also plays a central role in human memory. ⋯ High-frequency responses and coupling between different frequencies suggest that frontal cortex activity is critical to human memory processes, as well as a potential key role for the thalamus in neocortical oscillations. Future research will inform unresolved questions in the neuroscience of human memory and guide creation of stimulation protocols to facilitate function in the damaged brain.