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N A Zubkova

Publications and source records attributed to N A Zubkova.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

[Participation of the lateral geniculate body in the mechanisms of brain activation].

In chronic experiments on cats with intact LGB, electrical stimulation of the latter (120-190 microA) caused brain activation with the same threshold as the stimulation of the mesencephalic RF or of the thalamic CM with 50-80 microA. With all but the geniculo-cortical connections of the LGB disrupted, the threshold for brain activation increased to 220-400 microA. After LGB coagulation leaving intact all optical tract connections to the superior colliculi and to the brain stem, the adequate cortical activation was only possible with very strong light flashes (250-1000 l). This suggests that the LGB participates in unspecific brain mechanisms and can induce cortical activation regulated afterwards by the cortex itself.

Animals↗

[Activation response to photic stimulation in normal cats and after transection of the afferent pathways of the mesencephalic reticular formation].

In chronic experiments on waking unrestrained cats with implanted electrodes the reaction of EEG activation to light stimulation was recorded in two sets of experiments in normal cats and in animals with transsection of brachia colliculi superioris that separated mesencephalic reticular system. The intensity of the activating reaction in the intact cats increased ith a rise in the light stimulus intensity. In the cats with brachia-colliculi superioris transsected there was no definite dependence on the stimuli intensity and the intensity of the activating reaction changed randomly. It is suggested that this irregularity is accounted for by blocking of the excitating afferent flow usually coming to the mesencephalic reticular formation through brachia and colliculi both from the visual pathways (ascending flow) and from the cortex (descending activation regulating flow).

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Participation of the lateral geniculate body in mechanisms of brain activation.

The significance of the lateral geniculate body for nonspecific activation of the brain was elucidated in experiments on cats. It was established that when the connections of the lateral geniculate body remain intact, its stimulation elicits the usual activation of the EEG, but at higher threshold values of the current (120-190 microA) than when the mesencephalic reticular formation of the medial center of the thalamus is stimulated (50-80 microA). If only direct connections with the cortex remain, however, and the others are disrupted, the threshold for activation increases to 220-400 microA. When the lateral geniculate body is coagulated, cortical activity occurs only in response to very bright light flashes (250-1000 1x). All of this indicates that, in addition to carrying out its principal function of processing and sending the basic flow of visual impulsation to higher optical centers, the lateral geniculate body may be the source of activating transmissions sent to the cortex. Nonspecific stimulation that develops in the cortex is subsequently regulated by the cortex itself; the cortex plays a leading role in these processes.

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[Electrical reactions in the cat brain during differentiation of photic stimuli].

Study of EEG responses to photic conditioned stimuli in cats has shown that the extent of brain activation depends not on the physical strength of the stimulus, but on its biological significance. The longest activation is recorded to a positive signal, even if it is the weakest flash of light. The intensity of EEG responses to negative stimuli is determined by the nearness of their physical parameters to those of the positive signal. Repeated presentation of a non-reinforced flash leads to a gradual extinction of EEG reactions. Brain activation in response to a reinforced positive signal persists unchanged even after a large number of its repetitions. The revealed properties of brain electrical reactions to stimuli of different significance accord with those previously recorded in response to acoustic stimuli. In both cases the data are in agreement with hypothesis of a central system of signal analysis, which performs the estimation of stimuli according to their biological quality.

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[Analysis of photic signals by cats according to their intensity following transection of the superior quadrigeminal brachii].

In experiments on cats trained by the motor alimentary conditioned method to discriminate photic stimuli by intensity, EEG changes were studied when differentiating signals of different biological significance before and after transection of the brachii of the superior colliculi. The normal direct proportional dependence of pronouncedness of brain electrical reactions on the complexity of stimuli analysis was disturbed after transection. The operated animals retained only the capacity for a rough differentiation by brightness, the fine gradation of EEG responses to negative signals of different fineness being lost. The disturbance of interaction between the analysing and activating brain systems after transection of the brachii may be due to both the lack of non-specific ascending tonic influences of the midbrain reticular formation on the cortex, and to the destruction of many pathways for corticofugal control of the activity of the brainstem non-specific apparatus.

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