Biomedical subjects

R Spinks

Publications and source records attributed to R Spinks.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Brain potentials reflect behavioral differences in true and false recognition.

People often falsely recognize nonstudied lures that are semantically similar to previously studied words. Behavioral research suggests that such false recognition is based on high semantic overlap between studied items and lures that yield a feeling of familiarity, whereas true recognition is more often associated with the recollection of details. Despite this behavioral evidence for differences between true and false recognition, research measuring brain activity (PET, fMRI, ERP) has not clearly differentiated corresponding differences in brain activity. A median split was used to separate subjects into Good and Poor performers based on their discrimination of studied targets from similar lures. Only Good performers showed late (1000--1500 msec), right frontal event-related brain potentials (ERPs) that were more positive for targets and lures compared with new items. The right frontal differences are interpreted as reflecting postretrieval evaluation processes that were more likely to be engaged by Good than Poor performers. Both Good and Poor performers showed a parietal ERP old/new effect (400--800 msec), but only Poor performers showed a parietal old/lure difference. These results are consistent with the view that the parietal and frontal ERP old/new effects reflect dissociable processes related to recollection.

Discrimination Learning↗

PubMed2001

Synchronization in monkey motor cortex during a precision grip task. I. Task-dependent modulation in single-unit synchrony.

Neural synchronization in the cortex, and its potential role in information coding, has attracted much recent attention. In this study, we have recorded long spike trains (mean, 33,000 spikes) simultaneously from multiple single neurons in the primary motor cortex (M1) of two conscious macaque monkeys performing a precision grip task. The task required the monkey to use its index finger and thumb to move two spring-loaded levers into a target, hold them there for 1 s, and release for a food reward. Synchrony was analyzed using a time-resolved cross-correlation method, normalized using an estimate of the instantaneous firing rate of the cell. This was shown to be more reliable than methods using trial-averaged firing rate. A total of 375 neurons was recorded from the M1 hand area; 235 were identified as pyramidal tract neurons. Synchrony was weak [mean k' = 1.05 +/- 0.04 (SD)] but widespread among pairs of M1 neurons (218/1359 pairs with above-chance synchrony), including output neurons. Synchrony usually took the form of a broad central peak [average width, 18.7 +/- 8.7 (SD) ms]. There were marked changes during different phases of the task. As a population, synchrony was greatest during the steady hold period in striking contrast to the averaged cell firing rate, which was maximal when the animal was moving the levers into target. However, the modulation of synchrony during task performance showed considerable variation across individual cell pairs. Two types of synchrony were identified: oscillatory (with periodic side lobes in the cross-correlation) and nonoscillatory. Their relative contributions were quantified by filtering the cross-correlations to exclude either frequencies from 18 to 37 Hz or all higher and lower frequencies. At the peak of population synchrony during the hold period, about half (51.7% in one monkey, 56.2% in the other) of the synchronization was within this oscillatory bandwidth. This study provides strong support for assemblies of neurons being synchronized during specific phases of a complex task with potentially important consequences for both information processing within M1 and for the impact of M1 commands on target motoneurons.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2000

Cerebral cortex: a topographic segmentation method using magnetic resonance imaging.

Remarkable developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology provide a broad range of potential applications to explore in vivo morphological characteristics of the human cerebral cortex. MR-based parcellation methods of the cerebral cortex may clarify the structural anomalies in specific brain subregions that reflect underlying neuropathological processes in brain illnesses. The present study describes detailed guidelines for the parcellation of the cerebral cortex into 41 subregions. Our method conserves the topographic uniqueness of individual brains and is based on our ability to visualize the three orthogonal planes, the triangulated gray matter isosurface and the three-dimensional (3D) rendered brain simultaneously. Based upon topographic landmarks of individual sulci, every subregion was manually segmented on a set of serial coronal or transaxial slices consecutively. The reliability study indicated that the cerebral cortex could be parcelled reliably; intraclass correlation coefficients for each subregion ranged from 0.60 to 0.99. The validity of the method is supported by the fact that gyral subdivisions are similar to regions delineated in functional imaging studies conducted in our center. Ultimately, this method will permit us to detect subtle morphometric impairments or to find abnormal patterns of functional activation in circumscribed cortical subregions. The description of a thorough map of regional structural and functional cortical abnormalities will provide further insight into the role that different subregions play in the pathophysiology of brain illnesses.

Cerebral Cortex↗

PubMed1999

Multiple single unit recording in the cortex of monkeys using independently moveable microelectrodes.

Simultaneous recording from multiple single neurones presents many technical difficulties. However, obtaining such data has many advantages, which make it highly worthwhile to overcome the technical problems. This report describes methods which we have developed to permit recordings in awake behaving monkeys using the 'Eckhorn' 16 electrode microdrive. Structural magnetic resonance images are collected to guide electrode placement. Head fixation is achieved using a specially designed headpiece, modified for the multiple electrode approach, and access to the cortex is provided via a novel recording chamber. Growth of scar tissue over the exposed dura mater is reduced using an anti-mitotic compound. Control of the microdrive is achieved by a computerised system which permits several experimenters to move different electrodes simultaneously, considerably reducing the load on an individual operator. Neurones are identified as pyramidal tract neurones by antidromic stimulation through chronically implanted electrodes; stimulus control is integrated into the computerised system. Finally, analysis of multiple single unit recordings requires accurate methods to correct for non-stationarity in unit firing. A novel technique for such correction is discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Interstitial deletion of chromosome 4, del(4)(q12q21.1), in a mentally retarded boy with a piebald trait, due to maternal insertion, ins(8;4).

A 17-year-old boy who was diagnosed with "Waardenburg syndrome" showed moderate growth and mental retardation. Chromosome analysis showed an apparent interstitial deletion 4q12q21.1. The mother had a direct insertion of the deleted segment into a chromosome 8. The rearrangement was confirmed to be nonreciprocal and an insertion by in situ hybridization using whole chromosome 4 and 8 painting probes. The mother's karyotype is 46,XX,ins(8;4)(q21.2;q12q21.1); that of the propositus is 46,XY, der(4)ins(8;4)(q21.2;q12q21.1)mat. This is the first report of an inherited proximal 4q deletion.

Adolescent↗