PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “spatial dependency”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Contrast-dependent spatial summation in the lateral geniculate nucleus and retina of the cat.

Based on extracellular recordings from 69 lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) cells in the anesthetized cat, we found spatial summation within their receptive fields to be dependent on the contrast of the stimuli presented. By fitting the summation curves to a difference of Gaussians model, we attributed this contrast-dependent effect to an actual change in the size of the center mechanism. Analogous changes in spatial frequency tuning were also observed, specifically increased peaks and cut-off frequencies with contrast. These effects were seen across the populations of both X and Y cell types. In a few cases, LGN cells were recorded simultaneously with one of their retinal ganglion cell (RGC) inputs (S-potentials). In every case, the RGCs exhibited similar contrast-dependent effects in the space and spatial-frequency domains. We propose that this contrast dependency in the retinal ganglion cells results directly from a reduction in the size of the center mechanism due to an increase in contrast. We also propose that these properties first arise in the retina and are transmitted passively through the LGN to visual cortex.

Action Potentials↗

Density dependence, spatial scale and patterning in sessile biota.

Sessile biota can compete with or facilitate each other, and the interaction of facilitation and competition at different spatial scales is key to developing spatial patchiness and patterning. We examined density and scale dependence in a patterned, soft sediment mussel bed. We followed mussel growth and density at two spatial scales separated by four orders of magnitude. In summer, competition was important at both scales. In winter, there was net facilitation at the small scale with no evidence of density dependence at the large scale. The mechanism for facilitation is probably density dependent protection from wave dislodgement. Intraspecific interactions in soft sediment mussel beds thus vary both temporally and spatially. Our data support the idea that pattern formation in ecological systems arises from competition at large scales and facilitation at smaller scales, so far only shown in vegetation systems. The data, and a simple, heuristic model, also suggest that facilitative interactions in sessile biota are mediated by physical stress, and that interactions change in strength and sign along a spatial or temporal gradient of physical stress.

Analysis of Variance↗

Stimulus-dependent spatial patterns of response in SI cortex.

BACKGROUND: Recently we reported that vibrotactile flutter stimulation of a skin locus at different amplitudes evokes an optical response confined to the same local region of the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), where its overall magnitude varies proportionally to the flutter amplitude. In this report, we characterize the impact of the flutter amplitude on the spatial patterns of activity evoked within the responding SI region. RESULTS: In order to characterize the spatial pattern of activity within the responding SI region, images of the flutter-evoked SI optical response were segmented and analyzed with spatial frequency analysis. The analysis revealed that: (1) dominant spatial frequencies in the optical intrinsic signal emerge within the responding SI region within 3-5 sec of stimulus onset; (2) the stimulus-evoked activity is spatially organized in a form of several roughly parallel, anterior-posteriorly extended waves, spaced 0.4-0.5 mm apart; (3) the waves themselves exhibit spatial periodicities along their long axis; and (4) depending on the flutter stimulus amplitude, these periodicities can range from fine 0.15 mm "ripples" at 50 microm amplitude to well-developed 0.5 mm fluctuations at the amplitude of 400 microm. CONCLUSION: The observed spatiointensive fractionation on a sub-macrocolumnar scale of the SI response to skin stimulation might be the product of local competitive interactions within the stimulus-activated SI region and may be a feature that could yield novel insights into the functional interactions that take place in SI cortex.

Animals↗

A comparison of egocentric and allocentric age-dependent spatial learning in the beagle dog.

Spatial discriminations can be performed using either egocentric information based on body position or allocentric information based on the position of landmarks in the environment. Beagle dogs ranging from 2 to 16 years of age were tested for their ability to learn a novel egocentric spatial discrimination task that used two identical blocks paired in three possible spatial positions (i.e. left, center and right). Dogs were rewarded for responding to an object furthest to either their left or right side. Therefore, when the center location was used, it was correct on half of the trials and incorrect on the other half. Upon successful acquisition of the task, the reward contingencies were reversed, and the dogs were rewarded for responding to the opposite side. A subset of dogs was also tested on an allocentric spatial discrimination task, landmark discrimination. Egocentric spatial reversal learning and allocentric discrimination learning both showed a significant age-dependent decline, while initial egocentric learning appeared to be age-insensitive. Intra-subject correlation analyses revealed a significant relationship between egocentric reversal learning and allocentric learning. However, the correlation only accounted for a small proportion of the variance, suggesting that although there might be some common mechanism underlying acquisition of the two tasks, additional unique neural substrates were involved depending on whether allocentric or egocentric spatial information processing was required.

Aging↗

Spatial dependence of color assimilation by the watercolor effect.

Color assimilation with bichromatic contours was quantified for spatial extents ranging from von Bezold-type color assimilation to the watercolor effect. The magnitude and direction of assimilative hue change was measured as a function of the width of a rectangular stimulus. Assimilation was quantified by hue cancellation. Large hue shifts were required to null the color of stimuli < or = 9.3 min of arc in width, with an exponential decrease for stimuli increasing up to 7.4 deg. When stimuli were viewed through an achromatizing lens, the magnitude of the assimilation effect was reduced for narrow stimuli, but not for wide ones. These results demonstrate that chromatic aberration may account, in part, for color assimilation over small, but not large, surface areas.

Color Perception↗

Spatial dependency of trapezius muscle activity during repetitive shoulder flexion.

The purpose of this study was to explore changes in spatial muscle activation within the three divisions of the trapezius muscle during a dynamic, cyclic task of the upper limb. Surface EMG signals were detected from thirteen healthy subjects from the upper, middle and lower divisions of the trapezius muscle at multiple electrode sites in the cephalad-caudal direction during a repetitive shoulder flexion task. Initial values and rate of change of average rectified value (ARV) and of instantaneous mean power spectral frequency (iMNF) were estimated at 45 degrees , 90 degrees and 120 degrees of shoulder flexion throughout the 5-min task. The location of the electrodes had a significant effect on initial EMG ARV for both the upper and middle division of the trapezius muscle (P<0.05). Both the rate of change and normalized rate of change of ARV were greatest for the most cranial muscle fibers of the upper division (P<0.05). Initial values and rates of change of iMNF were also affected by electrode location for the upper and lower divisions of the trapezius muscle (P<0.05). These results demonstrate that muscle activity and its changes over time depend on position within the three divisions of the trapezius muscle during a dynamic, cyclic task of the upper limb. This suggests non-uniform muscle fiber distribution and/or recruitment. The results also highlight the importance of multiple recording sites when investigating trapezius muscle function in dynamic tasks.

Adult↗

Full energy expression of a uniaxial nematic phase with spatially dependent density and order parameters: From microscopic to macroscopic theory.

We present a microscopic derivation of the full macroscopic energy expression of a spatially bounded uniaxial nematic phase. The surface is described by spatial variations of the density and scalar order parameters of all even orders. The method developed in the paper allowed us to unambiguously separate the surface elastic K24 and K13 terms and isotropic and anisotropic surface tension (anchoring). The full energy expression incorporating variations of the director, scalar order parameters, and density is obtained. The macroscopic coefficients are derived in terms of the isotropic and anisotropic fractions of the microscopic intermolecular interaction. An important physical consequence of the obtained formulas, in particular, is that the observed considerable difference K33-K11 between the bend and splay elastic constants unambiguously indicates that (i) the intermolecular interaction has a large anisotropic fraction, and thus, the effective constant K13 and intrinsic anchoring are considerable; (ii) at least some scalar order parameters of order four and higher are essentially nonzero. Relation of the developed theory with the Nehring-Saupe theory and Landau-de Gennes approach is considered.

Journal Article↗

Oculoparalytic illusion: visual-field dependent spatial mislocalizations by humans partially paralyzed with curare.

In darkness, observers partially paralyzed with curare make large (greater thn 20 degrees) gaze- and dosage-dependent errors in visually localizing eye-level-horizontal and median planes, in matching the location of a sound to a light, and in pointing at a light. In illuminated, structured visual localization and pointing are accurate but errors in auditory-to-visual matches remain. Defects in extraretinal eye position information are responsible for all errors. The influence of extraretinal eye position information on visual localization is suppressed by a structured visual field but is crucial both in darkness and for intersensory localization if visual capture is prevented.

Auditory Perception↗

Comparison of frequency-distance relationship and Gaussian-diffusion-based methods of compensation for distance-dependent spatial resolution in SPECT imaging.

The goal of this investigation was to compare resolution recovery versus noise level of two methods for compensation of distance-dependent resolution (DDR) in SPECT imaging. The two methods of compensation were restoration filtering based on the frequency-distance relationship (FDR) prior to iterative reconstruction, and modelling DDR in the projector/backprojector pair employed in iterative reconstruction. FDR restoration filtering was computationally faster than modelling the detector response in iterative reconstruction. Using Gaussian diffusion to model the detector response in iterative reconstruction sped up the process by a factor of 2.5 over frequency domain filtering in the projector/backprojector pair. Gaussian diffusion modelling resulted in a better resolution versus noise tradeoff than either FDR restoration filtering or solely modelling attenuation in the projector/backprojector pair of iterative reconstruction. For the pixel size investigated herein (0.317 cm), accounting for DDR in the projector/backprojector pair by Gaussian diffusion, or by applying a blurring function based on the distance from the face of the collimator at each distance, resulted in very similar resolution recovery and slice noise level.

Computer Simulation↗

A specific role for group I mGluRs in hippocampal LTP and hippocampus-dependent spatial learning.

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have been implicated in long-term potentiation and in learning and memory formation. In this study, we tested the effects of group I mGluR inhibition on synaptic plasticity and learning of rats at different levels of organization (1) in the hippocampal slice preparation; (2) in freely moving animals implanted with chronic hippocampal electrodes; and (3) in different spatial learning paradigms. To allow a direct comparison of the effects obtained the same doses were used in all paradigms. Bath-application of the selective group I mGluR antagonist (S)4-carboxyphenylglycine (4-CPG) impaired a decremental long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by a weak tetanization paradigm, but failed to affect a robust LTP generated by strong tetanization. In contrast, 4-CPG impaired a robust LTP in freely moving animals if applied 30 min before tetanization. The same dose of 4-CPG only impeded spatial learning mildly in the eight-arm radial maze and had no effect on a simple configuration of the Y-maze spatial alternation task. In the more difficult configuration of this task, however, 4-CPG caused complete amnesia. The lack of state-dependent 4-CPG actions and the absence of any 4-CPG effects in the open-field test classify the obtained retention deficit as a selective impairment of memory storage. Our results indicate a specific role of group I mGluRs in certain types of synaptic plasticity and of spatial learning.

Animals↗

Age-dependent spatial memory deficits in transgenic mice expressing the human mid-sized neurofilament gene: I.

Previous studies have revealed that the transgenic mouse line expressing the human neurofilament-mid-sized (NF-M) gene evidences age-dependent and cell-specific pathological neurofibrillary accumulation in the central nerve system. In the current study, we investigated the learning and memory processes of NF-M transgenic mice at 3 and 8 months of age in a modified Morris water maze using a series of tasks including those primarily related to reference memory (i.e., spatial learning, reversal learning and probe trials) and to working memory (i.e., matching to sample tasks with or without delays). At 3 months of age, NF-M transgenic mice were indistinguishable from age- and litter-matched non-transgenic wild-type controls on any of the tests of reference and working memory. At 8 months of age, however, the NF-M transgenic mice exhibited significantly poorer performance than the age- and litter-matched wild-type control mice on both reference and working memory tasks. Immunohistological study of the brains of the 8-month-old NF-M transgenic mice revealed spherical and tangle-like neurofilamentous accumulation in their cerebral cortices. These results suggest that NF-M transgenic mice express both age-related histopathological changes and age-dependent learning and memory deficits. Whether NF-M transgenic mice exhibit even more severe behavioral impairments when they become aged is currently under study.

Aging↗

Spatially dependent inelastic tunneling in a single metallofullerene.

We have measured the elastic and inelastic tunneling properties of isolated Gd@C(82) molecules on Ag(001) using cryogenic scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We find that the dominant inelastic channel is spatially well localized to a particular region of the molecule. Ab initio pseudopotential density-functional theory calculations indicate that this channel arises from a vibrational cage mode. We further show that the observed inelastic tunneling localization is explained by strong localization in the molecular electron-phonon coupling to this mode.

Journal Article↗

Differentiation: field dependence, spatial ability, and hemispheric specialization.

Psychological differentiation, as measured by field independence, is studied in relationship to cerebral hemispheric differentiation as assessed through dichotic listening and spatial task performance. Predictions regarding right-hemisphere functions and field independence were confirmed. More differentiated versus less differentiated right-hemisphere superiorities are distinguished and discussed in light of the field-dependence construct. The dimension of integration, characteristic of increasing differentiation, frames the prediction that field independents are better able to utilize the right hemisphere on typically left-hemisphere tasks. The results are discussed in relationship to the potential role of cerebral mechanisms underlying different defensive styles, and in regard to the neuropsychological search for covariance between psychological and neurophysiological parameters.

Dominance, Cerebral↗

Spatial dependence of the optical collection efficiency in flow cytometry.

The sensitive flow cytometric detection of fluorescent species in liquid sample streams requires efficient collection of light from small [approximately 1 picoliter (pl)] sample volumes. This is often accomplished with high numerical aperture (NA) imaging collection optics used in combination with a spatial filter. A method to measure the spatial variation of the optical collection efficiency within the sample volume, using a submicrometer light source, is described. Measurements of the relative optical collection efficiency are presented for two optical collection systems used in our laboratory for single molecule detection. The measurement are in qualitative agreement with relative optical collection efficiency calculations using a simple geometrical optics model. Absolute measurements of the peak collection efficiencies for the two collection systems are also presented. These absolute collection efficiency measurements are in good quantitative agreement with ideal collection efficiencies calculated using measured transmissions and rated NAs of the collection optics. The utility of this information for the characterization and optimization of sensitive fluorescence detection apparatus is discussed.

Equipment Design↗

Quantitative evaluation of the lactate signal loss and its spatial dependence in press localized (1)H NMR spectroscopy.

Localized (1)H NMR spectroscopy using the 90 degrees -t(1)-180 degrees -t(1)+t(2)-180 degrees -t(2)-Acq. PRESS sequence can lead to a signal loss for the lactate doublet compared with signals from uncoupled nuclei which is dependent on the choice of t(1) and t(2). The most striking signal loss of up to 78% of the total signal occurs with the symmetrical PRESS sequence (t(1)=t(2)) at an echo time of 2/J (approximately 290 ms). Calculations have shown that this signal loss is related to the pulse angle distributions produced by the two refocusing pulses which leads to the creation of single quantum polarization transfer (PT) as well as to not directly observable states (NDOS) of the lactate AX(3) spin system: zero- and multiple-quantum coherences, and longitudinal spin orders. In addition, the chemical shift dependent voxel displacement (VOD) leads to further signal loss. By calculating the density operator for various of the echo times TE=n/J, n=1, 2, 3,..., we calculated quantitatively the contributions of these effects to the signal loss as well as their spatial distribution. A maximum signal loss of 75% can be expected from theory for the symmetrical PRESS sequence and TE=2/J for Hamming filtered sinc pulses, whereby 47% are due to the creation of NDOS and up to 28% arise from PT. Taking also the VOD effect into account (2 mT/m slice selection gradients, 20-mm slices) leads to 54% signal loss from NDOS and up to 24% from PT, leading to a maximum signal loss of 78%. Using RE-BURP pulses with their more rectangular pulse angle distributions reduces the maximum signal loss to 44%. Experiments at 1.5 T using a lactate solution demonstrated a maximum lactate signal loss for sinc pulses of 82% (52% NDOS, 30% PT) at TE=290 ms using the symmetrical PRESS sequence. The great signal loss and its spatial distribution is of importance for investigations using a symmetrical PRESS sequence at TE=2/J.

Acetic Acid↗

Spatially dependent activation of the patterning protease, Easter.

The dorsoventral axis of the Drosophila embryo is established by the activating cleavage of a signaling ligand by a serine protease, Easter, only on the ventral side of the embryo. Easter is the final protease in a serine protease cascade in which initial reaction steps appear not to be ventrally restricted, but where Easter activity is promoted ventrally through the action of a spatial cue at an unknown step in the pathway. Here, biochemical studies demonstrate that this spatial control occurs at or above the level of Easter zymogen activation, rather than through direct promotion of Easter's catalytic activity against the signaling ligand.

Animals↗

Spatial dependency of Buruli ulcer prevalence on arsenic-enriched domains in Amansie West District, Ghana: implications for arsenic mediation in Mycobacterium ulcerans infection.

BACKGROUND: In 1998, the World Health Organization recognized Buruli ulcer (BU), a human skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), as the third most prevalent mycobacterial disease. In Ghana, there have been more than 2000 reported cases in the last ten years; outbreaks have occurred in at least 90 of its 110 administrative districts. In one of the worst affected districts, Amansie West, there are arsenic-enriched surface environments resulting from the oxidation of arsenic-bearing minerals, occurring naturally in mineral deposits. RESULTS: Proximity analysis, carried out to determine spatial relationships between BU-affected areas and arsenic-enriched farmlands and arsenic-enriched drainage channels in the Amansie West District, showed that mean BU prevalence in settlements along arsenic-enriched drainages and within arsenic-enriched farmlands is greater than elsewhere. Furthermore, mean BU prevalence is greater along arsenic-enriched drainages than within arsenic-enriched farmlands. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that arsenic in the environment may play a contributory role in MU infection.

Journal Article↗

Reversible inhibition of CREB/ATF transcription factors in region CA1 of the dorsal hippocampus disrupts hippocampus-dependent spatial memory.

CREB is critical for long-lasting synaptic and behavioral plasticity in invertebrates. Its role in the mammalian hippocampus is less clear. We have interfered with CREB family transcription factors in region CA1 of the dorsal hippocampus. This impairs learning in the Morris water maze, which specifically requires the dorsal hippocampus, but not context conditioning, which does not. The deficit is specific to long-term memory, as shown in an object recognition task. Several forms of late-phase LTP are normal, but forskolin-induced and dopamine-regulated potentiation are disrupted. These experiments represent the first targeting of the dorsal hippocampus in genetically modified mice and confirm a role for CREB in hippocampus-dependent learning. Nevertheless, they suggest that some experimental forms of plasticity bypass the requirement for CREB.

Activating Transcription Factor 1↗