Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Mulloney

Publications and source records attributed to B Mulloney.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Intrasegmental proprioceptive influences on the period of the swimmeret rhythm in crayfish.

When the swimmerets of decapods beat, they do so because the muscles of each swimmeret are driven by a series of periodic bursts of impulses in its motor neurones. We investigated the effects of proprioceptive feedback on the period of this motor pattern by interfering with the movement of particular swimmerets. In different experiments, we observed three different kinds of results during interference with a swimmeret. Either the period decreased, or it did not change, or bursting was inhibited altogether. These different results are discussed in terms of the connectivity of different command fibres.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Calibrating compartmental models of neurons.

Numerical parameters for a compartmental model of a neuron can be chosen to conform both to the neuron's structure and to its measured steady-state electrical properties. A systematic procedure for assigning parameters is described that makes use of the matrix of coefficients of the set of differential equations that embodies the compartmental model. The inverse of this matrix furnishes input resistances and voltage attenuation factors for the model, and an interactive modification of the original matrix and its inverse may be used to fit the model to anatomic and electrical measurements.

Electrophysiology↗
PubMed1978

Electrotonic properties of neurons: steady-state compartmental model.

1. If a neuron is represented by a network of resistively coupled isopotential regions, the passive flow of current in its dendritic structure and soma is described by a matrix differential equation. The matrix elements are defined in terms of membrane resistances and capacitances and of coupling resistances between adjoining regions. 2. A uniform cylidrical dendrite can be represented by a chain of identical regions. In this case, a closed-form mathematical expression is derived for the voltage attenuation factor of the dendrite at steady state in terms of the ratio of membrane resistance to coupling resistance. A numerical method is given to determine the coupling resistances, which in turn yield a specified attenuation factor. Related expressions are given for a dendrite coupled to a soma. Formulas are also derived for the input resistance in these configurations. 3. For more complicated neuronal structures, matrix manipulations are described which yield values for input resistances in all regions, attenuation factors between all pairs of regions, and values of applied voltages necessary to attain specified steady-state potentials. 4. Dynamic solutions to the differential equation provide voltage transients (PSPs). Comparison of the shape paramenters of these transients with those of experimental or cable-theoretical PSPs establishes the number of regions necessary to achieve a given degree of approximation to the transients predicted by cable theory.

Dendrites↗
PubMed1976

Comparison of electrical activity and behavioral correlates of neural networks in the cat and locust.

Extensive experimental data are available on the neural activity and behavioral correlates of specific networks in the locust and in the cat and rabbit. Two networks were selected for comparison, one involving visual movement detector interneurons in the locust and the second a hippocampal network in mammals. Both networks receive inputs correlated with motor activity. Each network was simulated using CSMP, a Continuous Systems Modeling program developed initially by IBM. Signals along the two simulated networks were calculated when similar inputs were applied. In addition, approaches toward relating behavior to neural activity were compared in the two networks.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1974

Motor pattern production in reciprocally inhibitory neurons exhibiting postinhibitory rebound.

Pairs of neurons which inhibit each other can produce regular alternating bursts of impulses if they also exhibit postinhibitory rebound (PIR). Computer studies show that stable patterns occur spontaneously in systems of pacemaker neurons with PIR, and can be triggered in systems of nonpacemakers without requiring tonic excitation. The repetition rates of these patterns are determined largely by the PIR parameters. The patterns resist perturbation by phasic synaptic inputs, but can be modulated or turned off by tonic inputs. One pair of PIR neurons can be entrained by another pair with a different repetition rate to produce more complex firing patterns.

Animals↗
PubMed1972

Antidromic action potentials fail to demonstrate known interactions between neurons.

An identified motor neuron in the stomatogastric ganglion of Panulirus interruptus inhibits four other motor neurons when it fires spontaneously or in response to depolarization of its soma. It does not inhibit these neurons when it is fired antidromically, although the attenuated antidromic spike is visible at its soma. These findings point out the difficulty of interpreting negative results from antidromic stimulation experiments and the importance of neuronal structure to the integrative activities of nervous systems.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1970

Structure of the giant fibers of earthworms.

The median giant fiber and the pair of lateral giant fibers that run the length of the ventral nerve cord in earthworms were thought to arise by fusion of the axons of several nerve cells in each segment. The structure of these giant fibers has now been examined with a fluorescent dye injected into single fibers. Each giant axon connects to one cell body in each segment; the giant fibers are not fused axons. In each segment, the median giant fiber has three branches and each lateral giant fiber has five branches. These branches are presumably dendritic. No structural differences between the giant fibers in anterior and posterior regions of the worm seem to account for the functional polarity of the giant fiber system observed in behavioral studies.

Animals↗