Biomedical subjects

C Musio

Publications and source records attributed to C Musio.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1994

EXPLAN--a programming language for complex visual stimuli presentation.

Visual cognition research requires the flexible use of structured spatial patterns, characterized by various space and time parameters, which may be administered as visual stimuli. Dealing with this kind of study, we developed a special-purpose programming language and implemented a compiler to build executable programs. The language allows the presentation of stimuli, their space coordinates, persistency values, sequence, kinematic parameters, space-time proximity with other visual stimuli, determination of their modification according to external interaction, generation of subliminal stimuli, monitoring of different subject reactions, automatic reporting of stimulus presentation, and reaction monitoring. Such a language has been successfully utilized in a visual perception research.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1986

Cross-correlation analysis of intracellularly recorded synaptic activities: an evaluation of the method through computer simulation.

Cross-correlation of 'spontaneous' synaptic activities intracellularly recorded from pairs of neurons may be used to detect shared synaptic input, which could remain hidden in the raw data by the non-synchronized postsynaptic potentials (PSPs); besides, if a normalized cross-correlation function is adopted, the fraction of synchronized activity may be quantitatively estimated. To evaluate power and limits of this method, computer-simulated synaptic activities of pairs of neurons, in which a given percentage of PSPs were simultaneous, were subjected to this type of analysis. It was shown that percentages of shared activities as low as 4% and in some cases 2% could be revealed, with a conspicuity which was influenced by the types of associated PSPs.

Action Potentials↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cross-correlation study of synaptic input distribution inside the buccal ganglion of a gastropod mollusk.

In isolated 'nonperturbed' neural preparations of the gastropod mollusk Aplysia, synaptic inputs of undetermined origin ('spontaneous' synaptic activity) converge upon the buccal ganglion neurones. Activity simultaneously recorded from two neurones may include synchronous postsynaptic potentials (PSPs), due to firing of shared presynaptic cells. The distribution of spontaneous input to buccal neurones of known types (A, B, D, L and s cells) was quantitatively examined by cross-correlating intracellular recordings obtained from cells belonging to the same (homonomous) or different (heteronomous) type. Homonomous pairs of B or D motoneurones shared much of their input in all examined cases, compared to 50% cases for L neurones. Shared input appeared capable of facilitating synchronous firing in B and L cells, and of driving D cells in various phase relationships. Heteronomous pairs showed a high proportion of shared synaptic input when composed by A, B, D and s neurones, but no clear correlation was observed when pairing any of those four cell types with an L neurone. Shared synaptic input outlined therefore two buccal neuronal subsystems, internally coordinated and well separate from each other. The first one includes the A, B, D and s neurones, the second one, which is less compact, the L neurones. This agrees with an involvement of the first in patterned motor output production and of the second in coordination and control functions.

Animals↗