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[Response of neurons of the anterior and posterior regions of the hypothalamus to stimulation of the vagus and sciatic nerves and photic stimulation].

Evoked activity of single units in anterior and posterior hypothalamus to vagal, sciatic nerves, and photic stimulation was studied in anesthetized and immobilized cats. The responsiveness of neurons of the posterior hypothalamus was 66, 77 and 37% to vagal, sciatic nerves and photic stimulation, respectively, and of the anterior hypothalamus -- 47, 62 and 48%. Vagal stimulation was found to be the more effective for units of the posterior hypothalamus. Responses of units to a flash prevailed in the anterior hypothalamus. 78% of convergence of viscero-somatic afferentation on neurons of the posterior hypothalamus and 62% -- on anterior hypothalamic neurons, were revealed. The responses to all kinds of afferent stimuli were phasic and of excitatory character. Possible role and mechanisms of vagal interoceptive activation of hypothalamic units are discussed.

Animals

N-methyl-D-aspartate, quisqualate and kainate receptors are all involved in transmission of photic stimulation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in rats.

In order to clarify the neuronal transmission mechanism of photic stimulation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the effects of agonists and antagonists for excitatory amino acid receptors on N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity in the pineal gland were observed following the microinjection of drugs into both sides of the nuclei. N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate, and kainate (which are selective agonists for three different subtypes, i.e. NMDA, quisqualate and kainate receptors, respectively) significantly decreased NAT activity similarly to the suppressive effect of light. Moreover, compared with a control group, all the groups pretreated with a selective competitive antagonist for NMDA receptor (D-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate or 3-((+-)-2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonate), or a selective non-competitive antagonist for non-NMDA receptors (Joro spider toxin-3 or 1-naphthylacetyl spermine) partially blocked the suppressive effect of photic stimulation on NAT activity. These results suggest that NMDA, quisqualate and kainate receptors are all involved in mediating photic stimulation in the SCN.

Acetyltransferases

Effects of frequency of photic stimulation upon autistic and retarded children.

The present study was designed to determine if frequency of repetitive photic stimulation could affect the response rate of an operant upon which such stimulation was made contingent. To test this hypothesis, we trained retarded and autistic children, equated for mental age, to pull a lever to obtain photic stimulation of different frequencies. It was found that (a) response rates of autistic children were related to the frequency of stimulation, while retarded children showed no such consistency. (b) The two groups did not differ in the average duration of time they engaged in stereotypies. (c) During a subsequent extinction session, two autistic children ceased responding, but one of two retarded children did not. (d) Noncontingent photic stimulation suppressed a food-motivated operant in one autistic child. These results were interpreted as evidence for frequency-dependent properties of repetitive visual feedback in autistic children. In addition, support was given to the position that performance deficits in autistic children correlating with the occurrence of stereotypies result from competition of different sources of reinforcement.

Age Factors

Auditory potentials elicited by the grass photic stimulator in the rat.

Flash visual evoked potentials were recorded from the rat to determine whether the Grass photic stimulator could generate an auditory component of the waveform. When the click associated with each lamp flash remained unmuffled, the primary response of the visual cortex (P30) was preceded by an earlier positivity with a latency between 6-8 ms. When the photic stimulator lamp was subsequently insulated in order to deaden the sound of the click, the P30 potential remained intact while the earlier response disappeared. It is concluded that the photic stimulator is capable of eliciting a distinct auditory potential of probable collicular origin.

Animals

Decrease of glucose in the human visual cortex during photic stimulation.

Localized proton NMR spectroscopy was used to study cerebral metabolism in the visual cortex of healthy adults during rest and photic stimulation. Basal lactate levels showed considerable interindividual differences ranging from below detectability (less than 0.3 mM) to about 1 mM without consistent alteration during photic stimulation. Local brain glucose levels were significantly reduced (approximately 50%) during the entire period of photic stimulation and recovered to resting levels (approximately 0.8 mM) within 10 min after the end of stimulation. This decrease reflects the establishment of a new equilibrium due to enhanced delivery (blood flow) and enhanced consumption. The absence of lactate accumulation supports the hypothesis of a rapid efflux of lactate from brain tissue under activated conditions.

Adult

[The induction of seizures in "Papio papio" following allylglycine alone or in combination with intermittent photic stimulation (author's transl)].

Allylglycine, an inhibitor of GABA synthesis, produces increased sensitivity to photic stimulation and in convulsant doses spontaneous seizures arising occipitally in the baboon (Horton and Meldrum, 1973). In this study, convulsant doses of allylglycine induced either sharp wave and polyspike frontorolandic discharges (FR) or critical posterior discharges which then reinforce the fronto-rolandic spikes. A seizure may then arise from the fronto-rolandic region and secondarily spread to the rest of the cerebral cortex. Intermittent photic stimulation produces a reinforcement of the fronto-rolandic sharp waves and can also induce self-maintaining mechanisms similar to those just described. In this situation, however, and with the animals paralysed with Flaxedil no seizures arising occipitally have been observed. The role of the occipital cortex as the sensory visual and somatic afferent in photosensitive epilepsy in the baboon is discussed in the light of these results.

Allyl Compounds

[Off-effect in visual cortex evoked potentials of humans under several conditions of photic stimulation].

Visually evoked potentials (EP) to light were recorded from the occipital cortical area under conditions of changes in stimulus duration and of different intensity of retinal illumination. The work was aimed at establishing the appearance and development of the EP off-effect in humans at these conditions of photic stimulations. This was necessitated by the large dispersion of data obtained in establishing the conditions of photic stimulation, which many authors consider essential for recording the off-effect. The off-effect was studied in greater detail also to elucidate its role in EP generation to a high-frequency photic stimulation. The data recorded are discussed and compared with those of other authors, obtained in studying electrical responses of the retina and the cerebral cortex.

Adolescent

The effects of photic stimulation and private self-consciousness on the complexity of visual imagination imagery.

Three levels of photic stimulation (6, 10, 18 Hz) were employed to induce visual imagination imagery in 40 female undergraduates, half of whom had been selected because they had an habitual interest in their own internal states and half because they had no such interest (high and low on a Private Self-conscious (PSC) scale). It was predicted, and found, that more complex images would be reported (1) under the averaged 6 and 10 Hz condition than under the 18 Hz condition, (2) under the 6 than under the 10 Hz condition, and (3) under the high PSC than under the low PSC condition. An interaction effect was also obtained such that the complexity of visual imagination imagery was greatest for the high PSC group, compared with the low PSC group, under the 6 Hz condition and least under the 18 Hz condition. Additional analyses were undertaken on the types of colour, form and movement reported by the high and low PSC groups under combined conditions of photic stimulation. The results of the complexity scores were discussed in terms of West's (1962) 'perceptual release' theory and several suggestions were made for future research.

Adolescent

Intermittent photic stimulation. Clinical usefulness of non-convulsive responses.

The clinical usefulness of non-convulsive responses induced by intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) was studied in 46 patients whose evaluation included both electroencephalography (EEG) and computerized cranial tomography (CT scan). Three patterns of photic responses were identified and related to background EEG activity and type of lesion seen on CT scan. An asymmetry in photic driving manifested only by a consistent amplitude difference greater than 50% was rarely associated with other EEG changes such as focal slowing or significant asymmetry in the alpha rhythm. In contrast, an asymmetry in development of the photic response correlated well with ipsilateral focal slowing and CT scan evidence of parenchymatous brain disease. Bilateral, symmetrical high amplitude single spikes evoked by individual light flashes were seen only in patients with diffuse encephalopathies. In no patient with structural brain disease as judged by CT scan was an abnormality in IPS the only EEG finding. There was also no apparent relationship between the anatomical site of a focal cerebral lesion and the type of response induced by IPS. Photic stimulation is of limited value in non-epileptic patients. Little clinical significance can be attached to nonconculsive responses in the absence of associated EEG changes which by themselves are generally more informative.

Adult

Electrophysiological studies of myoclonic jerks provoked by photic stimulation.

A patient with a type of myoclonus produced by somatosensory and photic stimuli was studied electrophysiologically. Jerk-locked averaging showed cortical spikes in association with the spontaneous myoclonus. High amplitude somatosensory evoked potentials and high amplitude visual evoked potentials were observed. Somatosensory and photic stimuli produced 2 or 3 successive electromyographic (EMG) discharges. The time interval from the onset of the preceding EMG discharge to that of the following EMG discharge produced by photic stimulation corresponded to the latency of a long-loop reflex. It also corresponded to the time interval from the onset of the preceding EMG discharge to that of the following EMG discharge produced by somatosensory stimulation. Not only somatosensory but also photic stimuli might excite the loop of a long-loop reflex and cause myoclonic jerks.

Aged

Dynamic MR imaging of human brain oxygenation during rest and photic stimulation.

Dynamic FLASH (fast low-angle shot) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to monitor changes in brain oxygenation in the human visual cortex during photic stimulation. The approach exploits the sensitivity of the gradient-echo signal to susceptibility changes induced by varying concentrations of paramagnetic deoxyhemoglobin in the cerebral blood pool. After the onset of binocular photic stimulation (10 Hz, red light, checker-board), there was a distinct increase in the MR signal in the calcarine cortex within 6-9 seconds, indicating a decrease in the total deoxyhemoglobin concentration. After the stimulation was switched off, the MR signal returned to a basal value within a similar period of time. Assuming enhanced blood flow and only a minor increase in oxygen consumption (production of deoxyhemoglobin) during physiologic activation, the results reflect an enhanced supply of diamagnetic oxyhemoglobin and an increase in the partial oxygen pressure in the capillary and venous blood pools. In addition, a decrease in the basal MR signal in the calcarine cortex was observed during the first 60-90 seconds of persistent activation, which may be understood as an autoregulatory adaptation to increased overall brain activity associated with information processing due to continuous perception of visual stimuli.

Adult

Abnormal EEG responses to photic stimulation in schizophrenic patients.

Numerous studies have differentiated schizophrenic patients and normal controls in electroencephalography (EEG) spectral patterns recorded at rest. We replicated the resting EEG spectral differences between these groups and observed significant differences in periodic photic stimuli on the EEG spectra. Drug-free schizophrenic male patients (n = 8, mean age = 23.9) and normal male controls (n = 11, mean age = 24.3) were studied. Eighty seconds of EEG were collected from each subject for each of four experimental conditions: one resting and three photic-driving conditions (2.38, 4.54, and 8.33 Hz). Eye movement and other movement artifacts were minimized by use of an automatic amplitude threshold filter. Although large eye movements could be excluded as confounding factors, the filter could not for certain exclude small eye movements. Subjects were instructed to keep their eyes closed throughout. A significant difference was found between the groups both at rest and following photic stimulation in EEG activity. This result was characterized by increased delta activity and decreased alpha activity in schizophrenic patients at rest. The EEG activity following the photic driving also differentiated the groups. Schizophrenic patients had decreased sensitivity to the photic stimulation in the alpha range for spectra derived from both fundamental and harmonic analysis.

Adult

EEG responses to photic stimulation in persons experienced at meditation.

The EEG responses to intermittent photic stimulation were examined in a group of subjects experienced in meditation, and compared with those of a control group. The meditators exhibited a significantly smaller decrement in alpha activity and alpha blocking over the course of the experiment than did the control group, and alpha induction occurred earlier and more frequently in the meditators. These findings support the hypothesis that experienced meditators spontaneously enter the meditative state on closing the eyes, and also the view that physiologically the meditative state is one of prolonged drowsiness. An alternative interpretation, that meditation is a state of sustained attention, is discussed.

Adult

The EEG response to repetitive photic stimulation in various regions of the chicken brain.

The EEG response in the chicken to repetitive photic stimulation was studied by frequency analysis and by the averaged response. Evoked responses were observable not only in stations along the visual pathway but also in broad areas apart from the visual pathway. The electrical activity in the archistriatum showed a marked response to flickering stimuli, indicating that this area is involved in the visual function in the chicken. In other telencephalic areas, photically evoked potentials could not be clearly demonstrated in the EEG records. In the hypothalamus and the nucleus rotundus of the diencephalon and in the nucleus reticularis superior of the mesencephalon, sinusoidal waves appeared during stimulation at 8-13/sec. No rhythmic after-discharge was observed following termination of photic stimulation. These finding are indicative of the difference of the visual response in the chicken from previously reported responses in other species.

Animals

Interaction between intermittent photic stimulation and auditory stimulation on the human EEG. Preliminary investigation through power spectral analysis.

The effects of flicker photic stimulation (6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 flashes/sec) and of white noise (80 dB SPL) on the EEG of man were investigated with the aid of power spectral analysis. In order to evaluate both the alpha attenuation response (AAR) and the 'driving' reaction induced by flicker as well as the effect of noise, the analysis was carried out on broad (delta, theta, alpha, beta) and on narrow (bandwidth: 1 Hz) spectral bands. A significant correlation between the amount of AAR induced by noise and a measure of the tendency to exhibit photic driving was found, though there was no clear-cut interaction between the photic stimuli and noise when delivered stimultaneously.

Acoustic Stimulation

The involvement of the preoptic-suprachiasmatic region in the photosexual reflex in quail: Effects of selective lesions and photic stimulation.

Small bilateral lesions of the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic regions completely suppressed the light-induced testicular growth in quail. Photic stimulation was selectively applied to this region using a small pellet of radioluminous paint (RLP). This local photostimulation induced no testicular growth in short day quail. On the contrary, testes were markedly enlarged after RLP was implanted in the tuberal or in the dorsal area of the infundibular complex of short day quail. This response was as large as in controls reared under 18L-6D. It is therefore confirmed that neuronal populations located in the infundibular complex are directly photosensible. No direct photosensitivity was observed in the preoptic and anterior hypothalamic regions and it is suggested that these areas can serve as a relay for retinal information.

Animals

Effect of photic stimulation on human visual cortex lactate and phosphates using 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Previous animal and human studies showed that photic stimulation (PS) increased cerebral blood flow and glucose uptake much more than oxygen consumption, suggesting selective activation of anaerobic glycolysis. In the present studies, image-guided 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to monitor the changes in lactate and high-energy phosphate concentrations produced by PS of visual cortex in six normal volunteers. PS initially produced a significant rise (to 250% of control, p less than 0.01) in visual cortex lactate during the first 6.4 min of PS, followed by a significant decline (p = 0.01) as PS continued. The PCr/Pi ratios decreased significantly from control values during the first 12.8 min of PS (p less than 0.05), and the pH was slightly increased. The positive P100 deflection of the visual evoked potential recorded between 100 and 172 ms after the strobe was significantly decreased from control at 12.8 min of PS (p less than 0.05). The finding that PS caused decreased PCr/Pi is consistent with the view that increased brain activity stimulated ATPase, causing a rise in ADP that shifted the creatine kinase reaction in the direction of ATP synthesis. The rise in lactate together with an increase in pH suggest that intracellular alkalosis, caused by the shift of creatine kinase, selectively stimulated glycolysis.

Adenosine Diphosphate