Mechanisms defining the electrotonic potential abnormalities in simulated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Electrotonic potentials allow the accommodative processes to polarizing stimuli to be assessed. Electrotonic potential transients in response to applied polarizing stimuli are caused by the kinetics of underlying axonal conductances. Here, we study these transients using our multi-layered model of the human motor nerve, in three simulated cases of the motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): ALS1, ALS2 and ALS3 are three consecutively greater degrees of uniform axonal dysfunctions along the human motor nerve fibre.

Mechanisms defining the action potential abnormalities in simulated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The present study investigates action potential abnormalities obtained in simulated cases of three progressively greater degrees of uniform axonal dysfunctions. The kinetics of the currents, defining the action potential propagation through the human motor nerve in the normal and abnormal cases, are also given and discussed. These computations use our previous multi-layered model of the myelinated motor axon, without taking into account the aqueous layers within the myelin sheath.

Lateralized hippocampal effects of vasoactive intestinal peptide on learning and memory in rats in a model of depression.

Rationale: Findings of pharmacological studies revealed that vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) plays a modulatory role in learning and memory. A role of the peptide in the neurobiological mechanisms of affective disorders was also suggested.

Objective: The objectives are to study the involvement of VIP in learning and memory processes after unilateral and bilateral local application into hippocampal CA1 area in rats with a model of depression (bilateral olfactory bulbectomy--OBX) and to test whether VIP receptors could affect cognition.

Functional coordination of motor activity in colonic smooth muscles in rat experimental model.

Spontaneous and electrically-elicited motor activity was recorded by triple organ bath in rat segment-model preparation as display of excitation of local nerve networks and ascending or descending reflex pathways underlying contractile potency and functional coordination of colonic longitudinal and circular muscles. Spontaneous high-amplitude contractions, but not relaxations, appeared synchronously in both muscles. Electrical field stimulation applied to proximal or distal part of segments elicited both tetrodotoxin (0.

The myelin sheath aqueous layers improve the membrane properties of simulated chronic demyelinating neuropathies.

Recently, patients with chronic demyelinating neuropathies have demonstrated significant abnormalities in their multiple nerve excitability properties measured by a non-invasive threshold tracking technique. In order to expand our studies on the possible mechanisms underlying these abnormalities, which are not yet well understood, we investigate the contributions of the aqueous layers within the myelin sheath on multiple membrane properties of simulated fibre demyelinations. Four degrees of systematic paranodal demyelinations (two mild demyelinations termed PSD1 and PSD2, without/with aqueous layers respectively, and two severe demyelinations termed PSD3 and PSD4, with/without aqueous layers, respectively) are simulated using our previous multi-layered model of human motor nerve fibre.