Spinal motoneurons respond aberrantly to serotonin in a rabbit model of cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is caused by a variety of factors that damage the developing central nervous system. Impaired motor control, including muscle stiffness and spasticity, is the hallmark of spastic CP. Rabbits that experience hypoxic-ischaemic (HI) injury in utero (at 70%-83% gestation) are born with muscle stiffness, hyperreflexia and, as recently discovered, increased 5-HT in the spinal cord.

Altered Motoneuron Properties Contribute to Motor Deficits in a Rabbit Hypoxia-Ischemia Model of Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is caused by a variety of factors attributed to early brain damage, resulting in permanently impaired motor control, marked by weakness and muscle stiffness. To find out if altered physiology of spinal motoneurons (MNs) could contribute to movement deficits, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp in neonatal rabbit spinal cord slices after developmental injury at 79% gestation. After preterm hypoxia-ischemia (HI), rabbits are born with motor deficits consistent with a spastic phenotype including hypertonia and hyperreflexia.

Identifying the effects of microsaccades in tripolar EEG signals.

Microsaccades are tiny, involuntary eye movements that occur during fixation, and they are necessary to human sight to maintain a sharp image and correct the effects of other fixational movements. Researchers have theorized and studied the effects of microsaccades on electroencephalography (EEG) signals to understand and eliminate the unwanted artifacts from EEG. The tripolar concentric ring electrode (TCRE) sensors are used to acquire TCRE EEG (tEEG).

Electrode-electrolyte interface model of tripolar concentric ring electrode and electrode paste.

Electrodes are used to transform ionic currents to electrical currents in biological systems. Modeling the electrode-electrolyte interface could help to optimize the performance of the electrode interface to achieve higher signal to noise ratios. There are previous reports of accurate models for single-element biomedical electrodes.

Ontogeny of Feeding Mechanics in Smoothhound Sharks: Morphology and Cartilage Stiffness.

The diet of dusky smoothhound sharks, Mustelus canis, shifts over ontogeny from soft foods to a diet dominated by crabs. This may be accompanied by changes in the skeletal system that facilitates the capture and processing of large and bulky prey. The hyoid arch, for example, braces the jaws against the cranium, and generates suction for prey capture and intraoral transport.