Focused ultrasound modifications of neural circuit activity in a mammalian brain.

The application of focused, pulsed ultrasound was studied as a method of modifying the activity of a local neural circuit of the mammalian brain. An in vitro hippocampal preparation was used to facilitate delivery, dosimetry and assessment of mechanisms of ultrasound effects. Extracellular evoked potentials were recorded from cell and dendritic layers of the rat hippocampal dentate gyrus.

Modification by focused ultrasound pulses of electrically evoked responses from an in vitro hippocampal preparation.

The application of short pulses of focused ultrasound was studied as a method of modifying electrically evoked responses in the mammalian brain. The in vitro hippocampal preparation was employed to facilitate delivery and dosimetry of ultrasound, and assessment of mechanisms of ultrasound effects. Cellular and dendritic field potential responses evoked by electrical stimulation of the Schaffer/Commissural afferents were examined before, during and after exposure of a portion of the CA1 region to focused ultrasound pulses for periods ranging from 2 to 15 min.

The early days of experimental neutrino physics.

The neutrino hypothesis, put forward by Pauli to account for the apparent loss of energy and momentum in beta decay, was verified by a series of measurements at a nuclear reactor nearly 25 years ago. An account is given of the first observations of the interaction of neutrinos in a target remote from the fission process that produced them. These experiments completed the observations of the particles involved in beta decay and paved the way for use of the free neutrino to probe the nature of the weak interaction.