Gamma Oscillations Project

I am studying the effects of electrical stimulation on carbachol-induced gamma oscillations in rat brain slices.
The aim of this study is to understand the role of endogenous fields on the neuronal dynamics itself (feedback) and the effects of low amplitude (less than 10 mV/mm) electric fields on an "already active" network. The results could also suggest possible electrotherapies for diseases in which abnormal gamma rhythm is involved (Pre-ictal states, Tinnitus).

Induced-gamma oscillations in rat brain slices.

Example of electrical stimulation of gamma oscillations in brain slices.
The spectrogram shows the effect of low-amplitude AC electrical stimulation (2Hz, 4 mV/mm) on the endogenous activity.

I am also developing a computational model based on Izhikevich's single neuron model. The model allows to explain the experimental data and to make predictions on future experiments.

Simulated network activity

Example of 2 Hz AC electrical stimulation in the network model (spectrogram).

Some references:

1. Deans JK, Powell AD, Jefferys JG (2007), "Sensitivity of coherent oscillations in rat hippocampus to AC electric fields", J Physiol. 583(Pt 2):555-65

2. Fisahn A, Pike FG, Buhl EH, Paulsen O (1998), "Cholinergic induction of network oscillations at 40 Hz in the hippocampus in vitro", Nature 394(6689):186-9

3. Bartos M., Vida I., Jonas P. (2007), “Synaptic mechanisms of synchronized gamma oscillations in inhibitory interneuron networks”, Nat Rev Neurosci. 8(1):45-56

4. Izhikevich EM (2003), "Simple model of spiking neurons", IEEE Trans Neural Netw. 14(6):1569-72

5. Bazhenov M, Rulkov NF, Timofeev I (2008), “Effect of synaptic connectivity on long-range synchronization of fast cortical oscillations”, J Neurophysiol. 100(3):1562-7

Poster for the Society of Neuroscience Meeting in Washington DC (2008).

why is the background of this webpage complitely black? Because i like it!
I love free and open source software....This webpage was created using KompoZer, an open source software