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Biology
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Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems
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Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 11065

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Bruce Young

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health, A.T. Still University, Kirksville, MO 63501, USA
Interests: neurobiology; biophysics of sensory systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Animals rely on their sensory systems for information about both the external environment they interact with and the internal environment that determines their physiological performance. Sensory systems are important at every scale of the organism’s biology, from group dynamics such as schooling in fish, to chemotaxis in unicellular organisms. New sensory systems are described every year, while new techniques provide novel insights into previously explored systems. One of the most fascinating aspects of sensory systems is that while evolutionary diversification results in multiple sensory systems each responding to different stimuli, processes within the organism always produce some degree of multimodal sensory integration. This Special Issue is devoted to the neurobiology and biophysics of sensory systems with an emphasis on three main topics: descriptions of new sensory systems or neurobiological responses; the neural or biophysical diversification of sensory receptors and systems; and the integration of multimodal sensory systems. Manuscripts are welcome from any animal sensory system, from unicellular to group dynamics, and using approaches ranging from mathematical modeling through neural physiology to molecular analyses of transduction channels.

Prof. Dr. Bruce Young
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • multimodal
  • sensory integration
  • transduction
  • neurophysiology
  • behavioral ecology
  • neural “maps”
  • sensory thresholds
  • neural receptors

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2182 KiB  
Article
Auditory Noise Facilitates Lower Visual Reaction Times in Humans
by Argelia Pérez-Pacheco, Fernando Yael Rodríguez Morales, Khashayar Misaghian, Jocelyn Faubert and Jesus Eduardo Lugo Arce
Biology 2024, 13(8), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13080631 - 18 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1983
Abstract
Noise is commonly seen as a disturbance but can influence any system it interacts with. This influence may not always be desirable, but sometimes it can improve the system’s performance. For example, stochastic resonance is a phenomenon where adding the right amount of [...] Read more.
Noise is commonly seen as a disturbance but can influence any system it interacts with. This influence may not always be desirable, but sometimes it can improve the system’s performance. For example, stochastic resonance is a phenomenon where adding the right amount of noise to a weak signal makes it easier to detect. This is known as sub-threshold detection. This sub-threshold detection’s natural fingerprint is the fact that the threshold values follow an inverse U-shaped curve as the noise intensity increases. The minimum threshold value is the point of maximum sensitivity and represents the optimal point that divides the dynamics in two. Below that point, we can find the beneficial noise branch, where the noise can facilitate better detection. Above that point, the common detrimental noise concept can be found: adding noise hinders signal detection. The nervous system controls the movements and bodily functions in the human body. By reducing the sensory thresholds, we can improve the balance of these functions. Additionally, researchers have wondered if noise could be applied to different senses or motor mechanisms to enhance our abilities. In this work, noise is used to improve human reaction times. We tested the hypothesis that visual reaction times decrease significantly when the subject’s perception is in the beneficial noise branch and closer to the optimal point than outside of this condition. Auditory noise was introduced in 101 human subjects using an interface capable of searching for the right amount of noise to place the subject in the beneficial noise branch close to the optimal point. When comparing the results, the reaction times decreased when the subjects were at the optimal point compared to when the subjects were outside of such conditions. These results reveal the possibility of using this approach to enhance human performance in tasks requiring faster reaction times, such as sports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems)
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18 pages, 2663 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Temporal Coding of Tactile Information in Rat Thalamus by Locus Coeruleus Activation
by Charles Rodenkirch and Qi Wang
Biology 2024, 13(2), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13020079 - 28 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2082
Abstract
The brainstem noradrenergic nucleus, the locus coeruleus (LC), exerts heavy influences on sensory processing, perception, and cognition through its diffuse projections throughout the brain. Previous studies have demonstrated that LC activation modulates the response and feature selectivity of thalamic relay neurons. However, the [...] Read more.
The brainstem noradrenergic nucleus, the locus coeruleus (LC), exerts heavy influences on sensory processing, perception, and cognition through its diffuse projections throughout the brain. Previous studies have demonstrated that LC activation modulates the response and feature selectivity of thalamic relay neurons. However, the extent to which LC modulates the temporal coding of sensory information in the thalamus remains mostly unknown. Here, we found that LC stimulation significantly altered the temporal structure of the responses of the thalamic relay neurons to repeated whisker stimulation. A substantial portion of events (i.e., time points where the stimulus reliably evoked spikes as evidenced by dramatic elevations in the firing rate of the spike density function) were removed during LC stimulation, but many new events emerged. Interestingly, spikes within the emerged events have a higher feature selectivity, and therefore transmit more information about a tactile stimulus, than spikes within the removed events. This suggests that LC stimulation optimized the temporal coding of tactile information to improve information transmission. We further reconstructed the original whisker stimulus from a population of thalamic relay neurons’ responses and corresponding feature selectivity. As expected, we found that reconstruction from thalamic responses was more accurate using spike trains of thalamic neurons recorded during LC stimulation than without LC stimulation, functionally confirming LC optimization of the thalamic temporal code. Together, our results demonstrated that activation of the LC-NE system optimizes temporal coding of sensory stimulus in the thalamus, presumably allowing for more accurate decoding of the stimulus in the downstream brain structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems)
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20 pages, 4210 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Movement on the Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
by Bruce A. Young and Michael Cramberg
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1702; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121702 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1706
Abstract
This study was undertaken to document how the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure varied during movements and physiological activities. Using surgically implanted pressure catheters; the CSF pressure was recorded from sub-adult American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) under anesthesia and post-recovery. Pressures were recorded [...] Read more.
This study was undertaken to document how the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure varied during movements and physiological activities. Using surgically implanted pressure catheters; the CSF pressure was recorded from sub-adult American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) under anesthesia and post-recovery. Pressures were recorded during physiological activities (the cardiac cycle; passive and active ventilation); manual manipulation of the anesthetized animals (foot sweeps; tail oscillations; and body bends); as well as voluntary movements post-recovery (changes in body tone; defensive strikes; and locomotion). The CSF pulsations associated with the cardiac cycle had the lowest mean amplitude (3.7 mm Hg); during active ventilation and defensive strikes; the alligators routinely generated CSF pressure spikes in excess of 100 mm Hg. The recorded CSF pressures appear to be caused by a variety of mechanisms including vascular pressure; fluid inertia; and possible physical displacement of the spinal cord. The results of the study suggest that any model of CSF dynamics or perfusion should incorporate the episodic high-pressure CSF pulsations associated with movement Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems)
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Review

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19 pages, 1726 KiB  
Review
Neuropsychological and Neurophysiological Mechanisms behind Flickering Light Stimulus Processing
by Natalia D. Mankowska, Malgorzata Grzywinska, Pawel J. Winklewski and Anna B. Marcinkowska
Biology 2022, 11(12), 1720; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11121720 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4364
Abstract
The aim of this review is to summarise current knowledge about flickering light and the underlying processes that occur during its processing in the brain. Despite the growing interest in the topic of flickering light, its clinical applications are still not well understood. [...] Read more.
The aim of this review is to summarise current knowledge about flickering light and the underlying processes that occur during its processing in the brain. Despite the growing interest in the topic of flickering light, its clinical applications are still not well understood. Studies using EEG indicate an appearing synchronisation of brain wave frequencies with the frequency of flickering light, and hopefully, it could be used in memory therapy, among other applications. Some researchers have focused on using the flicker test as an indicator of arousal, which may be useful in clinical studies if the background for such a relationship is described. Since flicker testing has a risk of inducing epileptic seizures, however, every effort must be made to avoid high-risk combinations, which include, for example, red-blue light flashing at 15 Hz. Future research should focus on the usage of neuroimaging methods to describe the specific neuropsychological and neurophysiological processes occurring in the brain during the processing of flickering light so that its clinical utility can be preliminarily determined and randomised clinical trials can be initiated to test existing reports. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology and Biophysics of Sensory Systems)
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