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    ELECTRIC FIELDS AND SLOW CORTICAL ACTIVITY

    Cover for ELECTRIC FIELDS AND SLOW CORTICAL ACTIVITY
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    View/Open: Wolff_georgetown_0076D_12145.pdf (3.5MB) Bookview

    Creator
    Wolff, Brian Stefan
    Advisor
    Wu, Jian-young
    Abstract
    Electrical activity in the brain gives rise to endogenous electric fields, which are the cause of many signals recorded from the nervous system. Electric fields can also be applied from external sources to modulate the excitability of neuronal populations in both research and clinical settings. I use a brain slice model to investigate the effects of oscillating electric fields on cortical networks. A combined approach of voltage-sensitive dye and two-photon calcium imaging techniques provides a detailed view of the spatiotemporal patterns of network activity and its modulation by electric fields. I find that electric fields induce very small polarizations that can generate much larger population events. I find that low extracellular calcium levels facilitate slow oscillatory activity by increasing sodium conductance, and that this confers an increased sensitivity of the network to electric fields. This suggests that electric fields and extracellular calcium levels may act in concert to synchronize cortical networks. And finally, I provide evidence for a novel theory that electric fields influence and reinforce the activation of neuronal ensembles during Up states. Together these results suggest a significant new hypothesis, that the generation of electric fields is an important mechanism in the network activation for consolidating memories during sleep.
    Description
    Ph.D.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/558397
    Date Published
    2013
    Subject
    Cortex; Electric Fields; Ephaptic Transmission; Slow Oscillation; Transcranial Stimulation; Voltage Sensitive Dye; Neurosciences; Physiology; Neurosciences; Physiology;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    123 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Neuroscience
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    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility