[Experience of the first "whisker-dependent" task influenced c-Fos induction in rat barrel cortex neurons during acquisition of the second "whisker-independent" task].

In this work we aimed to create a controlled history of two sequential trainings in order to find out activation patterns of "the first task" neurons during the second task learning. Rats were first trained to perform instrumental water rewarded behavior that required using left or right whiskers (a conditioned "whisking" task), and then to perform food-acquisition task of pedal pressing (not a conditioned "whisking" task). We found that food-acquisition task learning is accompanied by c-Fos induction in the barrel cortex neurons in animals that learned previously a conditioned "whisking" task. These data suggest that c-Fos induction during the second training took place in neurons that were specialized in relation to the first, "whisking" task.

[Learning and memory: traditional and systemic approach].

The same empiric event may appear as different facts for authors adhering to different theories. The present work was designed with analyze learning and memory from the viewpoint of systemic approach and to compare this view with the traditional one. Neuron's activity is considered not as a response to synaptic inflow that ensures the conduction of excitation but as means of changing the relation with environment, "action" that helps eliminate the discrepancy between cell's needs and its microenvironment. It is suggested that learning and memory consolidation is based not on a consistent increase in efficacy of synaptic transmission in neuronal chains but on systemogenesis--establishment of new systemic specializations of neurons not necessarily linked directly through synapses. The article discusses the role of systemogenetic processes taking place in normal as well as in pathological state: selection, reconsolidational modifications of previously formed memory store, genes activation, neurogenesis and apoptosis. The systemic understanding of the phenomenon of long-term potentiation is-substantiated. Finally, the scheme is suggested describing variants and stages of memory store formation.

[Activity of anterolateral motor cortex neurons in instumental food-acquisition and alcohol-acquisition behavior]. / Aktivnost' neironov anterolateral'noi motornoi kory v instrumental'nom pishchedobyvatel'nom i alkogoledobyvatel'nom povedenii.

Singleunit activity of anterolateral area of motor cortex in rabbits subjected to chronic ethanol treatment was recorded to study interconnections of neuronal mechanisms of newly formed instrumental alcohol-acquisition behavior (IAB) and previously formed food-acquisition behavior (IFB). Adult animals were trained to perform IFB in experimental cage equipped with two food boxes and two pedals situated in the corners of the cage. Food was presented automatically in a food box after the pressing of an appropriate pedal. Same rabbits after 9 mo. of chronic alcohol treatment were trained to perform IAB in the same experimental cage (gelatin capsules filled with 15% ethanol solution were placed into the food box instead of food). Activity of 121 units of anterolateral area of motor cortex was studied. Each unit discharges were analysed in IAB as well as in IFB. The data obtained testifies that neuronal sets subserving IAB and IFB overlap but not completely. 44 "common" neurons permanently activated in both behaviors and 3 neurons specifically activated in each of behaviors (one in IAB and two in IFB) were found. We consider the formation of IAB as systemogenesis that is related to the consolidation processes: the formation of new neuronal specializations and to the accommodative re-consolidation: modification of early specialized cells ("common"). It is shown in the Discussion that present experiments help us not only understand interconnections of neuronal mechanisms of newly formed IAB and early formed IFB but also provide an additional insight into the nature of similarity between neuronal mechanisms of long-term memory and long-lived modifications resulting from repeated drug exposure.

[Involvement of rabbit motor cortex neurons in the instrumental behavior before and after chronic ethanol consumption: a comparison with the limbic cortex]. / Uchastie neironov motornoi kory krolika v obespechenii instrumental'nogo povedeniia do i posle khronicheskoi alkogolizatsii: sravnenie s limbicheskoi koroi.

The effect of acute administration is significantly more prominent in the limbic (cingulate) than in the motor cortex [9]. We proposed that the limbic cortex is more sensitive also to chronic ethanol treatment (CET). It was shown that morphology as well as neuronal activity of the limbic cortex changed greatly after the CET [7]. The missing link of testing the above proposition was a comparison of the obtained data with the results of the experimental study of CET influence on the motor cortex. Morphology of the anterolateral motor cortex and activity of its neurons in the instrumental food-acquisition behavior were studied in 6 male rabbits after CET (9 months). It was found that the limbic cortex was modified morphologically and functionally to a significantly greater extent than the motor cortex. We consider the fact that in the limbic cortex of a healthy individual there are many neurons, which for a while cease their discharges after the acute ethanol administration, to be among the most important reasons for this difference. Such-like repeated activity interruptions in the course of CET impair the performance of the systems incorporating these neurons. In such a way ethanol prevents all neurons, especially the mentioned ones, from receiving adequate metabolic supply that is necessary for their survival and functioning.

[Long-term potentiation and unit evoked responses in the cingulate cortex of freely moving rats]. / Dolgovremennaia potentsiatsiia i vyzvannye spaikovye otvety v tsinguliarnoi kore svobodnopodvizhnykh krys.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic efficacy is considered to be the most probable physiological mechanism of long-term memory. However, lack of understanding of cellular and subcellular mechanisms of LTP induction in freely behaving animals does not correspond to the importance of the problem. It was tested whether the characteristics of potentiation in the cingulate cortex after tetanization of the subiculocingulate tract (SCT) meet the criteria of true LTP (that passes all known stages in its development and lasts for more than a day in freely-behaving animals). Additionally, characteristics of spike responses to SCT stimulation and the effects of application of different glutamate receptor blockers were studied. Without application of GABA receptor blockers, the LTP lasted for more than 24 hours. Application of NMDA glutamate receptor blockers significantly inhibited field potentials evoke by testing stimulation. Short-latency spike responses to SCT stimulation were recorded with low probability that increased with stimulation intensity. The obtained data reveal the possibility to compare the involvement of cingulate neurons in acquisition of adaptive behavior and changes in their spike responses during the LTP development in freely-moving rats.

[Activity of neurons in the anterolateral region of the rabbit motor cortex during taking food and nonfood objects in instrumental behavior]. / Aktivnost' neironov anterolateral'noi oblasti motornoi kory mozga krolika pri zakhvate pishchevykh i nepishchevykh ob''ektov v instrumental'nom povedenii.

We showed earlier that only 2-4% of N-neurons in the rabbit's anterolateral ("masticatory") motor cortex (AC) that are being specialized in relation to Newly formed acts (such as pressing the pedal, approaching the pedal) during the elaboration of instrumental food-acquistion behavior. The majority of neurons in this area are O-neurons that are specialized in relation to the Older acts formed long before the acquisition of instrumental behavior: mostly taking of food. It was shown also that electrical stimulation of this area produced jaw movements. It might seem reasonable to propose that the number of N-neurons may be increased in this area if pedal pressing in substituted with instrumental act like seizure and pulling a ring that is more corresponding to the "projectional property" of the AC. Here we show that the number of N-neurons in rabbit's AC remains constant -3.4%, even is the animals that were trained to pull a ring instead of pressing a pedal. Thus, we assume that the small number of N-neurons is the stable property of the AC. However, the role of the AC in the subserving of the behavior does not remain the same. Much more AC units (O-neurons) were activated in the ring pulling than in the pedal pressing instrumental act.

[Distribution of behaviorally specialized neurons and expression of the c-fos transcription factor in the rat cerebral cortex during learning]. / Raspredelenie povedenchiski spetsializirovannykh neironov i ékspressiia transkriptsionnogo faktora c-fos v kore golovnogo mozga krys pri nauchenii.

In order to investigate the relation between the immediate early gene induction in neurons and neuronal specialization in respect to functional systems of newly formed behavior, the neuronal expression of Fos transcription factor in rat brain was studied in animals of learning group and home cage control group. Animals of the learning group acquired a new behavior of pressing a pedal. Fos-positive neurons were counted in the retrosplenial area of cingulate cortex and anterolateral area of motor cortex, i.e., the two brain regions that differ in the number of neurons showing specific activity during this behavior. In the home cage control animals the number of Fos-positive neurons was low and no difference was found between the two brain regions. In the animals of the learning group the number of Fos-positive neurons was significantly higher in the cingulate cortex characterized by the greater number of neurons specialized in relation to the system of new behavior. These findings suggest that the c-Fox expression can indicate the processes of neuronal specialization.

[Patterns in the shaping and realization of individual experience]. / Zakonomernosti formirovaniia i realizatsii individual'nogo opyta.

This article describes the methodological approach of systemic psychology. In the framework of this approach a wide range of experimental data is analyzed: results of neuronal recordings in vitro and in awake normal and pathological animals learning to perform and performing both complex instrumental and simple behavioral acts. Another block of analyzed data is based on the experiments with human subjects that learn and perform the tasks of categorization of words and operator tasks, subjects, performing group game activity and answering the questionnaires of psychodiagnostic methods. As a result of this analysis, the system psychology approach is used to describe qualitatively and quantitatively the formation and realization of individual experience.

[Structural changes and reorganization of the activity of the cortical neurons in the behavior of chronically alcoholized rabbits]. / Strukturnye izmeneniia i reorganizatsiia aktivnosti korkovykh neironov v povedenii u khronicheski alkogolizirovannykh krolikov.

Unit activity in the limbic cortex recorded during food acquisition behaviour was analyzed in the rabbits that were subjected to chronic (2.5-3.0 months) alcohol administration (CA). Morphological changes in the limbic cortex were studied in the same animals. It was shown that after CA the numerical density of cell bodies decreased as compared to that of the healthy animals and the size of cell bodies changed; number of units, activity of which could be detected during microelectrode penetration, decreased as well. All aforementioned changes were more prominent in the upper (II-IV) layers of the cortex as compared to the lower (V-VI) ones. These facts are associated with the decrease of the number of active units belonging to systems formed in the later phases of individual development. There was no decrease of the number of active units following an acute administration of alcohol in the chronic animals unlike the situation observed in the healthy animals.

[The effect of acute alcohol administration on auditory evoked potentials in altricial nestlings during the development of natural behavior]. / Vliianie ostrogo vvedeniia alkogolia na slukhovye vyzvannye potentsialy u nezrelorozhdaiushchikhsia ptentsov v period formirovaniia estestvennogo povedeniia.

Acute ethanol influence on field L auditory evoked potentials (AEP) was studied in 4-8-days-old altricial nestlings of pied flycatcher. Nestlings were presented with tone pips related with the realization of natural behaviour (2.0 and 5.0 kHz) and bearing no meaning for the behaviour of the young of the age under study (3.0 kHz). Ethanol ingestion was found to reduce the maturity index (MI) of AEP in response to "behavioural" but not to control frequencies; this effect was first observed at day 5, when nestlings eyes opened and defence behaviour appeared, while previously formed feeding behaviour was significantly modified. During the next 2 days alcohol had a greater effect upon the AEP in response to 2.0 kHz tone pips, related with feeding behaviour of increasing complexity than upon the AEP in response to 5.0 kHz, related with the defence behaviour that remained relatively constant. The previous data concerning the effect of alcohol on unit activity are used to support the view that MI increase during the early postembryonic ontogeny is due to the involvement of neurons with newly formed behavioural specializations into the subserving of new behavioural patterns while the decrease of MI under alcohol is due to the depression of activity in these neurons.

[The effect of acute ethanol administration on the neuronal activity of the motor cortex of the rabbit in its food-acquisition behavior]. / Vliianie ostrogo vvedeniia étanola na aktivnost' neironov motornoi oblasti kory krolika v pishchedobyvatel'nom povedenii.

Units activity of anterolateral area of rabbits motor cortex, realizing instrumental food-acquisition behaviour was studied at acute injection of ethanol and in control experiments (injection of physiological solution) in order to compare possible ethanol effects on the motor area of the cortex with effects revealed by us earlier at studying the activity of the limbic cortex units in the same experimental conditions. It was shown that after ethanol injection the number of active units and the pattern of the motor cortex units specialization in contrast to the limbic one remained constant. Nevertheless, composition of the motor cortex units involved in subserving the behaviour changed because of recruitment [correction of recrutation] of one cells (from V-VI layers of the cortex) in this process and exclusion of other ones (from II-IV layers). The value of activation frequency ratio to the frequency of the background of the involved units increased.

[The effect of the acute administration of ethanol on the realization of behavior and its neuronal support]. / Vliianie ostrogo vvedeniia étanola na realizatsiiu povedeniia i ego neironnoe obespechenie.

In experiments on rabbits trained to instrumental food procuring behaviour it was cleared up, which changes of activity of neurones of the limbic cortical area corresponded to disturbances of this behaviour (increase in time of realization and in the number of errors) caused by intraperitoneal injection of 12% ethanol solution in a dose of 1 g/kg. In comparison with control (administration of isotonic solution), the number of active cells singled out in the microelectrode track was reduced by 1/3; the pattern of behavioural specialization of neurones involved in provision of the disturbed behaviour was changed. The content of neurones of the most recent systems formed during animals learning instrumental behaviour, decreased from 27 to 11%, and of neurones providing for realization of systems formed at previous stages of individual development increased from 18 to 36%.

[Neuronal specialization of the motor cortex in normal rabbits and following destruction of the visual cortex]. / Spetsializatsiia neironov motornoi kory u krolikov v norme i posle razrusheniia zritel'noi kory.

The activity of neurones of the anterolateral part of the motor cortex in food-acquisition behaviour was compared in two control rabbits and in three rabbits after the operation of bilateral ablation of the striatal cortex. In two of three operated rabbits the pattern of behavioural specialization lost considerably the specificity peculiar to the motor cortex (predominance of G-neurones activated in grasping of food), approaching (but not becoming identical) the pattern of specialization of the visual cortex neurones: the number of G-neurones decreased in a half, and the number of L-neurones (activated in connection with the acts of instrumental food-acquisition behaviour which animals were trained to in the experimental cage) was doubled. Changes of the activity were significantly less expressed in the third operated rabbit. The number of the neurones activated in food-acquisition behaviour in operated rabbits in comparison with the control ones was reduced in the upper layers of the cortex and increased in the lower layers. The resemblance is discussed of the basic processes of animals learning and behaviour recovery.

[Role of a goal in determining neuronal activity of the motor and visual areas of the rabbit cortex]. / Rol' tseli determinatsii aktivnosti neironov motornoi i zritel'noi oblastei kory krolika.

In experiments on alert rabbits neuronal activity of the motor and visual cortical areas was studied in behavioural acts (BA) of grasping of a piece of plastics (P) and carrot (C) from consequently presented cups of the feeder; the animal had an opportunity to seize a C piece only after grasping and taking away from the previous cup the P piece. "Visual environment" in which BA were realized were identical; P and C pieces were identical in form and visual characteristics. Records were made of unit activity (201 cells), animal's movements (photoelectric method), EMG of the m. masseter; in parallel videorecords of behaviour were carried out. BA of P and C pieces grasping were identical in electromyo- and actographic characteristics; motor composition of these BA did not differ. 61 neurones were activated in both BA, 5--only in BA of P piece grasping, 22--only in BA of C piece grasping, i. e. 30% of neurones were activated only in one of the compared BA. Characteristics of activations, appearing in both acts could be significantly different: different frequency, connection with different stages of the compared BA. The obtained data are determined by changes of the motor and receptive fields of neurones in one BA in comparison to another, and are considered as an evidence supporting the suggestion that appearance of cortical neurones' activations in behaviour depends on BA goal and is not strictly determined by the parameters of movements and environment.

[Activity of neurons of the somatosensory and visual cortex in the rabbit during visual field testing and performance of food-getting behavior]. / Aktivnost' neironov somatosensornoi i zritel'noi kory krolika pri testirovanii ikh retseptivnykh polei i vo vremia realizatsii pishchedobyvatel'nogo povedeniia.

The activity of somatosensory and visual cortex neurons was compared in experiments on freely moving rabbits during testing of their receptive field and during natural "stimulation" of the receptive areas by environmental objects in food-acquisition behaviour. It was found that the neuronal activity during the receptive field testing may correspond completely, partly or not at all to that in food-acquisition behaviour, i.e. units displaying a certain relation to a receptive field area during the testing may keep it unaltered, alter it or lose it in food-acquisition behaviour. The different activity in the behaviour was observed even in neurons having identical receptive fields during testing. A conclusion is made that the picture of unit activity in the active goal-directed behaviour being modelled on the basis of receptive field testing may be rather vague. The results of experiments with the receptive field testing may help to develop the concept of processing of information about environment in the behaviour but with some limitations whose formulation demands special investigations.

[Activity of visual and motor cortex neurons during performance of a behavioral act with open and closed eyes]. / Aktivnost' neironov zritel'noi i motornoi oblastei kory mozga pri osushchestvlenii povedencheskogo akta s otkrytymi i zakrytymi glazami.

The influence of closing the eyes (by means of a special device) on the neuronal activity in the visual and motor cortical areas was analysed in a trained rabbit during behavioural act of seizing the food. It was found that activation of the neurones of both cortical areas in the course of the act appears both with closed and open eyes at all its stages, i.e. for appearance of neurons activity no contact is required with the "visual part" of the surroundings. This fact is discussed from the viewpoint of "purposive" neuronal activity. Both the composition of the involved elements of both cortical areas and the shape of their activity were changing during performance of behaviour with closed eyes, the changes being more pronounced in the visual area. A hypothesis is advanced that the differences in the changeability of the neuronal activation in the studied structures are determined by their heterochronous maturation in the process of behaviour formation in ontogenesis.