[Research Progress in the Role of the Ventral Tegmental Area-Medial Prefrontal Cortex Neural Circuit in the Regulation of Arousal].

There are mutual neural projections between the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC),which form a circuit.Recent studies have shown that this circuit is vital in regulating arousal from sleep and general anesthesia.This paper introduces the anatomical structures of VTA and mPFC and the roles of various neurons and projection pathways in the regulation of arousal,aiming to provide new ideas for further research on the mechanism of arousal from sleep and general anesthesia.

Dopamine D2-receptor neurons in nucleus accumbens regulate sevoflurane anesthesia in mice.

Introduction: The mechanism of general anesthesia remains elusive. In recent years, numerous investigations have indicated that its mode of action is closely associated with the sleep-wake pathway. As a result, this study aimed to explore the involvement of dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) expressing neurons located in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a critical nucleus governing sleep-wake regulation, in sevoflurane anesthesia. Methods: This exploration was carried out using calcium fiber photometry and optogenetics technology, while utilizing cortical electroencephalogram (EEG), loss of righting reflex (LORR), and recovery of righting reflex (RORR) as experimental indicators. Results: The findings from calcium fiber photometry revealed a decrease in the activity of NAcD2R neurons during the induction phase of sevoflurane anesthesia, with subsequent recovery observed during the anesthesia's emergence phase. Moreover, the activation of NAcD2R neurons through optogenetics technology led to a reduction in the anesthesia induction process and an extension of the arousal process in mice. Conversely, the inhibition of these neurons resulted in the opposite effect. Furthermore, the activation of NAcD2R neurons projecting into the ventral pallidum (VP) via optogenetics demonstrated a shortened induction time for mice under sevoflurane anesthesia. Discussion: In conclusion, our research outcomes suggest that NAcD2R neurons play a promotive role in the sevoflurane general anesthesia process in mice, and their activation can reduce the induction time of anesthesia via the ventral pallidum (VP).

Exponential Stability of Discrete-Time Neural Networks With Large Delay.

We study the exponential stability of discrete-time neural networks (NNs) with a time-varying delay which contains a few intermittent large delays (LDs). By modeling the considered discrete-time NN as a discrete-time switched NN which contains two subsystems and one of them may be unstable over the LD periods (LDPs), switching techniques are employed to analyze the problem. Delay-dependent exponential stability conditions to check the frequency and the length of the LDs allowed for guaranteeing the exponential stability are proposed by applying a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) with LDP-based terms, Wirtinger-based summation inequality, and reciprocally convex combination technique. Based on these conditions, associated evaluation algorithms are developed. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.