Considering the impact of physical disability on FMS development and PA participation, our second hypothesis was that implementing FMS training will have a greater impact on PA among children with disability than those without disability. Evidence-based

recommendations have highlighted that movement skills training should be based on a sound theoretical framework.17 In this study, the FMS training program was based on the errorless motor learning model,18 which constrains the environment to minimize the amount of practice errors. It has been suggested that reduction of practice errors facilitates movement performance that is stable even when doing a secondary cognitive task (i.e., dual-task demands).18 Subsequent studies also revealed advantages Selleck GDC 0068 such as stability against physiological fatigue, long-term skills retention,19 and superior movement performance.20 Besides those advantages mentioned, this approach was chosen because it is believed that CCI-779 manufacturer greater experiences of success during practice could promote heightened self-efficacy among children. This model was applied in a recent study of children without disability where overhand throwing practice was integrated into physical education (PE) lessons in a primary school.21 Task difficulty was manipulated so that learners began with an easy task that progressively increased in difficulty, thereby minimizing practice errors in the early stage.

It was shown that reduction of

errors in the initial stages of learning resulted in improved movement performance that were unaffected by cognitive dual-task demands. This suggests that children learnt motor skills without significantly relying on their cognitive resources. In a follow-up study, a similar overhand throwing practice program was integrated into the adapted PE lessons of children with intellectual disability.22 Besides NET1 the consistent findings of improved movement proficiency and stability in the presence of secondary cognitive tasks, heightened free play engagement when the skill was relevant (i.e., throwing games) was also observed. Based on these recent researches, the errorless learning approach was deemed to be an appropriate framework for FMS training of children with and without disability. It appears that this approach could accommodate learners’ variations of ability, and was thus used in this pilot study. In the first study group, children with CP were recruited from a pediatric therapy clinic (n = 24; 12 girls, 12 boys). To prevent experimental contamination, participants were allocated by group (i.e., those in the clinic at the same schedule were allocated as a group to either training or control) into either an FMS training group (CP-FMS; n = 12; mean age: 6.92 ± 3.04 years) or a control group (CP-C; n = 12; mean age: 7.98 ± 1.74 years). The children with CP were within Gross Motor Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to III.

Critically, the ability of human AD brain-derived Aβ species to suppress synaptic plasticity requires PrPC, and human AD brain contains PrPC-interacting Aβo and Aβ-PrPC complexes (Barry et al., 2011, Freir et al., 2011, Um et al., 2012 and Zou et al., 2011). Aβo-PrPC complexes signal to intracellular Fyn kinase (Larson et al., 2012 and Um et al., 2012). PrPC phenotypes in fish and worms require Fyn (Bizat et al., 2010 and Málaga-Trillo et al., 2009), Fyn regulates Glu receptor traffic and plasticity (Grant et al., 1992 and Prybylowski et al., this website 2005), and Fyn interacts with tau (Ittner et al., 2010 and Roberson

et al., 2011). Both PrPC and Fyn are enriched in the postsynaptic density (PSD), and Aβo engagement of PrPC activates Fyn to phosphorylate NMDA receptors (Larson et al., 2012 and Um et al., 2012). The connection from Aβo-PrPC complexes to Fyn cannot be direct, because PrPC is anchored via glycolipid to the plasma membrane whereas Fyn is cytoplasmic. Because both are enriched in PSDs selleck chemicals (Collins et al., 2006 and Um et al., 2012), we hypothesized that a transmembrane PSD protein might couple PrPC with Fyn. The PSD proteome includes 81 transmembrane proteins (Collins et al., 2006 and Emes et al., 2008). Here, we screened PSD transmembrane proteins for their

ability to couple Aβo-PrPC with Fyn. We identified mGluR5 as linking PrPC to Fyn. Activation of neuronal Fyn requires both mGluR5 and PrPC. Aβo-PrPC can drive mGluR5-dependent calcium mobilization and eEF2 phosphorylation. Antagonists of mGluR5 prevent Aβo-induced dendritic spine loss and AD transgene learning and memory deficits. These studies define an Aβo-PrPC-mGluR5 complex that leads to impaired neuronal function. We

considered the 81 known transmembrane PSD proteins as potential Linifanib (ABT-869) mediators (Figures 1A and 1B). We utilized a cell type in which PrPC and Fyn fail to couple. When PrPC and Fyn are overexpressed in HEK293T cells, Aβo does not activate Fyn, as in neurons (Um et al., 2012). We coexpressed PSD proteins together with PrPC and exposed the HEK cells to Aβo prior to assessing Fyn activation by anti-phospho-SFK (Src family kinase) immunoblot (Figures 1B–1D). In addition to 56 documented PSD proteins, we included APLP1 and APLP2, due similarity with the PSD protein, APP, and known interaction with PrPC or Aβo (Bai et al., 2008, Laurén et al., 2009 and Schmitt-Ulms et al., 2004). We included the LRRTM family because they organize synapses and modify Aβ levels (Linhoff et al., 2009 and Majercak et al., 2006). Of 61 proteins screened, only mGluR1 and mGluR5 increased Fyn activation by >2 SD (Figures 1C and 1D). mGluR5 is reported to coimmunoprecipitate and activate Fyn (Heidinger et al., 2002), to redistribute after Aβo (Renner et al., 2010), to colocalize with Aβo (Renner et al., 2010), and to be required for Aβo suppression of LTP (Rammes et al., 2011, Shankar et al.

The efficacy of a formulation acting systemically is not affected by bathing, swimming, rain, or any skin condition. The dog owners can also handle their animal immediately. These studies demonstrated that afoxolaner can be used as an effective agent to treat and control Rhipicephalus tick infestations with a MK-1775 convenient, monthly oral dosing schedule. The work reported herein was funded by Merial Limited, GA, USA. All authors are current employees of Merial. The authors gratefully acknowledge

Lenaig Halos and Frederic Beugnet, Veterinary Parasitologists, for the scientific editing of the manuscript. “
“Haemaphysalis longicornis is common tick species in Asia and Pacific region, including Japan, China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand ( Inokuma, 2013, Shimada et al., 2003 and Tenquisf and Charleston, 2001). This species is the major vector of Babesia gibsoni to dogs in Asia ( Chomel, 2011 and Inokuma, 2013). Canine babesiosis is an important tick-borne disease, and Selleck DAPT the prevention of Babesia transmission is particularly critical given the challenges of appropriate treatment strategies against babesiosis ( Beugnet

and Franc, 2012, Otranto and Wall, 2008, Otranto et al., 2009a, Otranto et al., 2009b and Taboada and Lobetti, 2006). H. longicornis is also a putative vector of Hepatozoon canis and Rickettsia japonica ( Inokuma, 2013). The present study describes the result of a laboratory study that assessed the efficacy of afoxolaner, administered orally in a chewable formulation (Nexgard®, Merial), against H. longicornis in dogs. Sixteen beagle dogs of both sexes were included in the study, which was designed as a negative controlled randomized block study. All dogs were approximately 10–11 months of age and weighed from 7.2 to 9.0 kg at inclusion. All dogs were healthy and had not been treated with any ectoparasiticides

in the 3 months prior to inclusion in the study nor infested by ticks. The health of all dogs was monitored at least once daily and once per hour during the first four hours post treatment. All dogs had free access to water and were fed a commercial diet. The study design was approved by the Merial Institutional Animal Care 4-Aminobutyrate aminotransferase and Use Committee (USDA, 2008). In the study, two groups of eight dogs were formed randomly, using blocks of two dogs based on decreasing pre-treatment tick counts. Dogs in Group 1 were untreated controls. Dogs in Group 2 were treated orally on Day 0 with the appropriate chewable tablets containing afoxolaner. Four sizes of chews were available: 0.5 g, 1.25 g, 3 g and 6 g, containing respectively 11.3 mg, 28.3 mg, 68 mg and 136 mg of afoxolaner. Doses were administered as closely as possible to the minimum effective dose (2.5 mg/kg). In this study, all dogs received 2 chewable tablets of 0.5 g, and the mean dose received by dogs was 3.0 mg/kg of afoxolaner (range: 2.5–3.1 mg/kg). On Days-2, 7, 14, 21, and 28, all dogs were infested with 50 unfed female H. longicornis.

The consumption of uncooked fermented pork was most common in the Lao-Tai ethnic group and increased with increasing age with almost 50% of people aged 25–54 years reporting consumption of fermented pork. The interpretation of the serological data

presented problems since many of a subset of the ES-ELISA positive sera were negative by western blot analysis and may have represented poor specificity and false positives. False positive results have been associated with polyparsitism and infections with other nematodes ( Gomez-Morales et al., 2008) and these were common in the Lao study population (Conlan et al., in preparation), indicating trichinellosis seroprevalence may have been overestimated. GW786034 Even with an apparent decline in the number of outbreaks in northern MK-8776 cost Thailand (Kaewpitoon et al., 2008) and an apparent increase in northwest Vietnam (Taylor et al., 2009), there is insufficient evidence to suggest that trichinellosis is emerging or re-emerging in the SE Asian region. The evidence to date indicates that trichinellosis may be endemically stable. The minimum number of larvae required to cause clinical disease has been estimated to be between 70 and 150 larvae (Dupouy-Camet et al., 2002) and in Laos the volume of fermented sausage consumed in a sitting is most often

less than 50 grams (Conlan et al., in preparation).

The prevalence of T. spiralis larvae in backyard and free-range pigs is relatively low and Endonuclease the majority harbour a low worm burden (<1 lpg) ( Vu Thi et al., 2010) (Conlan et al., in preparation) suggesting that in a community where uncooked pork is consumed, most infections will be subclinical. Severe clinical cases predominantly occur as sporadic point source outbreaks or sporadic isolated cases ( Odermatt et al., 2010). Trichinellosis endemic stability requires verification by well-designed and comprehensive epidemiological studies of pigs and people but it could provide important insights for the implementation of disease control initiatives. Southeast Asia is currently in the midst of a livestock revolution driven by a high demand for animal derived protein, to meet this demand livestock production has increased in terms of absolute numbers, but most dramatically in production output. Official pig production data published by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) clearly demonstrates this trend (FAO, 2010a and FAO, 2010b); in the 11 ASEAN nations, the number of pigs produced in 1998 rose from 53.9 million to 69.4 million in 2008, representing an increase of 28.7%. Whereas, the volume of pork produced in the same period rose from 4 million tonnes to 6.4 million tonnes, representing an increase of 58.9%.

In addition, Portegijs et al.18 also showed a high positive correlation between the ABC scale and BBS along with the Timed

Up and Go (TUG) (i.e., functional balance performance test), level-walking speed Ceritinib molecular weight and self-reported physical activity. Thus, not only are training programs for strength and reactive response improvements important, high balance confidence appears to be associated with increased mobility and balance performance. The QuickBoard (The QuickBoard, LLC, Memphis, TN, USA) is often used in athletic settings as a tool for improving lower limb movement performance, such as movement speed, reaction time (RT), and agility which involves quick change of movement directions. The QuickBoard requires users to rapidly steps on specific ground targets in response to a visual stimulus and can be used for both training and testing purposes with a high test–retest reliability.19 It allows individuals to work at their own effort and provides convenient knowledge of results (KR; performance feedback) to ensure maximal

efforts in order to reach a particular goal. To date, no studies have investigated the effects of QuickBoard training on movement speed, RT selleck products and balance in a healthy elderly population. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the effects of an 8-week QuickBoard training program on RT foot speed, static balance, and balance confidence in healthy older adults compared to an exercise control group during pre-, middle (4-week), post- and follow-up tests. It was hypothesized that the QuickBoard group would improve on QuickBoard RT foot speed, static balance, and balance confidence over the 8-week period FMO2 and, would show significantly greater improvements compared to the cycling control group. The larger improvements in QuickBoard RT and foot speed within the QuickBoard group are expected due to the specificity of these

tests with the training group. Although previous research has confirmed these improvements in QuickBoard testing variables in healthy young men, this effect is unknown in healthy older adults. Twenty-five healthy older adults were recruited from local community centers and from the university campus via recruitment flyers and emails to participate in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to a stationary cycling group (n = 13; 70.2 ± 6.0 years; 1.7 ± 0.1 m; 75.5 ± 17.0 kg; BMI: 26.0 ± 4.5 kg/m2; six men and seven women) and a QuickBoard group (n = 12; 71.0 ± 8.6 years; 1.6 ± 0.1 m; 66.7 ± 10.6 kg; BMI: 25.7 ± 3.6 kg/m2; six men and six women). All participants met the inclusion criteria which included: no previous joint replacement surgeries, no current lower extremity joint injuries, no history of neurological disorders or health problems, able to perform sub-maximal physical activity, and able to follow instructions. All participants were screened for inclusion criteria via a phone interview. Participants had not had any agility or balance training prior to the start of the study.

Glutamate and kainate (1 mM), CNQX (20 μM), and LY404187 (3 μM) were applied where indicated and cyclothiazide (CTZ; 100 or 200 μM) was added to the external for potentiation experiments. The recording from primary cultured neurons was performed on the coverslips where the neurons had grown with the 16-barrel pipette array positioned 200–500 μm away from the recorded neurons. Unless otherwise indicated (Figure 2), resensitization percentage was calculated as: IGlu-Resens/IGlu-SS×100,where IGlu-Resens is the

current BMS387032 that accrues from the trough of desensitization (Figure 1A). Kainate/glutamate ratios were calculated as: IKA-ss/IGlu-ss,IKA-ss/IGlu-ss,where IKA-ss and IGlu-ss are the steady state responses evoked by kainate and glutamate application, respectively. CTZ potentiation of kainate-evoked responses was calculated as: ((IKA+CTZ/IKA)×100)−100,where IKA + CTZ is the steady state current amplitude recorded during kainate + CTZ application and IKA is the

steady state current amplitude recorded during kainate application. Spontaneous AMPA receptor-mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSC) from transfected and untransfected cultured primary hippocampal neurons (>14 DIV) were recorded in the presence of 10 μM bicuculline, 50 μM picotoxin, 10 μM CPP, 300 nM 7-CK, and 3 μM TTX using an internal solution containing (in mM): 95 CsF, 25 CsCl, 10 Cs-HEPES pH 7.4, 10 EGTA, 2 NaCl, 1 MgCl2, 10 QX-314, and 5 TEA-Cl adjusted AUY-922 cell line to ∼290 mOsm with Mg-ATP. mEPSCs used for analysis were collected from a 2 min period immediately after a 3 min recording solution equilibrium period, were inspected visually

and were selected with a lower limit amplitude cutoff of greater Ellagic acid than 15 pA to eliminate any possible contamination from noise and holding current oscillation. Analyses and curve fitting were performed using MiniAnal software (Synaptosoft, Decatur, GA). Patch-clamp recordings from cerebellar granule cells (DIV7–10) were made in external solution containing (in mM): 10 HEPES, 140 NaCl, 2.5 KCl, 2.5 CaCl2, 1.3 MgSO4, 2.7 MgCl2, and 10 glucose. Patch pipettes were filled with recording solution (pH 7.2, 320 mOsm) that contained (in mM): 130 cesium methanesulfonate, 5 HEPES, 5 Mg-ATP, 0.2 Na-GTP, 20 TEA, and 5 EGTA. All recordings were performed at room temperature. To isolate and record AMPA receptor-mediated mEPSCs, tetrodotoxin (0.5 μM), AP-5 (50 μM), and picrotoxin (100 μM) were added to the external solution. mEPSCs were recorded from cerebellar granule cells in whole-cell configuration at a holding potential of −70 mV. The current was analog low-pass filtered at 3 kHz and digitally sampled at 25 kHz. Sampling traces were further filtered with eight-pole low-pass Bessell filter (1 KHz, −3 dB) for demonstration purposes. Amplitude and frequency of events were analyzed using Minianalysis (Synaptosoft).

Consistent with this is also the fact that their preferred directions are roughly aligned with the four directions of apparent movement

caused by eye muscles contractions (Oyster and Barlow, 1967). ON/OFF DS ganglion cells send collaterals to the SC and the LGN and, therefore, may serve other visual functions as well, such as directing attention to moving objects (reviewed in Berson, 2008). No projections to the AOS were found for the JAM-B positive OFF DS ganglion cells; they project to the SC and the dorsal LGN (Kim et al., 2008), but the functional role of these inputs is not yet understood. Altogether, with the exception of the contribution to the optokinetic system, little is currently known about the functional Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor role of retinal direction selectivity for higher visual processing. Only recently, with the tremendous increase in transgenic mouse diversity, research on DS mechanisms started to shift from rabbits, on which most studies had focused, toward mice. Despite a few minor differences, ON and ON/OFF DS ganglions cells are functionally CB-839 datasheet and morphologically very similar in mice (Sun et al., 2006 and Weng et al., 2005) and rabbits. There is evidence for

retinal direction selectivity in other mammals (for review see Vaney et al., 2001), and therefore, it is conceivable that this function is largely conserved among mammals. Interestingly, in primates the existence of retinal direction selectivity has not yet been convincingly shown. It is possible that this absence reflects a sampling

bias specific to primates: Compared to the overwhelming number of, for example, midget ganglion cells, which underlie high acuity vision, DS cells may be too infrequent. Supporting the notion that these cells might have been missed in physiological recordings, primate ganglion cells that are morphologically equivalent to rabbit DS cells have 5-FU mw been documented (Dacey, 2004 and Yamada et al., 2005). Also starburst amacrine cells, which are crucial to the DS circuitry, have been found (Rodieck, 1989). Furthermore, retrograde tracing data on the retinal projections to the AOS are consistent with the presence of ON DS ganglion cells in primates (Telkes et al., 2000). Direction selectivity has also been studied in several nonmammalian vertebrates (Vaney et al., 2001 and Wyatt and Daw, 1975). For instance, DS ganglion cells in turtle (Marchiafava, 1979) have functional properties very similar to those of mammals (Borg-Graham, 2001). Birds also possess retinal DS cells (for research on pigeons see Pearlman and Hughes, 1976), but little is known about the underlying circuitry (e.g., Uchiyama et al., 2000).

Together, the relatively uniform morphological and physiological characteristics of GFP+ ganglion cells in the Hb9::eGFP retina indicate that they belong to a single subset of ON-OFF DSGCs.

Thus, the molecular specification of a distinct DSGC population exhibiting dendritic asymmetries highlights the importance of dendritic processing in DS coding, a property that has previously been hard to assess with random samplings from mixed populations of DSGCs (Figure S2). The asymmetric morphological characteristics of the Hb9+ cells contrast with the recently identified subset of ON-OFF DSGCs that code posterior motion, specified by the dopamine receptor 4 promoter (DRD4). DRD4+ cells are roughly the same size as Hb9+ cells but do not bear any systematic dendritic asymmetries (Huberman et al., 2009). However, we found that even in a small sample of posterior coding DSGCs (n = 7), examples of cells that selleck chemicals exhibited dendritic asymmetries parallel to the preferred direction were apparent. Aside from the direction of their dendritic orientation, these asymmetrical cells appeared morphologically similar to Hb9+ cells (Figure S2). This observation raises the possibility that multiple populations of DSGCs might code a single direction in the murine retina. Indeed,

in mouse retina there is a large overlap in the dendritic field coverage between neighboring DRD4+ DSGCs (Huberman et al., 2009), which contrasts with the territorial organization of DSGCs in rabbit retina (Vaney, 1994). In addition, the density of DRD4+ DSGCs was found to be NAD(P)(+)��protein-arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase roughly three times what we report here for the Hb9+ DSGCs. check details A more thorough characterization of DRD4+ cells and/or new genetic markers will reveal whether more than one population of DSGCs encodes a single direction of motion.

Considering that conventional inhibitory mechanisms were manifest in the Hb9+ ganglion cells, it was interesting to find that DS responses persisted in a cocktail of antagonists that block GABA receptors. These results clearly demonstrate the existence of an additional DS mechanism that does not critically rely on inhibition. From a theoretical point of view, the minimum requirements for direction discrimination are (1) an asymmetry and (2) a nonlinear interaction between inputs (Borst and Egelhaaf, 1989). Our experimental findings indicate nonlinearities within asymmetric dendritic trees of DSGCs that can confer inhibition-independent directional selectivity. The evidence for this is summarized below. Under inhibitory receptor blockade, although directional selectivity is apparent in the spiking responses of DSGCs, the excitatory synaptic inputs measured under voltage clamp were of equal strength in the preferred and null directions. This finding suggests that nonlinearities within Hb9+ ganglion cells convert the temporal sequence of inputs distributed over their asymmetric dendritic trees into a DS output.

Thus, reflective attention selects, maintains, and manipulates information from working memory and long-term memory and promotes long-lasting memories (Craik and Lockhart, 1972, Roediger and Karpicke, 2006 and Tulving, 1962). For example, in one study comparing refreshing to perceptual repetition, participants viewed and read aloud words as they appeared one at a time. Some words appeared and were read aloud only once, some words appeared and were read aloud twice in succession (repeated—perceptual processing), and other words were read once and

followed by a cue that signaled participants to think of (refresh) the immediately preceding word and say it out loud. A surprise test at the end of the U0126 molecular weight experiment revealed greater recognition memory for words that had been refreshed than words that had been read once or read twice (Johnson et al., 2002). Even greater effects on long-term memory are yielded when information is reactivated and retrieved on different occasions over time (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006). If accurate source features are revived, reflectively reviving events can protect against memory distortion (Henkel, 2004). Do representations that are the outcome of perceptual attention also serve as targets for reflective attention? Reflection modulates activity

in many of the same representational areas as perceptual attention. For example, both refreshing and rehearsing modulate activity in posterior areas involved in perception (Curtis and D’Esposito, 2003, Harrison and Tong, 2009, Johnson et al., SCH727965 purchase 2009 and Ranganath et al., 2005). Johnson et al. (2009) directly compared selective perceptual and reflective C1GALT1 attention and found similar effects on sensory representations (Figure 1). Participants were shown a scene and a face on each trial and were either cued in advance to attend perceptually to the scene or face or cued after the stimulus was removed to refresh the scene or the face. Both perception (attend) and reflection (refresh) showed comparable enhancement and suppression effects relative to a passive viewing condition. Although perceptual representations and refreshed representations in working

memory may engage the same brain areas, long-term memory representations could be coded in areas different from those of the processes that gave rise to them (Barsalou, 2008). However, fMRI evidence suggests that long-term memory often involves reactivation of the same areas engaged during encoding. Retrieving visual events during long-term memory tasks activates visual cortex, while retrieving auditory events from memory activates auditory cortex (Wheeler et al., 2000). Importantly, the extent to which encoding activity is reinstated during long-term remembering depends in part on what reflective agenda is engaged during remembering (McDuff et al., 2009). Further evidence that perception and reflection may each later re-engage the same representations comes from a study in which Turk-Browne et al.

In the latter case, no correlation is expected between initial state, end state, and duration. Our data support the first hypothesis in the case of sleep spindles. We found a robust correlation between the participation probability of nRT cells in the first cycle and the length of the spindle (Figure 7A). A similar, though weaker

relationship existed between spindle duration and both the participation probability and spike/burst of TC cells. We also observed a strong correlation between the participation probability of nRT cells in the first and the last cycles (Figure 7C). These data indicate that the initial state of the network has strong influence BMN 673 cost on spindle duration, and, once a spindle is launched,

it does not evolve randomly but follows a rigid trajectory between fixed start and end points. The optogenetic experiments, however, indicated that there is no fixed correlation between the magnitude of nRT activation and the evoked spindle length. This suggests that spindle duration is determined by more complex variables, such as the precise state of neuromodulators IPI-145 datasheet and/or degree of cortical drive present at spindle initiation. Such variables would affect both the nRT firing pattern seen on the first cycle, and phenomena controlling spindle duration, such as the speed at which nRT cells become hyperpolarized as the spindle progresses. Our data indicate that quantitative cycle-by-cycle analysis of excitatory and inhibitory activity can be used to test hypotheses regarding what determines the duration of transient network events. Because short, transient oscillations with widely different frequencies are abundant in the

brain (e.g., type II theta activity, alpha waves, transient gamma oscillations, sharp wave ripples, etc.), similar analyses may help to determine the mechanisms of these oscillations. The duration of transient oscillatory events is plastic, changing both under healthy conditions (e.g., following learning) and also in case of neurological diseases. Thus, defining the mechanism underlying the duration of these transients can lead to better understanding of the temporal organization of neuronal activity in both healthy and diseased states. All animal procedures were approved by the Institute those of Experimental Medicine Protection of Research Subjects Committee as well as the Food-Safety and Animal-Health Office of the Pest District Government Bureau, which is in line with the European Union regulation of animal experimentations. For general surgical procedures, see Barthó et al. (2004). Briefly, 41 male Wistar rats were used in the study. For anesthetized experiments (n = 36), rats were administered 1.5 g/kg urethane, the skull was opened over somatosensory cortex and thalamus (−3.0 AP, 2.8 ML from Bregma), dura was removed, and silicon microelectrodes (Neuronexus Technologies) were lowered into the brain.