Biology subjects

Wilson, L. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Wilson, L. E..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Excitation/Inhibition balance relates to cognitive function and gene expression in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: an hdEEG assessment with aperiodic exponent

Patients with epilepsy are characterized by a dysregulation of excitation-inhibition balance (E/I). The assessment of E/I may inform clinicians during the diagnosis and therapy management, even though it is rarely performed. An accessible measure of the E/I of the brain represents a clinically relevant feature. Here we exploited the exponent of the aperiodic component of the power spectrum of EEG signal as a noninvasive and cost-effective proxy of the E/I balance. We recorded resting-state activity with high-density EEG from 65 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 35 controls. We extracted the exponent of the aperiodic fit of the power spectrum from source-reconstructed EEG and tested differences between TLE and controls. Spearmans correlation was performed between the exponent and clinical variables (age of onset, epilepsy duration and neuropsychology) and cortical expression of epilepsy-related genes derived from Human Allen Brain Atlas. Patients with TLE showed a significantly larger exponent, corresponding to an inhibition directed E/I balance, in bilateral frontal and temporal regions. Lower E/I in the left entorhinal, and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices corresponded to a lower performance of short term verbal memory. Limited to TLE, we detected a significant correlation between the exponent and the cortical expression of GABRA1, GRIN2A, GABRD, GABRG2, KCNA2and PDYN. EEG aperiodic exponent maps the E/I balance non-invasively in patients with epilepsy and reveals a tight relationship between altered E/I patterns, cognition and genetics.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Time-resolved parameterization of aperiodic and periodic brain activity

Macroscopic neural dynamics comprise both aperiodic and periodic signal components. Recent advances in parameterizing neural power spectra offer practical tools for evaluating these features separately. Although neural signals vary dynamically and express non-stationarity in relation to ongoing behaviour and perception, current methods yield static spectral decompositions. Here, we introduce Spectral Parameterization Resolved in Time (SPRiNT) as a novel method for decomposing complex neural dynamics into periodic and aperiodic spectral elements in a time- resolved manner. First, we demonstrate with naturalistic synthetic data SPRiNTs capacity to reliably recover time-varying spectral features. We emphasize SPRiNTs specific strengths compared to other time-frequency parameterization approaches based on wavelets. Second, we use SPRiNT to illustrate how aperiodic spectral features fluctuate across time in empirical resting-state electroencephalography data (n = 178), and relate the observed changes in aperiodic parameters over time to participants demographics and behaviour. Lastly, we use SPRiNT to demonstrate how aperiodic dynamics relate to movement behaviour in intracranial recordings in rodents. We foresee SPRiNT responding to growing neuroscientific interests in the parameterization of time-varying neural power spectra and advancing the quantitation of complex neural dynamics at the natural time scales of behaviour. Significance StatementThe new method and reported findings address a growing interest in neuroscience for research tools that can reliably decompose brain activity at the mesoscopic scale into interpretable components. We show that the new approach proposed is capable of tracking transient, dynamic spectral (aperiodic and periodic) components across time, both in synthetic data and in in vivo experimental data. We anticipate that this novel technique, SPRiNT, will enable new neuroscience inquiries that reconcile multifaceted neural dynamics with complex behaviour.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

40 new specimens of Ichthyornis provide unprecedented insight into the postcranial morphology of crownward stem group birds.

Ichthyornis has long been recognized as a pivotally important fossil taxon for understanding the latest stages of the dinosaur-bird transition, but little significant new postcranial material has been brought to light since initial descriptions of partial skeletons in the 19th Century. Here, we present new information on the postcranial morphology of Ichthyornis from 40 previously undescribed specimens, providing the most detailed morphological assessment of Ichthyornis to date. The new material includes four partially complete skeletons and numerous well-preserved isolated elements, enabling new anatomical observations such as muscle attachments previously undescribed for Mesozoic euornitheans. Among the elements that were previously unknown or poorly represented for Ichthyornis, the new specimens include an almost-complete axial series, a hypocleideum-bearing furcula, radial carpal bones, fibulae, a complete tarsometatarsus bearing a rudimentary hypotarsus, and one of the first-known nearly complete three-dimensional sterna from a Mesozoic avialan. Several pedal phalanges are preserved, revealing a remarkably enlarged pes presumably related to foot-propelled swimming. Although diagnosable as Ichthyornis, the new specimens exhibit a substantial degree of morphological variation, some of which may relate to ontogenetic changes. Phylogenetic analyses incorporating our new data and employing alternative morphological datasets recover Ichthyornis stemward of Hesperornithes and Iaceornis, in line with some recent hypotheses regarding the topology of the crownward-most portion of the avian stem group, and we establish phylogenetically-defined clade names for relevant avialan subclades to help facilitate consistent discourse in future work. The new information provided by these specimens improves our understanding of morphological evolution among the crownward-most non-neornithine avialans immediately preceding the origin of crown group birds.

paleontology↗