Juan Carlos Letelier

Bio: Juan Carlos Letelier is an academic researcher from University of Chile. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tectum & Bursting. The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 35 publications receiving 1237 citations. Previous affiliations of Juan Carlos Letelier include City University of New York.

A Cholinergic Gating Mechanism Controlled by Competitive Interactions in the Optic Tectum of the Pigeon

Abstract: We describe the operation of a midbrain neural circuit in pigeons that may participate in selecting and attending to one visual stimulus from the myriad displayed in their visual environment. This mechanism is based on a topographically organized cholinergic signal reentering the optic tectum (TeO). We have shown previously that, whenever a visual stimulus activates neurons in a given tectal location, this location receives a strong bursting feedback from cholinergic neurons of the nucleus isthmi pars parvocellularis (Ipc), situated underneath the tectum. Here we show that, if a second visual stimulus is presented, even far from the first, the feedback signal to the first tectal location is diminished or suppressed, and feedback to the second tectal location is initiated. We found that this long-range suppressive interaction is mostly mediated by the nucleus isthmi pars magnocellularis, which sends a wide-field GABAergic projection to Ipc and TeO. In addition, two sets of findings indicate that the feedback from the Ipc modulates the ascending output from the TeO. First, visually evoked extracellular responses recorded in the dorsal anterior subdivision of the thalamic nucleus rotundus (RtDa), receiving the ascending tectal output, are closely synchronized to this feedback signal. Second, local inactivation of the Ipc prevents visual responses in RtDa to visual targets moving in the corresponding region of visual space. These results suggest that the ascending transmission of visual activity through the tectofugal pathway is gated by this cholinergic re-entrant signal, whose location within the tectal visual map is dynamically defined by competitive interactions.

Unsupervised spike detection and sorting with wavelets and superparamagnetic clustering

Abstract: This study introduces a new method for detecting and sorting spikes from multiunit recordings The method combines the wavelet transform, which localizes distinctive spike features, with superparamagnetic clustering, which allows automatic classification of the data without assumptions such as low variance or gaussian distributions Moreover, an improved method for setting amplitude thresholds for spike detection is proposed We describe several criteria for implementation that render the algorithm unsupervised and fast The algorithm is compared to other conventional methods using several simulated data sets whose characteristics closely resemble those of in vivo recordings For these data sets, we found that the proposed algorithm outperformed conventional methods

Large-scale recording of neuronal ensembles

Abstract: How does the brain orchestrate perceptions, thoughts and actions from the spiking activity of its neurons? Early single-neuron recording research treated spike pattern variability as noise that needed to be averaged out to reveal the brain's representation of invariant input. Another view is that variability of spikes is centrally coordinated and that this brain-generated ensemble pattern in cortical structures is itself a potential source of cognition. Large-scale recordings from neuronal ensembles now offer the opportunity to test these competing theoretical frameworks. Currently, wire and micro-machined silicon electrode arrays can record from large numbers of neurons and monitor local neural circuits at work. Achieving the full potential of massively parallel neuronal recordings, however, will require further development of the neuron–electrode interface, automated and efficient spike-sorting algorithms for effective isolation and identification of single neurons, and new mathematical insights for the analysis of network properties.

Statistical optics

Abstract: Course Description This is an advanced course in which we explore the field of Statistical Optics. Topics covered include such subjects as the statistical properties of natural (thermal) and laser light, spatial and temporal coherence, effects of partial coherence on optical imaging instruments, effects on imaging due to randomly inhomogeneous media, and a statistical treatment of the detection of light. Development of this more comprehensive model of the behavior of light draws upon the use of tools traditionally available to the electrical engineer, such as linear system theory and the theory of stochastic processes.

The Vertebrate Eye and Its Adaptive Radiation.

Abstract: The new Conductivity Bridge derives its bridge source. voltage from a self-contained vacuum tube oscilltor adjusted to approximately 1,000 cycles. Voltage for the amplifier and null indicator tubes is provided by a.builtin D.C. power supply which operates directly from the A.C. power source. 9-324 Conductivity Bridge, without Conductivity Cell, for use with 110 volts 5060 cycle A.C. 9-351.Cosi~uCvity Cell, for use with Conductivity Bridge, constant 0.8, $20.00

Prebiotic systems chemistry: new perspectives for the origins of life.

Abstract: Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo,†,∥ Carlos Briones,‡,∥ and Andreś de la Escosura* †Biophysics Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Leioa, and Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of the Basque Country, Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20080 Donostia−San Sebastiań, Spain ‡Department of Molecular Evolution, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC−INTA, associated to the NASA Astrobiology Institute), Carretera de Ajalvir, Km 4, 28850 Torrejoń de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain Organic Chemistry Department, Universidad Autońoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain