Miguelez Maïa, Bielajew Catherine
School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Rev Neurosci. 2004;15(1):47-74. doi: 10.1515/revneuro.2004.15.1.47.
Behavioral adaptations of double-pulse methods--primarily collision and refractory period tests--have been employed to unveil the electrophysiological and anatomical characteristics of neural networks of known function. These paradigms are based on trade-off functions: a determination of different combinations of stimuli that yield the same behavioral output. A detailed explanation of the logic and methodology underlying these techniques is elaborated in this paper. The implementation of such approaches to the study of brain stimulation reward (BSR) has provided a means of discriminating between the neurons underlying this behavior from other cells activated by the stimulating electrode, endowing them with a particularly powerful scientific scope. An increasingly detailed portrait of the BSR substrate, both within and outside the medial forebrain bundle, has been emerging as a result of these investigations and is reviewed in this paper. Finally, the challenges associated with these paradigms are discussed and potential solutions as well as future experimental ventures proposed. Attention is drawn to the major contribution of these methods to our understanding of the neural pathways and characteristics underlying BSR.
双脉冲方法的行为适应性——主要是碰撞和不应期测试——已被用于揭示已知功能神经网络的电生理和解剖学特征。这些范式基于权衡函数：确定产生相同行为输出的不同刺激组合。本文详细阐述了这些技术背后的逻辑和方法。将此类方法应用于脑刺激奖赏（BSR）研究，提供了一种手段，可将这种行为背后的神经元与受刺激电极激活的其他细胞区分开来，赋予了它们特别强大的科学研究范围。作为这些研究的结果，内侧前脑束内外BSR基质的描绘越来越详细，本文对此进行了综述。最后，讨论了与这些范式相关的挑战，并提出了潜在的解决方案以及未来的实验探索。提请注意这些方法对我们理解BSR背后的神经通路和特征的主要贡献。
