BiPMAP: a toolbox for predicting perceived motion artifacts on modern displays.

Viewers of digital displays often experience motion artifacts (e.g., flicker, judder, edge banding, motion blur, color breakup, depth distortion) when presented with dynamic scenes. We developed an interactive software tool for display designers that predicts how a viewer perceives motion artifacts for a variety of stimulus, display, and viewing parameters: the Binocular Perceived Motion Artifact Predictor (BiPMAP). The tool enables the user to specify numerous stimulus, display, and viewing parameters. It implements a model of human spatiotemporal contrast sensitivity in order to determine which artifacts will be seen by a viewer and which will not. The tool visualizes the perceptual effects of discrete space-time sampling on the display by presenting side by side the expected perception when the stimulus is continuous compared to when the same stimulus is presented with the spatial and temporal parameters of a prototype display.

A Physiological Instability Displayed in Hippocampal Neurons Derived From Lithium-Nonresponsive Bipolar Disorder Patients.

BACKGROUND: We recently reported a hyperexcitability phenotype displayed in dentate gyrus granule neurons derived from patients with bipolar disorder (BD) as well as a hyperexcitability that appeared only in CA3 pyramidal hippocampal neurons that were derived from patients with BD who responded to lithium treatment (lithium responders) and not in CA3 pyramidal hippocampal neurons that were derived from patients with BD who did not respond to lithium (nonresponders). METHODS: Here we used our measurements of currents in neurons derived from 4 control subjects, 3 patients with BD who were lithium responders, and 3 patients with BD who were nonresponders. We changed the conductances of simulated dentate gyrus and CA3 hippocampal neurons according to our measurements to derive a numerical simulation for BD neurons. RESULTS: The computationally simulated BD dentate gyrus neurons had a hyperexcitability phenotype similar to the experimental results. Only the simulated BD CA3 neurons derived from lithium responder patients were hyperexcitable. Interestingly, our computational model captured a physiological instability intrinsic to hippocampal neurons that were derived from nonresponder patients that we also observed when re-examining our experimental results. This instability was caused by a drastic reduction in the sodium current, accompanied by an increase in the amplitude of several potassium currents. These baseline alterations caused nonresponder BD hippocampal neurons to drastically shift their excitability with small changes to their sodium currents, alternating between hyperexcitable and hypoexcitable states. CONCLUSIONS: Our computational model of BD hippocampal neurons that was based on our measurements reproduced the experimental phenotypes of hyperexcitability and physiological instability. We hypothesize that the physiological instability phenotype strongly contributes to affective lability in patients with BD.

Mechanisms Underlying the Hyperexcitability of CA3 and Dentate Gyrus Hippocampal Neurons Derived From Patients With Bipolar Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 1 in every 50 to 100 people is affected with bipolar disorder (BD), making this disease a major economic burden. The introduction of induced pluripotent stem cell methodology enabled better modeling of this disorder. METHODS: Having previously studied the phenotype of dentate gyrus granule neurons, we turned our attention to studying the phenotype of CA3 hippocampal pyramidal neurons of 6 patients with BD compared with 4 control individuals. We used patch clamp and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure electrophysiological features and RNA expression by specific channel genes. RESULTS: We found that BD CA3 neurons were hyperexcitable only when they were derived from patients who responded to lithium; they featured sustained activity with large current injections and a large, fast after-hyperpolarization, similar to what we previously reported in dentate gyrus neurons. The higher amplitudes and faster kinetics of fast potassium currents correlated with this hyperexcitability. Further supporting the involvement of potassium currents, we observed an overexpression of KCNC1 and KCNC2 in hippocampal neurons derived from lithium responders. Applying specific potassium channel blockers diminished the hyperexcitability. Long-term lithium treatment decreased the hyperexcitability observed in the CA3 neurons derived from lithium responders while increasing sodium currents and reducing fast potassium currents. When differentiating this cohort into spinal motor neurons, we did not observe any changes in the excitability of BD motor neurons compared with control motor neurons. CONCLUSIONS: The hyperexcitability of BD neurons is neuronal type specific with the involvement of altered potassium currents that allow for a sustained, continued firing activity.