Patent ID: 8282559
Filing Date: 2012-10-09
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A noninvasive method for inducing and monitoring long-term potentiation and long-term depression in an intact brain of a human subject, including steps of: (a) placing the subject in supine position on a tilt bed with head elevated; (b) obtaining subject's resting cerebral blood flow velocity in cerebral arteries using transcranial Doppler instrument with two probes placed on the temples and sample volumes focused on cerebral arteries on both sides; (c) simultaneously with (b) obtaining the mean blood flow velocity on both pairs of cerebral arteries and processing the obtained mean blood flow velocity data using a microcomputer connected to the Doppler instrument; (d) testing the subject with psychophysiologic stimuli for a given duration while simultaneously monitoring real-time mean blood flow velocity during each psychophysiologic task for baseline recording; (e) simultaneously with (d) saving all mean blood flow velocity data in marked files for analysis; (f) positioning the subject in head-down bed rest for a duration of 24 hours to induce brain processes of long-term potentiation and long-term depression; (g) selecting time intervals for testing the subject with psychophysiologic stimuli; (h) testing the subject with stimuli for each selected time interval while simultaneously monitoring in real-time mean blood flow velocity during psychophysiologic task; (i) simultaneously with (h) saving all mean blood flow velocity data in marked files for analysis; (j) positioning the subject head-up after 24 hours; (k) selecting time intervals for testing the subject with psychophysiologic stimuli; (l) testing the subject with stimuli for each selected time interval while simultaneously monitoring in real-time mean blood flow velocity during psychophysiologic task; (m) simultaneously with (1) saving all mean blood flow velocity data in marked files for analysis; (n) applying a periodic time series analysis to the saved mean blood flow velocity data for each stimulus at each given time interval; (o) calculating the spectral density estimates for each stimulus at each given time interval; (p) plotting all spectral density estimates for each stimulus at each given time interval and identifying as peaks the frequency regions with the highest estimates; (q) simultaneously with (p) identifying the peaks that characterize fundamental peripheral vascular changes at the first harmonic; (r) simultaneously with (q) identifying peaks that characterize cortical processes at the second harmonic; (s) simultaneously with (r) identifying peaks that characterize subcortical processes at the third harmonic; (t) overlying plots for all stimuli for each given time interval; (u) comparing the peaks for all stimuli for each given time interval; (v) identifying the cortical long-term potentiation peaks for each given time interval as accentuation of the peaks at the second harmonic over that at baseline recording; and (w) simultaneously with (v) identifying the subcortical long-term depression peaks for each given time interval as attenuation of the peaks at the third harmonic over that at baseline recording.