Some of these processes are depicted in Fig 1 For instance, ‘it

Some of these processes are depicted in Fig. 1. For instance, ‘iterative rules’ (Fig. 1A) can be used to represent the successive addition of items to a structure, such as the addition of beads to a string to form a necklace. ‘Embedding rules’ can also be used to generate hierarchies

by embedding one or more items into a structure so that they depend on another item (Fig. 1B). For example, in an army hierarchy, two brigades can be incorporated into a division. Finally, Selleckchem GW786034 we can also use ‘recursive embedding rules’ to generate and represent hierarchies. Recursive embedding, or simply ‘recursion’, is the process by which we embed one or more items as dependents of another item of the same category (Fig. 1C). For example, in a compound noun we can embed a noun inside another noun, as in [[student] committee]. As we can see from Fig. 1, recursion is interesting and unique because it allows the generation of multiple hierarchical levels with a single rule. One important notion to retain here is that recursion can be defined either as a “procedure that calls itself” or as the property of “constituents that contain constituents of the same kind” (Fitch, 2010 and Pinker and Jackendoff, 2005). Frequently, we find an isomorphism between procedure and structure, i.e., recursive processes

often generate recursive structures. However, this isomorphism does not always occur (Lobina, 2011 and Luuk and Luuk, 2010; Martins, 2012). In this manuscript we explicitly focus on the level of representation, i.e., we focus on detecting what kind of information individuals can represent www.selleckchem.com/products/cx-5461.html (i.e. hierarchical self-similarity), rather than on how this information is implemented algorithmically. The ability to perceive similarities across hierarchical levels (i.e. hierarchical self-similarity) can be advantageous in parsing complex structures (Koike & Yoshihara, 1993). On the one hand, representing several levels with a single rule obviously reduces memory demands. On the other hand, this property allows the generation

of new (previously absent) hierarchical levels without the need to learn or develop new rules or representations. This ability to represent hierarchical self-similarity, C225 and to use this information to make inferences allows all the cognitive advantages postulated as being specifically afforded by ‘recursion’ (Fitch, 2010, Hofstadter, 1980, Martins, 2012 and Penrose, 1989), namely the possibility to achieve infinity from finite means (Hauser et al., 2002). One famous class of recursive structures is the fractals. Fractals are structures that display self-similarity (Mandelbrot, 1977), so that they appear geometrically similar when viewed at different scales. Fractals are produced by simple rules that, when applied iteratively to their own output, can generate complex hierarchical structures.

By exploring the complexities of different combinations of anthro

By exploring the complexities of different combinations of anthropogenic and natural land use/covers, streams could be restored and managed to provide the greatest ecosystem benefit as the natural world gives way to the Anthropocene. We thank Andrew Bradley Scott and Robert Buchkowski for field and laboratory assistance. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions, which have helped improve this manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by Canada’s Natural selleck products Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant to M.A.X. and an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to E.T. In addition, C.J.W.

acknowledges support from a postdoctoral fellowship from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. “
“Elevated transfer of fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) in drainage systems can adversely impact aquatic ecosystems in downstream channels and water bodies. Effects of fine sediment include direct and indirect harm to fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants, as well as click here diminished water quality for human use (Kerr, 1995 and Miller et al., 1997). Contemporary land use can elevate sediment delivery from forested catchments by increasing erosion rates on cleared slopes, initiating erosion on road surfaces, and increasing sediment transfer to watercourses by induced mass wasting (Church, 2010). The combined effect (i.e. cumulative effect; Reid (1993))

of land use activities

on watershed sediment transfer to downstream water bodies is difficult to assess because of the lack of adequate sediment gauge records, especially in remote and mountainous regions where sediment transfer is highly episodic and long-term catchment monitoring is rare. The sampling and analysis of lacustrine (lake) sediment deposits can be effective for determining anthropogenic impacts on past sediment delivery from the contributing catchment (Foster, 2010). Lakes act as a primary sink in the sediment cascade, and rates PAK5 of lake sediment accumulation reflect integrated upstream and upslope processes of sediment transfer, as well as internal lake processes. The lake sediment approach can avert some of the typical limitations of drainage basin studies of land use impacts on sediment transfer. Lake deposits represent a continuous record of historical sediment transfer, enabling the selection of appropriate time scales of analysis and the determination of background conditions and long-term trends. Chronological control is needed for such reconstructions, and 210Pb radiometric dating has been commonly applied for the purpose of studying sediment transfer associated with contemporary (20th century to current) land use activities, including urbanization (e.g. Ruiz-Fernández et al., 2005), agriculture (e.g. McCarty et al., 2009), grazing (e.g. Garcia-Rodriguez et al., 2002), mining (e.g.

Connectivity’ has been a major theme in UK fluvial research in re

Connectivity’ has been a major theme in UK fluvial research in recent years, particularly in empirical contexts of coarse sediment transfer Screening Library in upland environments involving gully, fan and adjacent floodplain (Harvey, 1997 and Hooke, 2003), and in the transfer of sediment within valleys in the form of sediment slugs or waves (Macklin and Lewin, 1989 and Nicholas et al., 1995). These and studies elsewhere have commonly used morphological estimates and budgeting

of sediment flux, both from historical survey comparisons (decades to centuries) and from reconnaissance assessments of apparently active erosion or sedimentation sites. On the longer timescale necessary for assessing human impact, whole-catchment modelling involving Holocene sediment routing has also demonstrated how complex and catchment specific these internal transfers may be in response to climatic and land cover changes (Coulthard et al., 2002 and Coulthard et al., 2005). Major elements of UK catchment relief

involve variable lithologies, FDA-approved Drug Library supplier over-steepened to low-gradient slopes, rock steps, alluvial basins, and valley fills inherited from prior Pleistocene glacial and periglacial systems (Macklin and Lewin, 1986). Some of these locally provide what may be called ‘memory-rich’ process environments. Progressive and ongoing Holocene evacuation of coarse Pleistocene valley fills is of major significance in a UK context (Passmore and Macklin, 2001), and this differs from some of the erodible loess terrains in which many other AA studies have been conducted in Europe and North America (e.g. Trimble, 1983, Trimble, 1999, Lang et al., 2003, Knox, 2006, Houben, 2008, Hoffman et al., 2008 and Houben et al., 2012). Human activities have greatly modified hydrological systems, and in different ways: in terms of discharge response to precipitation and extreme events,

but also in the supply of sediment. For finer sediments (where sediment loadings are generally supply-limited rather than competence-limited), dominant yield events (near bankfull) and sediment-depositing events (overbank) may not be the same. Holocene flood episodes (Macklin et al., 2010) may also be characterized by river incision (Macklin et al., 2013) as well as by the development of thick depositional sequences (Jones et al., 2012), Megestrol Acetate depending on river environment. Fine sediment may be derived from surface soil removal, through enhanced gullying and headwater channel incision, from reactivation of riparian storages, or through the direct human injection or extraction of material involving toxic waste or gravel mining. For a millennium and more, channel-way engineering has also transformed systems to provide domestic and industrial water supply, water power for milling, improved passage both along and across rivers, fisheries improvement, and for flood protection (Lewin, 2010 and Lewin, 2013).

A number of earlier proposals made on the nature of prehistoric a

A number of earlier proposals made on the nature of prehistoric and historical agricultural impacts on UK river catchments based on qualitative or individual-site observations can be evaluated using this quantitative evidence from a country-wide database. The oldest AA units in the UK date to the Early Bronze Age (c. 4400 cal. BP) and there is an apparent 1500

year lag between the adoption of agriculture (c. 6000 cal. BP) in the UK and any impact Selleck FK228 on floodplain sedimentation. The earliest environmental human impacts on river channel and floodplain systems in the UK may have been hydrological rather than sedimentological. The mediaeval period is confirmed as an important one for the accelerated sedimentation of fine-grained materials, notably in the smallest catchments. There are some apparent regional differences in the timing of AA formation with earlier prehistoric dates in central and selleck southern parts of the UK. Finally, the approach

and criteria we use here for identifying AA could be readily applied in any river environment where fluvial units have radiometric dating control. This would enable both the spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural sediment signals in catchments to be better understood and modelled than they are at present. We thank the Welsh Government and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for funding this study through the support of the Centre for Catchment and Coastal Research at Aberystwyth University. We are also grateful to Hans Middelkoop and the three referees who reviewed our paper for their helpful comments and to the many authors who freely made available Nutlin-3 their published and unpublished 14C ages listed in Table 3. “
“Terraces are among the most evident human signatures on the landscape, and they cover large areas of the Earth (Fig. 1). The purpose of terracing and its effect on hydrological processes depend on geology and soil properties (Grove and Rackham, 2003), but they are generally built to retain more water and soil, to reduce both hydrological connectivity

and erosion (Lasanta et al., 2001, Cammeraat, 2004 and Cots-Folch et al., 2006), to allow machinery and ploughs to work in better conditions, to make human work in the slopes easy and comfortable, and to promote irrigation. Terraces reduce the slope gradient and length, facilitating cultivation on steep slopes. They increase water infiltration in areas with moderate to low soil permeability (Van Wesemael et al., 1998 and Yuan et al., 2003), controlling the overland flow (quantity) and velocity (energy), thereby leading to a reduction in soil erosion (Gachene et al., 1997, Wakindiki and Ben-Hur, 2002, Louwagie et al., 2011 and Li et al., 2012), with positive effects on agricultural activities.

During the Holocene between ∼300 and 1100 Mt/y were delivered by

During the Holocene between ∼300 and 1100 Mt/y were delivered by the Indus River to its lower alluvial plain and delta (Clift and Giosan, 2013). Immediately before the 20th century damming activities started, the Indus deposited ∼60% of its total load along its lower alluvial plain: with more than 600 Mt/y entering the alluvial plain and

only 250 Mt/y reached the delta (Milliman et al., 1984). This relationship holds at the scale of the entire Holocene with roughly half of sediment discharge by the river contributing to the aggradation of the lower alluvial GW3965 mouse plain and subaerial delta and the other half contributing to the progradation of both the subaerial and subaqueous delta (Clift and Giosan, 2013). Schumm et al. (2002) consider the modern Indus plain to be comprised of two inland alluvial fans, one focused north of Sukkur and the other near Sehwan, with avulsions occurring near the apex of these fans. Based on higher resolution data, we see the floodplain more as a series of prograding and overlapping sediment fans or deposits (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) that reflect the movement of the historical

Indus River (cf. Fig. 1). Schumm et al. (2002) regard the avulsions to be controlled by tectonics GS-7340 manufacturer because avulsions appeared to have occurred repeatedly at the same location. The area containing Jacobobad-Khaipur lies close to the frontal folds of the Sulaiman lobe (Szeliga et al., 2012) and hence is influenced by incipient local fold-and thrust tectonics. The area immediately east of Karachi lies near an east-verging fold and thrust belt (Schelling, 1999 and Kovach et al., 2010), whereas the eastern delta including the Rann of Kachchh is subject to footwall subsidence associated with reverse faulting of the Kachchh mainland and other faults (Jorgensen

et al., 1993, Bendick et al., 2001 and Biswas, 2005). That natural avulsions were mafosfamide triggered by tectonic events is further evidenced by the fact that Mansurah (25.88° N, 68.78° E), the Arabic capital of the Sindh province, was destroyed by an earthquake c. 980 AD (Intensity ≈VIII), resulting in a post-seismic avulsion of the river (Fig. 3 inset, Bilham and Lodi, 2010). Since natural levees have been observed in India to collapse during intensity VII shaking, it is unnecessary to invoke co-seismic uplift as a requirement for upstream river avulsion (Bilham and Lodi, 2010). A similar possibly modest earthquake that occurred in 1668 in the historical province of Nasirpur destroyed the town of Samawani (Fig. 3) and again initiated avulsion of the Indus main channel (Bilham and Lodi, 2010). Levee breaching during significant flood events is thought to be directly responsible for other historical river avulsions (Holmes, 1968).

This observation confirms measurements of sediment deposition mad

This observation confirms measurements of sediment deposition made by Pollen-Bankhead et al. (2012). And, the invasive Phragmites sequesters substantially more ASi in the top 10-cm of sediments than does native willow, while any difference between native willow and unvegetated sediments is not detectable with this common analytical method. ASi is typically in the silt-size range, so the river’s suspended load of ASi was deposited along with fine particles of Bortezomib price mineralogic sediment in low velocity stands of Phragmites. However,

because Phragmites is a relatively prolific producer of ASi particles, it is likely that in situ production of ASi accounts at least in part for the high Apoptosis Compound Library concentration ASi content of these sediments.

In other words, two different processes – physical sequestration and biogenic production – are likely at work, and future studies will need to disentangle the two effects on ASi accumulation in river sediments. In this study, the top 10 cm of sediment at each site were analyzed because field observations indicated that most fine-grain deposition occurred within that depth, and laboratory analyses confirmed that sediments at 10–20 cm depth had negligible ASi. However, it is important to note that sediment erosion and deposition in rivers, and in particular in anabranching rivers like the Platte, is complex and spatially heterogeneous. It is possible that for any given site, a recent high flow buried an ASi-rich sediment layer under a thick deposit of sand or eroded a former ASi-rich deposit. Indeed, four cores contained buried organic-rich layers containing Phragmites rhizomes, suggesting that some burial occurred within the previous 8 years (when Phragmites first invaded this river). In other words, these data represent a snapshot of the riverbed at the time the samples were Oxymatrine collected with no guarantee that sediment has been deposited and preserved in a spatially and temporally continuous manner. Nevertheless, flow and sediment dynamics during high flows at any given site are not independent

of vegetation type: Phragmites has a denser stem network than native willows and therefore its presence will diminish flow velocity and transport capacity through the patch. We expect this local and temporal variability to be less pronounced in longer-term geologic records or in studies of more spatially extensive environments. The rough estimate of 9500 t of additional ASi sequestered in Phragmites sediments can be contextualized by calculating the annual silica load being transported by the Platte. Unfortunately, few measurements of silica in the Platte exist. The calculated river load of 18,000 t DSi yr−1 reported here, based on 3 years of DSi monitoring in the mid-1990s, serves as a pre-Phragmites baseline.

3 ms, n = 7; Figure 4A) The size of the releasable SV pools unde

3 ms, n = 7; Figure 4A). The size of the releasable SV pools under resting conditions varied substantially among different calyces, and was on average 2,208 ± 459 SVs for the fast releasing pool and 1,503 ± 351 SVs for the slowly releasing pool (n = 7). The fast releasing SV pool recovered slowly, with τ1 = 430 ms (Figure 4D) and the slowly releasing SV pool recovered rapidly within 100-200 ms after the first depolarization pulse (τ1 = 40 ms; Figure 4E). Similar to the values obtained for WT calyces (Figure 4A),

we observed two components of the cumulative release (τ1 = 0.8 ± 0.2 ms, 55% of the total release; τ2 = 6.1 ± 0.9 ms, n = 6) in P14–P17 calyces LY2109761 of Munc13-1W464R mice (Figure 4B). The sizes of the releasable SV pools under resting conditions were 1,931 ± 447 SVs for the fast releasing pool and 1,647 ± 276 for the slowly releasing pool (n = 6). As observed in experiments with younger animals, the recovery of the fast-releasing SV pool in Munc13-1W464R mice was slowed down significantly (Figures 4B, 4D, 4E, and S2C) when compared Stem Cell Compound Library solubility dmso to WT calyces at P14–P17. This change was not only apparent with regard

to the recovery of the fast releasing SV pool (τ1 = 1.1 s, n = 6; Figure 4D), but was also detectable with the slowly releasing SV pool (τ1 = 269 ms, n = 6; Figure 4E), which took almost 1 s to recover completely. A similar reduction in the recovery rate of the fast and slow components was observed in WT calyces when 100 μM of a CaM inhibitory peptide were included in the presynaptic patch pipette. Ca2+ current amplitudes were similar in WT and Munc13-1W464R calyces (WT, 1,323 ± 159 pA, n = 7; Munc13-1W464R, 1,294 ± 170 pA, n = 6; p > 0.05; Figure 4C). These data show that the Munc13-1W464R mutation affects buy Erastin the recovery of both the slowly and the fast releasing SV pool in mature calyces, supporting the notion that Ca2+-CaM signaling to Munc13-1 plays a key role in releasable SV pool refilling. In the calyx of Held, the recovery of EPSC amplitudes from depression after high-frequency stimulation is accelerated by presynaptic residual [Ca2+]i (Wang and Kaczmarek, 1998) and CaM (Sakaba and Neher, 2001), and

a particularly strong acceleration of RRP refilling is observed after intense presynaptic stimulation at ≥300 Hz (Wang and Kaczmarek, 1998). In subsequent experiments, we tested if Munc13-1 is involved in this Ca2+- and CaM-dependent RRP recovery. To assess the recovery of the synaptic response, we triggered pairs of AP trains at 100 or 300 Hz (50 stimuli in the first/conditioning train, 10 stimuli in the second train) at different time intervals and measured EPSCs in slices of P9–P11 mice. The recovery was quantified by dividing the first amplitude of the second EPSC train by the first amplitude of the first EPSC train, after subtraction of the steady-state depression (SSD) levels of the first train, and plotted as a function of the interstimulus interval.

The ELISA analysis was performed to evaluate the rBmPRM recogniti

The ELISA analysis was performed to evaluate the rBmPRM recognition by sera of naturally infested B. indicus and B. taurus bovines, showing the presence of different IgG levels in the tested sera ( Fig. 1A). The specificity of the antibody recognition was confirmed by

Western-blot (a representative Western-blot from a positive Afatinib mw B. indicus bovine serum is shown in Fig. 1B). Sera from non-infested bovines were used as negative control. In order to evaluate the overall recognition of tick antigens by the same sera, an ELISA analysis using salivary glands protein extract as antigen was performed ( Fig. 1C). Accordingly, B. indicus and B. taurus sera presented different IgG levels against the tick salivary gland extract. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient comparing the recognition against rBmPRM and salivary gland extract showed a r = 0.67 for B. indicus and a r = 0.28 for B. taurus sera. The rBmPRM recognition by sera from three bovines submitted to 12 experimental successive infestations (6 heavy infestations followed by 6 light infestations) was evaluated by ELISA (Fig. 2). Sera from one infested animal (bovine 1) showed no significant humoral response against BmPRM. The other two bovines BAY 73-4506 solubility dmso (bovines 2 and 3) showed the presence of significant anti-BmPRM IgG in the sera obtained following different infestations, but not in all of them. Bovine 2

did not show significant anti-rBmPRM IgG levels in sera from infestations 3, 4, 9 and 10, while bovine 3 showed the presence of significant IgG levels only in sera from infestations 1, 10, 11 and 12. Fig. 3 shows a qRT-PCR analysis of the expression of the paramyosin gene (bmprm) within eggs, larvae, adult males and adult female organs and tissues. The highest relative bmprm expression levels detected in all developmental stages and tick tissues tested were observed in adult female fat body. Among the different embryonic developmental stages tested, bmprm expression was detected in 18-day-old eggs, while in the larval stage 5 and 10-day-old larvae showed low expression levels, with absence of expression in 15-day-old larvae. Gut

showed higher bmprm expression in partially engorged than fully engorged however females (p = 0.004), while similar expression levels were detected in 5- and 10-day-old larvae, ovary, salivary gland and fat body (p = 1.00, p = 1.00, p = 1.00 and p = 0.982, respectively). bmprm expression was also detected in adult males. A prototypical parasite concealed antigen is considered as not being able to generate an adaptative immune response under a natural infestation (Willadsen et al., 1993 and Nuttall et al., 2006). In this regard, parasite muscle proteins are candidates to comprise such definition and, therefore, they may also turn into candidates to take part in a vaccine cocktail, which has initially shown to be effective against the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans ( Schlein and Lewis, 1976). So, R.

Segregation of information streams may also come about via local

Segregation of information streams may also come about via local competition between sets of V1 neurons preferring low versus high speeds (Figure 7), through recurrent excitation between neurons with similar preferences (Ko et al., 2011) and/or nonspecific inhibition across neurons regardless of preference (Bock et al., 2011, Fino and Yuste, 2011, Kerlin et al., 2010, Kapfer et al., 2007 and Swadlow and Gusev, 2002). While hypotheses regarding

interareal functional connectivity can be tested using antidromic stimulation and electrophysiological recordings (e.g., Movshon and Newsome, 1996 and Swadlow, 1998), an increasing number of complementary anatomical, imaging, and genetic techniques are becoming Trametinib order available, particularly in the mouse (Berezovskii et al., 2011, Molyneaux et al., 2009, Osakada et al., 2011 and Sato and Svoboda, 2010). Our findings provide Ion Channel Ligand Library ic50 a conceptual and technical framework for combining these tools with cellular imaging to dissect interareal circuitry in the visual cortex of behaving mice (Andermann et al., 2010). All procedures were conducted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the National Institutes of Health and were approved by the IACUC at Harvard Medical School. Eight male and female adult mice (2–6 months old; various strains,

C57BL/6 primary background) were used in this study. Of these, 5 mice were crosses of the Pvalb-IRES-Cre line (Hippenmeyer et al., 2005; Jax no. 008069) and the Rosa-CAG-LSL-tdTomato-WPRE:: deltaNeo line (Madisen et al., 2010; Jax no. 007914). The labeling of parvalbumin-expressing neurons via red tdTomato fluorescence in these mice was not used in the current study. For cranial window implant NET1 surgery, animals were anesthetized with isoflurane (1.2%–2% in 100% O2). Dexamethasone was administered on the day prior to surgery (3.2 mg/kg, IM) and atropine at surgery onset (0.2 mg/kg, IP). Using aseptic technique, a headpost and EEG leads were secured in place using cyanoacrylate, dental acrylic, and C&B Metabond (Parkell), and a 5 mm

craniotomy was made over the left visual cortex (center ∼2.8 mm lateral, 0.5 mm anterior to lambda) as described previously (Andermann et al., 2010). We implanted a 5 mm glass cranial window consisting of an 8 mm coverslip cured to two 5 mm coverslips (Warner #1; total thickness: ∼0.5 mm; thickness below skull: ∼200 μm) using index-matched adhesive (Norland #71). The window was secured in place using cyanoacrylate and dental acrylic, and the mice were allowed to recover for at least 4 days. Habituation consisted of water scheduling so that water was delivered only during and immediately after head restraint training. Sessions of head restraint increased in duration over the course of 1–2 weeks, from 3 min to 2 hr (Andermann et al., 2010). At this point, retinotopic mapping of visual cortical areas was conducted in awake mice using widefield intrinsic autofluorescence imaging (see below).

First, direct recordings from neurons in the cell groups that con

First, direct recordings from neurons in the cell groups that constitute the model show that their behavior is very close to what the model would predict. Recordings from VLPO neurons in both rats and mice show a sharp increase in firing just before or at the transition from waking to NREM sleep and selleck chemicals llc a sharp decrease in firing just before the transition from NREM or REM to waking (Szymusiak et al., 1998 and Takahashi et al., 2009). Individual VLPO neurons differ somewhat in their onset of firing relative to the onset of NREM sleep, presumably because the individual cells differ slightly in

their inputs and responses. A neural network model of these neurons permitted the 2000 neurons on each side of the switch to have independent behavior, and this arrangement demonstrated a similar variability in the onset of firing compared to the actual state transition (Chou, 2003). A key feature in both the modeled neuronal behavior and the actual recordings

was the bistable nature of the firing, with abrupt transitions between rapid and slow firing right around the actual state transitions. Another interesting aspect of this system is the time relationship between changes in VLPO neuron firing and cortical activity. The onset of firing began about 200 msec before the EEG synchronization and did not reach a peak until 300 msec after the transition, whereas the fall in firing occurred over about 200 msec beginning Selinexor molecular weight just before the loss of EEG synchronization (Takahashi et al., 2009). The neural network model (Chou, 2003) predicts this behavior, and suggests that it underlies the hysteresis in the response

of the brain to homeostatic sleep drive, as suggested by Borbély and Achermann (1999). Thus, the threshold at which homeostatic stiripentol drive triggers sleep is higher than the threshold at which falling homeostatic sleep drive terminates sleep. This property may arise from a key aspect of the mutually inhibitory sleep-wake circuitry: sleep-promoting VLPO neurons can only be activated during wakefulness by stimuli that overcome their inhibition by wake-promoting neurons, but during sleep, when VLPO neurons are not inhibited by wake-promoting neurons, they can be activated by relatively weak stimuli such as low levels of homeostatic sleep drive. The activity of LC and TMN neurons also anticipates state transitions (Figure 3). The firing of LC neurons slows many seconds before sleep onset and then gradually increases 1–2 s prior to wake onset (Aston-Jones and Bloom, 1981 and Takahashi et al., 2010). The firing of TMN neurons also slows about 1 s prior to EEG signs of NREM sleep, but, unlike the LC, TMN neurons only start to fire about 1 s after wakefulness is established (Takahashi et al., 2006).