This approach was derived from animal and human studies showing that stepping can be generated by virtue of the neuromuscular system's responsiveness to phasic peripheral sensory information associated with locomotion, in the presence of central pattern generator (reviewed in [ 5]).
This theory proposes that tonic stimulation of cortical D1 receptors stabilizes and maintains relevant information, while phasic stimulation of striatal D2 receptors underlies "cognitive flexibility", such as updating and manipulating information [ 2, 12].
In conclusion, we suggest that improved performance in luteal women is associated with progesterone-dependent increase in alpha oscillations, which is related to tonic suppression of irrelevant information, but phasic increase in signal to noise ratio of relevant information.
Including more temporal information (e.g., phasic, phasic tonic, tonic, or complex response patterns) will require additional tools.
Neurophysiological studies reveal phasic dopamine signals that transmit information related predominantly but not exclusively to reward.
The present study revealed that serotonergic neurons can use tonic as well as phasic firing to convey reward information.
However, in these studies, responses were measured in anesthetized animals or the effect of reward was not examined, leaving unanswered whether phasic serotonin signals purely aversive information.
Nonetheless, the finding that peaks in HRV and VENT spectra occupy the same frequency locations does not yield information regarding the phasic influences of ventilation on R-R interval durations.
The DYN projections activate κOR located primarily in excitatory afferents relaying sensory information, which attenuate the phasic activation of noradrenergic neurons, without altering their tonic firing rates [ 366].
If pain from an injured capsular ligament inhibits or alters tonic or phasic multifidus activity, then altered somatosensory information from muscle spindles could also contribute to the dizziness experienced by many whiplash patients [ 38].
A mechanistic account of the COMT Val158Met effect associates the Met allele with increased tonic dopamine transmission underlying maintenance of relevant information, and the Val allele with increased phasic dopamine transmission underlying the flexibility of updating new information.
