RUI: The Role of Neuromodulators and Their Interactions in Controlling the Output of a Small Neural System

通俗摘要 PI：Dickinson，Patsy S. 提案编号：IBN-9723885 大多数行为可以在各种内部和外部条件下发生。正因为如此，动作可能会不时地变化，以适当的方式支持行为。现在很清楚，神经系统网络的基础节奏行为可以产生各种各样的输出，允许这种灵活性。这些输出的变化在很大程度上是由神经细胞释放的称为神经调质的化学物质控制的。有许多这样的神经调质，每一种都可以以不同的方式改变行为。该项目研究了当系统中同时存在几种神经调质时，神经系统的输出以及节奏运动是如何改变的，以及这些神经调质如何改变神经细胞在很长一段时间内相互交流的方式。这些研究增加了对中枢神经系统化学物质在多个层面上产生行为灵活性的作用的理解，并增加了对大脑控制节奏运动的方式的理解，以便它们最适合特定情况。这些运动是行走、手部运动、言语和内脏功能等重要行为的基础。

Lay Abstract PI: Dickinson, Patsy S. Proposal Number: IBN-9723885 Most behaviors can occur under a variety of internal and external conditions. Because of this, movements may vary from time to time to support the behavior in an appropriate way. It is now clear that the nervous system networks that underlie rhythmic behaviors can each produce a variety of outputs, allowing for this flexibility. These changes in output are largely controlled by chemicals called neuromodulators, which are released from nerve cells. There are many such neuromodulators, each of which can alter behavior in different ways. This project investigates how nervous system output, and hence rhythmic movements, are altered when several neuromodulators are present in the system at the same time, as well as the how such neuromodulators can alter the way nerve cells communicate with each other over a long time period. These studies increase the understanding of the roles of central nervous system chemical substances in generating behavioral flexibility on a number of levels, as well as increasing the understanding of the way the brain controls rhythmic movements so that they are most appropriate for a given situation. Such movements are fundamental to such important behaviors as walking, hand movements, speech, and visceral functions.