CAREER: Physiological Basis of Working Memory: Modeling of Prefontal Cortical Circuitry and its Neuromodulation

Ibn 97-33006王。工作记忆是短期记忆的一种活跃形式。对于任何认知过程来说，它都是必不可少的，在信息被删除和新信息被加载之前，信息必须被细心地保存几秒钟，并被“在线”操纵。例如拨打电话号码，计划和执行一系列运动，阅读和思考。对行为动物的实验已经开始揭示前额皮质中工作记忆的神经元基础。王博士将运用理论方法，在实验室实验的基础上，研究如何从单个神经元/突触的生理学、皮质回路结构和紧急集体网络行为的角度来理解工作记忆功能。特别是，可能的神经元机制将通过计算机模型模拟持续的神经元活动（以秒为单位）及其对记忆项目的选择性来研究，包括(a)皮层网络上的混响活动，(b)缓慢的细胞和突触动力学，以及(c)复发性突触抑制的作用。这项研究的结果将有助于理解正常工作记忆的功能，它的神经调节，以及它的故障。

IBN 97-33006 WANG. Working memory is an active form of short-term memory. It is indispensable for any cognitive process where information has to be maintained with attentive effort for a few seconds, and manipulated "on-line", before it is erased and new information is loaded. Examples are dialing a telephone number, planning and executing a sequence of motor movements, reading, and thinking. Experiments on behaving animals have started to uncover the neuronal basis of working memory in the prefrontal cortex. Dr. Wang will use theoretical approaches, in complement with laboratory experiments, to investigate how the working memory function can be understood in terms of the physiology of single neurons/synapses, the cortical circuit architecture, and emergent collective network behavior. In particular, possible neuronal mechanisms will be studied by computer model simulations for sustained neuronal activity (in seconds) and its selectivity to memory items, including (a) reverberating activity across the cortical network, (b) slow cellular and synaptic dynamics, and (c) the role of recurrent synaptic inhibition. Results from this research will help to understand the functioning of normal working memory, its neuromodulation, as well as its malfunctions.