SPP 1665: Resolving and Manipulating Neuronal Networks in the Mammalian Brain - From Correlative to Causal Analysis

哺乳动物的大脑通过处理神经网络内的环境和内部信息来解释复杂的感觉、运动和认知能力。这些动态组装的神经元群以不同的空间复杂性水平组织大脑，从微电路到大规模网络。它们的活动模式，如振荡节律，通过定时神经元放电，在大脑中创造了一个精确的时间顺序。人们认为，神经元网络中神经元活动的时空协调对于产生定义的行为输出是必不可少的。系统神经科学的一个基本目标是破译感官知觉和认知能力编码到神经元网络活动模式的机制，并以此方式将生理和心理过程联系起来。然而，这一目标的实验成果已被证明是非常困难的，而且在过去几十年里积累的证据大多是描述性的和相关的。因此，仍有几个关键问题有待解决：单个神经元或不同复杂性的神经元网络对特定行为的贡献是什么？是什么机制使神经元聚集到产生行为相关输出的网络中？优先方案的目的是确定将单个神经元和网络的活动与行为联系起来的这种因果关系。研究在不同的网络复杂性水平上进行，范围从单个神经元和微电路到大规模的皮质-皮质下神经元网络，并且将涵盖成人和发育方面。具体来说，我们使用新的实验工具来监测和操纵神经元活动，这些工具是在以行为/功能读出为中心的协作努力中开发和验证的。网络动力学分析和建模允许对机制假设进行功能评估，并支持与行为的联系。实际上，“三驾马车合作”已经启动。他们包括“实验者”，即解决或操纵神经元活动的小组，“工具制造者”，即开发和验证记录和操作方法的小组，以及“分析师”，即分析网络动态或剖析功能读数的小组。

The mammalian brain accounts for complex sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities by processing environmental and internal information within neuronal networks. These dynamically assembled groups of neurons organise the brain at different levels of spatial complexity ranging from microcircuits to large-scale networks. Their patterns of activity, such as oscillatory rhythms, create a precise temporal order within the brain by timing the neuronal firing. It is thought that the spatiotemporal orchestration of neuronal activity in neuronal networks is essential for generating defined behavioural outputs. A fundamental aim of systems neuroscience is to decipher the mechanisms by which sensory perception and cognitive abilities are encoded onto activity patterns of neuronal networks and in this way, to link physiological and psychological processes. However, experimental achievement of this aim has proven notoriously difficult and mostly descriptive and correlative evidences accumulated during the last decades. Thus, several crucial questions remain to be addressed: What is the contribution of single neurons or neuronal networks of different complexity to a specific behaviour? What are the mechanisms by which neurons are recruited for assembling into networks that generate behaviourally relevant output? The Priority Programme aims at identifying such causal relationships linking the activity of single neurons and networks to behaviour. Investigations are performed at different levels of network complexity, ranging from single neurons and microcircuits to large-scale cortico-subcortical neuronal networks and both adult and developmental aspects will be covered. Specifically, we monitor and manipulate neuronal activity using new experimental tools, which are developed and validated in collaborative efforts centred on behavioural/functional readout. Analysis of network dynamics and modelling allow functional evaluation of mechanistic hypotheses and back-up the links to behaviour. Practically, "troika collaborations" have been initiated. They include "experimenters", i.e. groups resolving or manipulating neuronal activity, "toolmakers", i.e. groups developing and validating the recording and manipulation methods, and "analysts", i.e. groups analysing network dynamics or dissecting the functional readout.