Dopamine function in working memory networks and its dysfunction in a mouse model of schizophrenia

我们的目的是了解多巴胺系统如何调节对小鼠工作记忆很重要的神经网络，主要由海马和前额叶皮质组成，以及在经验证的精神分裂症小鼠模型中多巴胺功能障碍如何影响该网络。这一目标将通过利用提案中三个研究小组不同但互补的专业领域来实现：Sevil Duvarci和Jochen Roeper将专注于腹侧被盖区（VTA）多巴胺中脑神经元电放电模式的详细分析，同时使用光遗传学工具来确定它们的身份和投射目标。Torfi Sigurdsson将专注于VTA，海马和前额叶皮层之间的神经协调，并使用光遗传学来确定VTA活动对整个网络内协调的因果影响。Gaby Schneider将开发新的分析工具，用于检查和建模单个DA VTA神经元的电放电模式，它们在群体水平上的相互作用以及它们在工作记忆网络中的协调。

Our aim is to understand how the dopamine system regulates a neural network important for working memory in mice, consisting mainly of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, and how this network is affected by dopamine dysfunction in a validated mouse model of schizophrenia. This objective will be achieved by taking advantage of the different but complementary areas of expertise of the three research groups in the proposal: Sevil Duvarci and Jochen Roeper will focus on a detailed analysis of electrical firing patterns of dopamine midbrain neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), while using optogenetic tools to determine their identity and projection targets. Torfi Sigurdsson will focus on the neural coordination between the VTA, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and use optogenetics to determine the causal influence of VTA activity on coordination within the network as a whole. Gaby Schneider will develop novel analysis tools for examining and modeling electrical firing patterns of single DA VTA neurons, their interaction on the population level and their coordination within the working memory network.