Mesh electronics for understanding space encoding in the amphibian brain

用于理解两栖动物大脑空间编码的网状电子器件

基本信息

批准号：
10446284
负责人：
Lisa Giocomo
金额：
$ 65.26万
依托单位：
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-04-01 至 2024-09-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10446284
关键词：
3-Dimensional Action Potentials Address Affect Amphibia Animals Area Behavioral Brain Brain imaging Brain region Canes Cells Chronic Code Cognition Communities Control Animal Data Development Dorsal Electric Conductivity Electrodes Electronics Electrophysiology (science)Exhibits Finite Element Analysis Fire - disasters Future Head Hippocampus (Brain)Homologous Gene Hydrogels Implant Individual Injections Knowledge Lead Learning Location Mammals Measures Mechanics Medial Modeling Morphology Motion Movement Mus Neuroanatomy Neurobiology Neurons Neurophysiology - biologic function Neurosciences Output Phylogeny Positioning Attribute Process Property Protocols documentation Research Resolution Retina Role Side Slice Sorting - Cell Movement Spatial Behavior Specificity Spectrum Analysis Statistical Data Interpretation Stretching Structure Techniques Testing Thick Time Tissues Vertebrates Weight Work clinically significant cognitive function cranium design electric impedance experience flexibility in vivo insight light weight mechanical properties millisecond neural implant neural network printed circuit board relating to nervous system stem submicron superior colliculus Corpora quadrigemina toad tool wireless

项目摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Many animals rely on spatial cognition for daily survival in order to recognize familiar places and process movements through or between locations. A variety of space-encoding cells in the hippocampus are important for spatial behaviors in mammals. However, neural encoding of space remains uncharacterized in other vertebrate taxa, including amphibians, whose simpler brain structure suggests alternative mechanisms of encoding space. The severe gap in our understanding of how the simple amphibian brain functions stems, in part, from difficulty in recording neural activity. The amphibian brain exhibits a greater degree of movement within the skull than other vertebrates, which could lead to an instability of electrophysiology recordings in moving animals using conventional implantable neural probes. Recently our labs have developed 1) a new form of electronics with tissue-like flexibility and stretchability for chronically stable neural recording with single-neuron resolution, and 2) cane toads as a model to study the neural basis of amphibian spatial behaviors. We propose to develop stretchable mesh electronic neural probes for in vivo electrophysiological recording of single neurons in the medial pallium, the proposed homolog of the mammalian hippocampus, in freely moving toads. We hypothesize that the medial pallium contains neurons that fire with spatial specificity, similar to place cells or head direction cells in the mammalian hippocampus, but with lower resolution and high correlation with specific environmental features (e.g., borders). We predict that single-cell activity of some neurons in the medial pallium, which is measured by mesh electronics in freely moving toads, will be correlated with spatial position within a behavioral arena, while neurons recorded from another region will not. Prior to recording from the medial pallium, we will establish mesh recordings in the optic tectum, a region easily accessible on the dorsal side of the brain which has been a target for previous electrophysiology studies. We will validate the results with rigorous statistical analyses and comparison of neural recording data with immunohistological imaging of brain slices. Understanding how amphibians learn and encode spatial information will reveal either alternative mechanisms for learning and encoding of spatial experiences or which paradigms are ancestral features of vertebrate brain function and how neurobiological principles of space coding might generalize across vertebrate taxa. Importantly, our approach will result in the development of chronically stable recording techniques in brains with large movements in the skull. This advance will be a valuable research tool for expanding the scope and possibility of electrophysiology studies in other animals. Successful completion of this project will allow us to obtain proof-of-principle data elucidating fundamental questions relating neuroanatomy to neuronal functions, which is crucial for future R01 applications. Furthermore, establishing a recording protocol in cane toads will allow for other aspects of neural function in amphibians, a research area that has thus far been limited due to technological constraints. In summary, our proposed research will help elucidate the core coding principles in the relatively simple amphibian brain and reveal how these principles for spatial encoding might generalize across vertebrate taxa.

项目摘要/摘要许多动物依靠空间认知来每天生存，以识别熟悉的地方和过程运动通过或之间的位置。海马中的各种空间编码细胞对于空间行为很重要在哺乳动物中。但是，空间的神经编码在其他脊椎动物类群中仍然没有表征，包括两栖动物，其简单的大脑结构提出了编码空间的替代机制。我们的严重差距了解简单的两栖动物的功能如何部分源于记录神经活动的困难。两栖动物的大脑在颅骨内表现出比其他脊椎动物更大的运动，这可能导致使用常规植入神经探针在移动动物中的电生理记录不稳定。最近，我们的实验室开发了1）一种具有组织样的灵活性和可说服性的新形式具有单神经元分辨率的长期稳定的神经记录，2）甘蔗蟾蜍作为研究神经的模型两栖动物空间行为的基础。我们建议为体内开发可拉伸的网格电子神经探针单神经元中内侧pallim的电生理记录，这是哺乳动物的拟议同源物海马，自由移动蟾蜍。我们假设内侧pal骨包含空间发射的神经元特异性，类似于哺乳动物海马中的细胞或头部方向细胞，但分辨率较低，并且与特定的环境特征（例如边界）高相关。我们预测某些单细胞活性通过自由移动蟾蜍的网格电子测量的内侧pallim中的神经元将与行为领域内的空间位置，而从另一个区域记录的神经元则不会。录制之前从内侧pallium中，我们将在视神经底部建立网格记录，该区域易于在背侧上方访问大脑的侧面一直是先前电生理研究的靶标。我们将通过严格的统计分析和神经记录数据与脑切片的免疫组织学成像的比较。了解两栖动物如何学习和编码空间信息将揭示任何一种替代机制学习和编码空间体验或哪些范式是脊椎动物脑功能的祖先特征以及空间编码的神经生物学原理如何在脊椎动物类群中推广。重要的是，我们的方法将导致在颅骨运动大部分运动的大脑中的长期稳定记录技术的发展。这项进步将是扩大电生理研究范围和可能性的宝贵研究工具其他动物。该项目的成功完成将使我们能够获得原则数据阐明神经解剖学与神经元功能有关的基本问题，这对于未来的R01应用至关重要。此外，在甘蔗蟾蜍中建立记录方案将允许神经功能的其他方面两栖动物，这是一个由于技术限制而受到限制的研究领域。总而言之，我们的建议研究将有助于阐明相对简单的两栖大脑中的核心编码原理，并揭示这些原理空间编码的原则可能会在脊椎动物类群中概括。