NEURAL COMPUTATION IN THE RAT HEAD-DIRECTION SYSTEM

大鼠大脑的边缘系统包含被称为头部的神经元 方向单元格。这些细胞的行为就像一个指南针，激发动作 只有当老鼠的头朝向特定的方向时，才有潜力。这个 这项建议的目的是研究脑出血的神经机制。 结合单单位记录的大鼠边缘头部定向系统 实验和计算模型。有证据表明，边缘 结构在学习和记忆中起着重要的作用。损坏的地方 边缘系统与衰老、中风、 阿尔茨海默病、韦尼克-科萨科夫综合征和癫痫。虽然 人们对边缘损害的认知影响了解很多，但知之甚少。 已知特定类型的信息在边缘是如何处理的 结构。有几个原因可以解释为什么老鼠的头向系统 为研究边缘信息处理提供了一个很好的模型。第一, 在几个主要的边缘结构中发现了头部定向细胞。 其次，头部方向细胞的行为很容易测量和 理解，使观察边缘的单个神经元成为可能 当它们执行可识别的任务时。最后，磁头方向单元 会受到特定感官信息的影响，所以他们 为研究边缘结构如何整合提供了一个具体的例子 来自不同感觉模式的复杂信息，以便形成 周围环境的新表现形式。

The limbic system of the rat brain contains neurons known as head- direction cells. These cells behave like a compass, firing action potentials only when the rat's head faces in a specific direction. The objective of this proposal is to investigate the neural mechanisms of the limbic head-direction system in rats, by combining single-unit recording experiments and computational modeling. Evidence has shown that limbic structures play an important role in learning and memory. Damage to the limbic system has been associated with the symptoms of aging, stroke, Alzheimers disease, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and epilepsy. Although much is known about the cognitive effects of limbic damage, very little is known about how specific types of information are processed in limbic structures. There are several reasons why the rat head-direction system provides a good model for studying limbic information processing. First, head-direction cells are found in several major limbic structures. Second, the behavior of head direction cells is easy to measure and understand, making it possible to observe individual neurons in limbic areas as they perform an identifiable task. Finally, head-direction cells are known to be influenced by specific sensory information, so they provide a concrete example for studying how limbic structures integrate complex information from different sensory modalities, in order to form new representations of the surrounding environment.