SPATIAL FIRING PROPERTIES OF HIPPOCAMPAL NEURONS

海马神经元的空间放电特性

• 批准号: 3401236
• 负责人: JOHN L KUBIE
• 金额: $ 11.03万
• 依托单位: SUNY DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1984
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1984-03-01 至 1994-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3401236
• 关键词: brain mapping; electroencephalography; electrophysiology; hippocampus; histology; laboratory rat; neural information processing; neurophysiology; neuropsychology; orientation; space perception; telemetry

Mammals in general are excellent navigators. They go efficiently from place to place in known environments and are quick to learn their way around new regions. The thrust of our research is to investigate how the complex spatial problem solving abilities of mammals arise from the properties of their nervous systems. We have chosen to study this problem in rats for several reasons. First, a great deal is known about navigation by rats; their capacities in this regard are understood better than those of any other species save man. Second, rats are small enough that interesting environments for observing them during navigation can be created economically. Finally, the relationship between brain function and navigation has been studied much more thoroughly for rats than for any other species. The current view of the neural basis of rat navigation rests in large part on the work of O'Keefe and Nadel (43), who forcefully argued that a major part of the cortex called the "hippocampus" must be intact for rats to show highly intelligent spatial behavior. Just as importantly, they argued that the existence of "place cells" in the hippocampus is prima facie evidence that the hippocampus is directly involved in navigation. Place cells are neurons that have the astonishing property of being intensely active only when a rat is in a restricted portion of its environment -- their activity is "location-specific". The themes of the proposed work have in common a desire to learn more about the meaning of the location-specific activity of place cells. The first concerns the origins of place cell activity; we intend to record from cells in brain regions that provide input to place cells. The second theme involves efforts to more precisely establish the linkages between place cell activity and the choices made by an animal as it solves a spatial problem. The final theme asks about the activity of groups of place cells; we imagine that much can be learned about the nature of the posited hippocampal representation of the animal's environment by finding conditions under which the location- specific activity of individual cells stays in register or shifts. It is our contention that studying the neural basis of navigation is important in the general realm of animal behavior. In a sense, navigation characterizes animal behavior; it is an essential part in the ability of animals to perform all of their self- and species-preserving tasks. It is also hoped that the proposed work will be of value in understanding dementia in people; the relation between navigation and human mental function is so basic that an inability to describe one's location in time and space is taken as direct evidence of severe malfunction during neurological or psychiatric examinations. If animal models are valid for neural processes as complex as getting around in the world, this hope may well be realized.

一般来说，哺乳动物都是优秀的导航员。 他们高效地进行 在已知环境中从一个地方到另一个地方并且能够快速学习 他们绕过新地区。 我们研究的主旨是 研究复杂空间问题的解决能力 哺乳动物的诞生源于其神经系统的特性。 我们 选择在老鼠身上研究这个问题有几个原因。 首先，我们对老鼠的导航有很多了解；他们的 人们对这方面的能力的了解比任何其他机构都更好 其他物种拯救人类。 其次，老鼠足够小， 在导航过程中观察它们的有趣环境可以 被经济创造。 最后，大脑的关系 功能和导航已得到更彻底的研究 老鼠比任何其他物种都多。 目前对大鼠导航神经基础的看法在于 很大程度上归功于奥基夫和纳德尔（43）的工作，他们有力地 认为皮质的主要部分称为“海马体” 老鼠必须完好无损才能表现出高度智能的空间 行为。 同样重要的是，他们认为存在 海马体中的“位置细胞”是表面证据 海马体直接参与导航。 位置细胞是 神经元具有令人惊讶的特性，即强烈地 仅当大鼠处于其受限部分时才活跃 环境——他们的活动是“特定地点的”。 拟议工作的主题有一个共同点：渴望学习 更多关于地点特定活动的含义 细胞。 第一个涉及位置细胞活动的起源；我们 打算从提供输入的大脑区域的细胞中进行记录 放置单元格。 第二个主题涉及努力更准确地 建立位置细胞活动与选择之间的联系 由动物制造，因为它解决了空间问题。 最终主题 询问位置细胞组的活动；我们想象 关于假定的海马体的性质可以了解很多 通过寻找条件来表示动物的环境 在这种情况下，单个细胞的位置特异性活动 保持登记或轮班。 我们的论点是研究导航的神经基础 在动物行为的一般领域中很重要。 从某种意义上说， 导航表征动物行为；这是一个重要的部分 动物执行所有自我和行为的能力 物种保护任务。 还希望拟议的工作 对于了解人们的痴呆症具有价值；关系 导航和人类心理功能之间的关系是如此基本，以至于 无法描述一个人在时间和空间上的位置 作为神经系统或疾病期间严重功能障碍的直接证据 精神科检查。 如果动物模型对神经有效 就像环游世界一样复杂的过程，这个希望可能 很好地实现了。