EXPERIMENTAL NEUROANATOMY OF SYSTEMS RELATED TO COGNITION

该项目旨在研究 大脑皮层的解剖组织和病理学 与认知功能直接相关。这里讨论的问题如下 直接回答本计划其他项目中提出的问题，特别是 与记忆的神经基础有关的问题。这项研究旨在 在提供神经解剖学特征方面：(A)连接联系 在特定的皮质系统内，以及(B) 参与这些系统的皮质区域。这样的信息是 对实验结果的解释至关重要，基于任何 目前对认知的神经学基础的现有方法 人体(例如，损伤方法、PET、电生理学)，以及 关于神经的理论公式的继续评估 可能有助于灵长类认知的结构和操作。这个 方案分为三个子项目：(1)高分辨率示踪 猴海马旁皮质的神经联系，(2)大脑皮层地形图 人类穿透途径，以及(3)人类的模块化组织 内嗅皮层。每个子项目都是基于现代 组织和免疫细胞化学方法和传统组织学，以允许 对化学鉴定的神经元和/或神经突起的解剖。这个 从这些紧密相关的项目中获得的信息将 有助于更好地理解Normal和 在细胞和连接水平上的人类认知障碍，并 他们在阿尔茨海默氏症等疾病中的变化特征 疾病。

This project is designed to investigate several novel aspects of the anatomical organization and pathology of the cerebral cortex which are directly relevant to cognitive functions. The issues addressed here follow directly on questions raised in other projects of this Program, especially on those pertaining to the neural basis of memory. The research is aimed at providing neuroanatomical characterizations of: (a) connectional links within specified cortical systems, and (b) the intrinsic structure of cortical regions participating in these systems. Such information is critical for the interpretation of experimental results based on any of the currently available approaches to the neurological basis of cognition in humans (e.g. the lesion method, PET, electrophysiology), and for the continued evaluation of theoretical formulations regarding the neural architecture and operations that may subserve cognition in primates. The proposal is divided into three subprojects: (1) high resolution tracing of connections from the parahippocampal cortex in monkeys, (2) topography of the human perforant pathway, and (3) modular organization of the human entorhinal cortex. Each subproject is based on a combination of modern histo- and immunocytochemical methods and conventional histology, to permit the dissection of chemically identified neurons and/or neurites. The information obtained from these tightly interrelated projects will contribute to a better understanding of the substrates of both normal and disordered human cognition at the cellular and connectional levels, and to a characterization of their alteration in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.