CORTICOSTRIATAL INFLUENCES ON NEOSTRIATAL PROCESSING

新纹状体和其他基底节核团在包括帕金森氏病、亨廷顿舞蹈症、抽动症和精神分裂症在内的几种神经疾病的病因学中发挥作用。为了了解新纹状体如何处理来自大脑皮层的信息，我们将研究皮质纹状体连接的地形图及其与新纹状体活动协调的关系。具体目标1.确定处理功能相关信息的躯体感觉区皮质纹状体投射的精确地形图组织。我们假设，在行为过程中被联合激活或以紧密的时间顺序被激活的皮质区域比在一些合成引导行为中未被共同激活的皮质区域更有可能投射到重叠的新纹状体区域。为了验证这一假设，我们将重建起源于初级(SI)和次级(SII)体感皮质不同部分的顺行标记的皮质纹状体终末。具体目的2.确定感觉运动通道内的新纹状体神经元是否在功能上耦合，并阐明它们之间协调的一些规则。我们假设新纹状体神经元组是由皮质纹状体通路协调的，这种协调是由这些通路中活动的组织和时间顺序控制的。为了验证这一假设，我们将记录自发和刺激诱导活动中的多个新纹状体神经元。交叉相关分析将被用来描述新纹状体神经元相对于外周刺激模式的反应模式的变化。

The neostriatum and other basal ganglia nuclei play a role in the etiology of several neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, Tourette's syndrome, and schizophrenia. To understand how the neostriatum processes information from the cerebral cortex, we will study the topography of corticostriatal connections and their relationship to the coordination of neostriatal activity. Specific Aim 1. To determine the precise topographic organization of corticostriatal projections from somatosensory areas that process functionally-related information. We hypothesize that cortical areas that are activated conjointly or in close temporal sequence during behavior are more likely to project to overlapping neostriatal regions than cortical areas that are not coactivated during somesthesis-guided behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we will reconstruct anterogradely-labeled corticostriatal terminals originating from different parts of primary (SI) and secondary (SII) somatosensory cortex. Specific Aim 2. To determine if neostriatal neurons within the sensorimotor channels are functionally coupled and to elucidate some of the rules governing their coordination. We hypothesize that groups of neostriatal neurons are coordinated by the corticostriatal pathways, and that this coordination is governed by the organization and temporal sequence of activity in those pathways. To test this hypothesis, we will record multiple neostriatal neurons during spontaneous and stimulus-induced activity. Cross-correlation analysis will be used to characterize changes in the response patterns of neostriatal neurons with respect to the pattern of peripheral stimulation.