The neurochemical basis of adaptive behaviour in healthy individuals and disease

最近，一名德国火车调度员在键盘上按错了按钮组合，导致火车相撞，造成12人死亡。我们通常试图避免这种重大错误，或者至少通过监控我们的行为来纠正它们。后内侧额叶皮层（pMFC）在这种性能监测功能中起着至关重要的作用，并且对pMFC的损伤与一系列神经系统疾病中的动作选择障碍有关。本项目旨在利用电生理学和脑成像技术研究表现监控和适应行为的神经基础。具体而言，该项目将利用行为任务，引起错误和随后的性能调整，并将行为性能与脑功能的电生理（EEG）和神经化学标志物（质子磁共振波谱[MRS]）相关联。除了研究神经健康个体的适应行为外，该项目还将重点关注与常见精神健康状况相关的大脑功能变化，例如精神分裂症，自闭症谱系或强迫症。

Recently, a German train dispatcher pressed a wrong button combination on a keypad, leading to a train collision with 12 fatalities. We usually try to avoid such major errors, or at least correct them, by monitoring our behaviour. The posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) plays a crucial role for such performance monitoring functions, and damage to the pMFC has been associated with impairments in action selection in a range of neurological disorders. This project aims at investigating the neural basis of performance monitoring and adaptive behavior using electrophysiological and brain imaging techniques. Specifically, the project will utilize behavioural tasks that elicit both errors and subsequent performance adjustments and relate behavioural performance to both electrophysiological (EEG) and neurochemical markers (proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy [MRS]) of brain function. In addition to investigating adaptive behavior in neurologically healthy individuals, the project will also focus upon understanding alterations in brain functions associated with common mental health conditions, for instance schizophrenia, autism spectrum or obsessive-compulsive disorders.