NEURAL CORRELATES OF EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR

边缘系统内神经回路的功能障碍与许多精神疾病的病理生理学有关，如情绪障碍、焦虑症和精神分裂症。事实上，精神疾病的部分特征通常是患者对感官刺激、事件和记忆有异常的情绪或情感反应。这个研究项目的主要目标是研究感官刺激被赋予情感意义以产生情感行为的方式。在边缘系统中，杏仁核似乎在调节对感官刺激的情绪反应方面发挥着重要作用。这项建议的具体目的是研究杏仁核神经反应的视觉刺激，已获得情感意义，通过巴甫洛夫条件反射在猴子进行情绪学习行为范例。此外，在心理生理参数的任务测量期间将获得心理生理记录。通过这种方式，将寻求情绪学习和行为的神经相关性。该提议的第二个具体目标涉及记录下颞下皮层TE区神经元的活动，而猴子执行相同的情绪学习范式。同样，心理生理学记录将与神经生理学记录同时获得。TE区是向杏仁核提供单模态视觉输入的主要来源，杏仁核将项目发送回TE。先前的研究表明，TE参与表征和记忆视觉对象。视觉神经科学的一个基本问题是情感价值在多大程度上与大脑皮层中视觉对象的基本表征密不可分。这些实验将通过确定TE中存在的情感信号的程度来解决这个问题。最终，实验将通过确定TE中存在的情感信号的程度来解决这个问题。最终，在这个项目中采取的方法可能会提供一个机会，通过调查药物干预如何影响警觉猴子的神经反应和情绪行为，以提高对精神病治疗的理解。研究者的长期职业目标是建立一个研究计划，调查情绪和情绪行为的神经基础。斯坦福大学和William Newsome博士的实验室，加上纽约大学Joseph LeDoux博士的共同指导，为候选人发展成为独立研究者提供了丰富的知识环境。参加研讨会，期刊俱乐部，课程，科学报告会，以及与各种教师和学员的非正式讨论将构成强化培训计划的基础

Dysfunction in neural circuits within the limbic system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many psychiatric diseases, such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia. Indeed, psychiatric illness is frequently in part characterized by patients' having abnormal emotional, or affective, responses to sensory stimuli, events, and memories. The primary goal of this research program is to study the manner in which sensory stimuli are endowed with affective significance to produce emotional behavior. Within the limbic system, the amygdala appears to play a prominent role in mediating emotional responses to sensory stimuli. The specific aim of this proposal investigates amygdala neural responses to visual stimuli that have acquired affective significance through Pavlovian conditioning in monkeys performing an emotional learning behavioral paradigm. In addition , psychophysiological recordings will be obtained during task measurements of psychophysiological parameters. In this manner, neural correlates of emotional learning and behavior will be sought. The second specific aim of this proposal involves recording the activity of neurons in area TE of inferotemporal cortex while monkeys perform the same emotional learning paradigm. Again, psychophysiological recordings will be obtained simultaneous to the neurophysiological recordings. Area TE is the primary source of unimodal visual inputs to the amygdala, and the amygdala sends back projects to TE. Previous studies in TE have suggested that it is involved in representing and remembering visual objects. A fundamental question in visual neurosciences to what extent affective value is inextricably linked to the basic representation of visual objects in the cortex. These experiments will address this question by determining the extent of affective signals present in TE. Ultimately, the experiments will address this question by determining the extent of affective signals present in TE. Ultimately, the approach taken in this project may provide the opportunity to improve understanding of psychiatric treatments by investigating how pharmacological interventions influence neural responses and emotional behavior in the alert monkey. The long-term career goal of the investigator is to establish a research program investigating the neural basis of emotions and emotional behavior. Stanford University and the laboratory of Dr. William Newsome, combined with the co-mentorship of Dr. Joseph LeDoux at New York University, provide a rich intellectual environment for the candidate to develop into an independent investigator. Participation in seminar, journal clubs, courses, scientific presentation sessions, and informal discussions with a large variety of faculty and trainees will form the basis of an intensive training program