Temporal Integration of Learned Behavior

描述（申请人提供）：本项目探讨大鼠时间整合的联想机制。本研究的目的是验证一个假设，即复杂的时间表征可以通过整合具有共同元素的简单关联来构建。一项测试将复制和扩展先前的条件抑制实验，这些实验支持巴甫洛夫条件反射的时间编码假设（例如，Barnet等人，1997年；Matzel等人，1988年），利用食欲条件反射，可以直接测量间隔时间。条件抑制程序不允许直接评估被试行为中的间隔时间，因此只能为时间整合提供间接证据。利用食欲程序，我们可以确定在单独的A- >B和B- >食物配对后，CS A是否会在计算的A-食物间隔内唤起杂志输入。第二个测试将开发一个程序来评估时间整合效应的稳态行为使用改进的巴甫洛夫条件抑制程序。一个稳定状态的过程将有助于未来的研究，计划调查有助于时间信息整合的神经机制。这项工作将进一步推进和巩固时间编码假说的整合规则，为探索大脑机制在基于高阶时间表征的时间映射和推理行为中的作用奠定必要的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project explores the associative mechanisms of temporal integration in rats. The goal of the proposed research is to test the hypothesis that complex temporal representations can be built through the integration of simple associations that share a common element. One test will replicate and extend previous conditioned-suppression experiments supporting the temporal coding hypothesis of Pavlovian conditioning (e.g., Barnet et al., 1997; Matzel et al., 1988) procedures utilizing appetitive conditioning which allows direct measures of interval timing. The conditioned-suppression procedure does not allow the direct assessment of interval timing in the subject's behavior, and thus can only provide indirect evidence for temporal integration. Using the appetitive procedure we may determine whether CS A will evoke magazine entry at the computed A-food interval after separate A-->B and B-->food pairings. A second test will develop a procedure to assess temporal-integration effects in steady-state behavior using a modified Pavlovian conditioned inhibition procedure. A steady-state procedure will be useful for future studies that plan to investigate the neural mechanisms that contribute to the integration of temporal information. This work will advance and more firmly establish the integration rules of the temporal coding hypothesis as a necessary preparatory step toward exploring the role of brain mechanisms in temporal mapping and inferential behavior based on higher-order temporal representations.