Temporal Integration of Learned Behavior

描述(申请人提供)：本项目探索大鼠时间整合的关联机制。这项研究的目的是检验这样一个假设，即复杂的时间表征可以通过整合共享共同元素的简单关联来构建。一个测试将复制和扩展支持巴甫洛夫条件反射的时间编码假说的先前的条件性抑制实验(例如，Barnet等人，1997；Matzel等人，1988)利用允许直接测量间隔时间的食欲条件反射。条件性抑制程序不允许对受试者行为中的间隔时间进行直接评估，因此只能为时间整合提供间接证据。使用食欲程序，我们可以确定在分开的A-->B；和B-->B；食物配对之后，CS A是否会在计算的A-食物间隔唤起料盒条目。第二个测试将开发一种程序，使用改进的巴甫洛夫条件抑制程序来评估稳态行为中的时间整合效应。一个稳定的程序将有助于未来的研究，计划研究有助于整合时间信息的神经机制。这项工作将推进并更牢固地建立时间编码假说的整合规则，作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的必要准备步骤。

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.