Neuronal basis of reward-biased visual perception

描述(申请人提供)：本次授予丁龙博士的独立之路奖旨在扩大候选人在视觉感知决策领域的专业知识，并建立一个新的实验模型来填补视觉感知如何受到奖励诱导的内部偏好影响的知识空白。实现第一个目标将补充候选人之前在与学习和奖赏的神经表征相关的基底节生理学方面的培训。实现第二个目标将为候选人发展独立的研究生涯提供一个起点，朝着更好地了解知觉奖赏调节中的基础神经节功能的长期目标迈进。这些目标将分两个阶段实现。在为期两年的指导阶段，候选人将在宾夕法尼亚大学约书亚·戈尔德博士的实验室进行监督研究，利用执行视觉运动辨别任务的猴子的单个单位录音，识别基于证据的外部知觉决策与基底神经节和额叶皮质的神经关联(目标1)。这种培训环境特别适合，因为戈尔德博士在视觉感知决策方面的专业知识，训练有素的猴子的即时可获得性，以及以视觉和感知研究而闻名的宾夕法尼亚大学的智力资源。在接下来的三年阶段，候选人的独立研究将确定决策的神经关联，整合奖励诱导的内部偏好和基底神经节和额叶皮质的外部证据(目标2)。本研究将以单个单位为研究对象 记录猴子执行一种新的视觉运动辨别任务，该任务也包含奖赏偏见。这项拟议的研究旨在检验这一中心假设，即外部证据的神经表征和奖励诱导的内部偏好是共同定位的，并整合到基底节和额叶皮质的单个神经元中。它代表了现有研究路线的创新融合，并将促进我们对正常视觉感知背后的神经机制的理解。与公众健康相关：拟议的研究代表了视觉感知的一个重要研究领域，并将促进未来确定神经靶点，以便更好地治疗知觉障碍患者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objectives of this Pathway to Independence Award for Long Ding, Ph.D., are to expand the candidate's expertise in the field of visual perceptual decision-making and to establish a novel experimental model to fill the knowledge gap on how visual perception is affected by reward-induced internal preferences. Achieving the first objective will complement the candidate's previous training in basal ganglia physiology related to learning and neural representation of reward. Achieving the second objective will provide a launching point for the candidate to develop an independent research career, toward a long-term goal of gaining a better understanding of the basal ganglia functions in reward modulation of perception. These objectives will be accomplished in two phases. In the 2-year mentored phase, the candidate will conduct supervised research in Dr. Joshua Gold's lab at the University of Pennsylvania to identify neural correlates of external evidence-based perceptual decisions in the basal ganglia and frontal cortex, using single-unit recordings in monkeys performing a visual motion discrimination task (Aim 1). This training environment is uniquely suitable because of Dr. Gold's expertise in visual perceptual decision-making, the immediate availability of well-trained monkeys and the intellectual resources available at Penn, which is renowned for its research on vision and perception. In the next 3-year phase, the candidate's independent research will identify neural correlates of decision-making that integrates reward-induced internal preference and external evidence in the basal ganglia and frontal cortex (Aim 2). This research will be based on single unit recordings in monkeys performing a novel visual motion discrimination task that also incorporates reward bias. The proposed research is designed to test the central hypothesis that the neural representations of external evidence and reward-induced internal preference are co-localized and incorporated in individual neurons in the basal ganglia and frontal cortex. It represents an innovative merging of established lines of research and will advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying normal visual perception. Relevance to public health: The proposed research represents an important research area of visual perception and will facilitate future identification of neural targets for better treatment of patients with perceptual impairment.