Neuronal basis of reward-biased visual perception

项目摘要：这个独立之路奖授予丁龙博士的目标是 扩展候选人在视觉感知决策领域的专业知识，并建立一个新颖的 视觉知觉受奖赏诱导内因影响的实验模型 偏好。实现第一个目标将补充候选人之前在基底节的培训 与学习和奖赏的神经表征有关的生理学。实现第二个目标将 为应聘者提供一个发展独立研究事业的起点，走向长期 目的是为了更好地了解基底神经节在知觉奖赏调节中的作用。 这些目标将分两个阶段实现。在为期2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，以识别神经 基底节和额叶皮质基于证据的外部知觉决策的相关性，使用 执行视觉运动辨别任务的猴子的单单位记录(目标1)。这次培训 环境是独一无二的，因为Gold博士在视觉感知决策方面的专业知识， 立即获得训练有素的猴子和宾夕法尼亚大学可用的智力资源，这是 以对视觉和感知的研究而闻名。在接下来的3年阶段，候选人是无党派人士 研究将确定整合奖励诱导的内部偏好的决策的神经关联 以及基底节和额叶皮质的外部证据(目标2)。这项研究将基于单一的- 猴子在执行一种新的视觉运动辨别任务时的单位记录 奖赏偏向。这项拟议的研究旨在检验一个中心假设，即神经 外部证据和奖励诱导的内部偏好的表征是共同本地化的 整合在基底节和额叶皮质的单个神经元中。它代表着一种创新的合并 并将促进我们对潜在的神经机制的理解 正常的视觉感知。 与公共健康的相关性：拟议的研究代表了视觉的一个重要研究领域 并将促进未来识别神经靶点，以便更好地治疗 知觉障碍。

Project summary: 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.