Cortical processing of visual information during alert and non-alert brain states

警觉和非警觉大脑状态下视觉信息的皮层处理

• 批准号: 7526068
• 负责人: HARVEY A SWADLOW
• 金额: $ 38.02万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-08-01 至 2011-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7526068
• 关键词: Accidents; Address; Anesthesia procedures; Animals; Behavior; Behavior Disorders; Behavioral; Biological Models; Brain; Clinical Research; Cognitive; Computer Simulation; Computer information processing; Contrast Sensitivity; Data; Development; Disease; Disruption; Dorsal; Equilibrium; Eye; Fire - disasters; Frequencies; Future; Health; Human; Interneurons; Lateral Geniculate Body; Lead; Life; Measures; Membrane; Membrane Potentials; Mental Health; Methods; Modeling; Nature; Neurons; Oryctolagus cuniculus; Output; Pathway interactions; Perception; Performance; Play; Population; Positioning Attribute; Process; Property; Psyche structure; Public Health; Range; Recurrence; Research; Sensory Process; Sleep; Source; Staging; Stimulus; Synapses; System; Testing; Thalamic structure; V1 neuron; Vision; Visual; Visual Cortex; Visual Perception; Work; alertness; awake; base; corticogeniculate; density; excitatory neuron; feeding; inhibitory neuron; langanite; orientation selectivity; research study; response; vigilance; visual information; visual process; visual processing

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed work aims to understand early cortical mechanisms of vision in alert and in non-alert subjects. Thanks to the development of behavioral methods for the control of eye position, great advances have been made in understanding central mechanisms of visual perception of alert, attentive subjects. However, there is little understanding of cortical processes that come into play when alertness wanes. The awake, non-alert state is not equivalent to anesthesia, or to sleep states. When non-alert, we are capable of perception, but our perceptual capacities differ. It is commonly believed that "accidents happen" when we are not alert, but the extent to which early thalamic or visual cortical mechanisms may be responsible for this (as opposed to higher cognitive processes) is an open question. This proposal relies on a unique model system that is very well-suited to address this question: the awake, non-behaving rabbit, an animal who's "inner mental life" transparently shifts between alert and non-alert states, and who's stable eyes and diffident nature make it an ideal subject for these experiments. The proposed research will examine how changes in the brain state of awake subjects, and the dramatic changes in response gain that are associated with them, influence the multiple, sequential stages of information processing that occur within the visual thalamocortical and intracortical network. We will examine visual response properties, examine mechanisms, and develop a biologically realistic model of how excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the input layer of the cortex (layer 4) respond to state-changes, and will examine how state-modified visual information is conveyed by output pathways of visual cortex to subsequent processing stations. This work will lead to a better understanding of cortical mechanisms of visual processing in a dynamic, awake brain. From a health perspective, these studies will have an important impact on our understanding of how alertness/vigilance deficits can impact visual perception and performance, and will provide the basis for future clinical studies of human mental health and behavioral disorders. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE The current work will have an important impact on our understanding of how alertness/vigilance deficits can impact visual perception and performance. A disruption in response gain within thalamocortical systems has been associated with mental diseases that involve changes in sensory processing and the level of vigilance. This proposal will reveal the mechanisms that modulate response gain within the visual thalamocortical system and, by doing so, it will provide the basis for future clinical studies of human mental health and behavioral disorders.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究旨在了解警觉和非警觉受试者的早期视觉皮层机制。由于控制眼睛位置的行为方法的发展，在理解警觉、注意力集中的受试者的视觉感知的中心机制方面取得了很大进展。然而，对于大脑皮层在警觉性减弱时所起的作用却知之甚少。清醒、非警觉状态不等同于麻醉，也不等同于睡眠状态。当我们不警觉时，我们能够感知，但我们的感知能力不同。人们普遍认为，当我们不警觉时，“事故就会发生”，但早期丘脑或视觉皮层机制在多大程度上可能对此负责（与高级认知过程相反），这是一个未决的问题。这个提议依赖于一个独特的模型系统，它非常适合解决这个问题：清醒的，不行为的兔子，一种“内在精神生活”在警觉和非警觉状态之间透明地转换的动物，它稳定的眼睛和羞怯的天性使它成为这些实验的理想对象。拟议的研究将检验清醒受试者大脑状态的变化，以及与之相关的反应增益的巨大变化，如何影响在视觉丘脑皮质和皮质内网络中发生的信息处理的多个顺序阶段。我们将检查视觉反应特性，检查机制，并开发一个生物现实模型，说明皮层输入层（第4层）的兴奋性和抑制性神经元如何响应状态变化，并将检查状态修改的视觉信息如何通过视觉皮层的输出通路传递到后续处理站。这项工作将有助于更好地理解动态的、清醒的大脑中视觉处理的皮层机制。从健康的角度来看，这些研究将对我们理解警觉性/警觉性缺陷如何影响视觉感知和表现产生重要影响，并将为未来人类心理健康和行为障碍的临床研究提供基础。当前的工作将对我们对警觉性/警觉性缺陷如何影响视觉感知和表现的理解产生重要影响。丘脑皮质系统中反应增益的中断与涉及感觉处理和警觉性水平变化的精神疾病有关。这一建议将揭示在视觉丘脑皮质系统中调节反应增益的机制，并通过这样做，将为未来人类心理健康和行为障碍的临床研究提供基础。