UDEL Subproject 3

对环境变化做出适应性行为改变对生存至关重要，因此很可能是由分布式神经回路网络内的复杂相互作用介导的。与行为灵活性有关的一个大脑区域是内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）。这个区域的损伤会导致执行功能、计划和工作记忆的障碍，这些都是行为灵活性的重要组成部分。记录研究表明，单个mPFC神经元在需要在时间间隔内保留信息的任务（例如延迟匹配/不匹配样本）的延迟期间显示出升高的放电率，这表明mPFC神经元参与了工作记忆。其他研究表明，前额叶皮层活动在响应执行之前显示出预期的放电率增加，表明其在规划即将采取的行动中的作用。目前的建议的目标是解离mPFC参与工作记忆从其他功能的影响，比较mPFC病变和放电模式的mPFC单神经元之间的两个类似的任务：一个需要工作记忆，一个不。此外，这些任务的逆转将揭示mPFC在行为灵活性中的作用。最后，我们将研究海马和mPFC之间的相互作用，通过失活海马，同时记录mPFC单个神经元在任务获取，性能和逆转。这些结果将有助于更好地理解mPFC在适应行为中的作用，无论是单独的还是与海马体的结合。

Making adaptive changes in behavior in response to environmental change is essential to survival and therefore is likely to be mediated by complex interactions within a network of distributed neural circuits. One brain region that has been implicated in behavioral flexibility is the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Damage to this region causes impairments in executive function, planning, and working memory, which are all important components of behavioral flexibility. Recording studies have shown that single mPFC neurons show elevated firing rates during the delay period of tasks that require the retention of information over a temporal gap, such as delayed-match/nonmatch-to-sample, suggesting that mPFC neurons are involved in working memory. Other studies have shown that mPFC activity shows anticipatory increases in firing rate prior to the execution of a response, suggesting its role in planning imminent actions. The goal ofthe current proposal is to dissociate mPFC involvement in working memory from other functions by comparing the effects of mPFC lesions and the firing patterns of mPFC single neurons between two similar tasks: one that requires working memory and one that does not. Additionally, reversal of these tasks will reveal the role of the mPFC in behavioral flexibility. Finally, we will investigate the interaction between the hippocampus and mPFC by inactivating the hippocampus and concurrently recording mPFC single neurons during task acquisition, performance and reversal. The results will aid in developing a better understanding ofthe role of the mPFC in adaptive behavior, both alone and in conjunction with the hippocampus.