Circuit mechanisms of auditory categorization

描述(申请人提供)：我们研究的长期目标是了解听觉系统中的神经回路是如何支持声音处理的。了解这一回路可能会对临床上重要的中枢神经病理疾病的诊断和治疗产生影响，包括自闭症、精神分裂症、耳鸣、抽动症和强迫症。这一提议的中心目标是了解下游区域如何利用听觉皮质的输出来影响行为。在目标1中，我们使用电生理学方法来研究声音分类任务中听觉皮质和目标区域的反应。在目标2中，我们使用光遗传学方法来检验这样的假设，即在任务过程中，听觉皮质中输出神经元的活动是调节行为的原因。最后，在目标3中，我们测试了这样一个假设，即学习执行听觉分类会修改其听觉皮质中的神经元与其下游目标之间的联系。这些研究将深入了解听觉皮质如何引导行为，并为进一步研究这些神经元在正常听觉功能和疾病中的作用提供基础，促进精神和神经疾病治疗的发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of our investigations is to understand how neural circuits in the auditory system underlie the processing of sound. Understanding this circuitry is likely to have an impact on the diagnosis and treatment of clinically important central neuropathologies, including autism, schizophrenia, tinnitus, Tourette's syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder. The central goal of this proposal is to understand how the output of the auditory cortex is used by downstream areas to effect behavior. In Aim 1 we use electrophysiological methods to study responses in the auditory cortex and target areas during a sound categorization task. In Aim 2 we use optogenetic methods to test the hypotheses that the activity of output neurons in the auditory cortex is causal in mediating behavior during the task. Finally in Aim 3, we test the hypothesis that learning to perform an auditory categorization modifies connections between neurons in their auditory cortex and their downstream targets. These studies will provide insight into how auditory cortex guides behavior, and provide a foundation for further study of role of these neurons in normal auditory function and disease, facilitating the development of treatments for psychiatric and neurological diseases.