Project 3 - Salk Institute for Biological Studies NINDS Center Core Grant

神经科学中心行为核心将建立一个集中的资源， 对动物行为的分析。该核心资源的目标将是提供统一的行为 采用适合索尔克研究需要的各种行为平台的啮齿动物分析 研究所神经科学中心的教职员工，并为解释结果提供专业知识。 行为研究是现代神经科学研究的重要组成部分。例如，要小心 对大鼠在放射状水迷宫中行为变化的分析表明，学习新任务的能力 随着年龄的增长而减少。这些变化最终被发现反映在细胞水平上，特别是在 海马齿状回，衰老与脑海马内轴突数量的减少有关 内侧穿支路径，以及突触接触颗粒细胞的密度。随后，这 长期而言，海马区输入的减少伴随着突触可塑性的降低 在老年动物中，增强具有较高的阈值和较短的持续时间，并且存在年龄依赖性 NMDA受体介导的反应减少--所有发现都源于初步分析 动物的行为。

The Neuroscience Center Behavior Core will establish a centralized resource for the analysis of animal behavior. The objectives of this core resource will be to provide uniform behavioral analysis of rodents employing a variety of behavioral platforms appropriate for the research needs of Salk Institute Neuroscience Center faculty and to provide expertise for the interpretation of results. Behavioral studies are an important component of modern neuroscience research. For example, careful analysis of changes in rat behavior in the radial water maze showed that the ability to learn new tasks decreases with age. These changes were eventually found to be reflected at the cellular level, in particular, in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus where aging is associated with a reduction in the number of axons in the medial perforant path, as well as the density of synaptic contacts impinging on granule cells. Subsequently this reduction in the input to the hippocampus was found accompanied by a decrease in synaptic plasticity, longterm potentiation has a higher threshold and lasts for a shorter time in aged animals, and there is an agedependent decrease in NMDA receptor-mediated responses - all discoveries stemming from the initial analysis of animal behavior.