Neural mechanisms mediating inferential reasoning abilities in rats

描述（由申请人提供）：调节大鼠推理能力的神经机制。面对不确定性做出决定的能力已经被证明在老年人中不成比例地下降。因为我们的生活充满了模棱两可的情况，而且对通常介导这种能力的认知过程知之甚少，需要进一步的研究来阐明潜在的机制。目前的研究使用老鼠来深入了解这些心理和神经过程。具体而言，本研究旨在探讨在模糊情境下，先前经验与推理之间的互动关系。此外，它将调查胆碱能调制的作用，特别是受年龄相关的下降，在调解这些决策策略的结构。大鼠将首先使用仪器条件反射进行训练，以解决涉及元素和线索化合物的复杂视觉辨别。在随后的测试中，我们将用一个不透明的盾牌遮挡其中一个视觉提示，同时呈现另一个提示。我们实验室的初步研究表明，老鼠对封面造成的模糊性很敏感，但只有在特定条件下。具体而言，这种敏感性似乎取决于大鼠的先前训练史。建议的实验旨在确定的关键功能，有助于推理推理过程中的模糊情况下的先前经验。将探讨的特征包括：1）通过改变任务的复杂性来成功解决初始辨别所需的认知努力的影响，2）参与初始辨别的解决策略，以及3）颞叶结构（海马）中神经递质乙酰胆碱在介导对遮盖物的敏感性中的作用。这些实验的结果可以帮助开发干预措施，促进在教育和临床中使用这些认知过程。 设置来补救与年龄相关的认知能力下降。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neural mechanisms mediating inferential reasoning abilities in rats. The ability to make decisions in the face of uncertainty has been shown to decline disproportionately in aging adults. Because our lives are replete with ambiguous situations and little is known about the cognitive processes that normally mediate this ability, further research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The present line of research uses rats to gain insight into these psychological and neurological processes. Specifically, the proposed research aims to investigate the interaction between prior experience and inferential reasoning in an ambiguous situation. Additionally, it will investigate the role of cholinergic modulation from the hippocampus-a structure particularly affected by age-related decline-in mediating these decision-making strategies. Rats will first be trained using instrumental conditioning to solve complex visual discriminations involving elements and cue compounds. In subsequent test sessions, we will occlude one of the visual cues with an opaque shield while presenting the other cue. Preliminary research from our lab suggests that rats are sensitive to the ambiguity created by the cover, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, this sensitiviy appears to be dependent on the rat's prior training history. The proposed experiments are designed to determine the critical features of prior experience that contribute to inferential reasoning processes in ambiguous situations. Features that will be explored include the influence of 1) cognitive effort required to successfully solve the initial discrimination by varyig the complexity of the task, 2) solution strategy engaged in the initial discrimination, and 3) the role of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the temporal lobe structure, hippocampus, in mediating sensitivity to the cover. The results of these experiments can aid in the development of interventions facilitating the use of these cognitive processes in both educational and clinical settings to remediate age-related cognitive decline.