Thalamocortical interactions

项目总结 这项拟议的研究将检验相关假设，即丘脑扮演着迄今被忽视的和 在大脑皮层处理中的关键作用。尤其是许多丘脑核团，它们共同构成了大多数 丘脑体积和以前神秘的功能，我们现在建议关键参与 通过皮质-丘脑-皮质的信息流和皮质区域之间的功能性、动态结合 小路。我们建议使用小鼠的体感系统作为模型来研究这些通路。 体外切片和体内全动物制剂。似乎，在许多情况下，也许在所有情况下， 皮质区域由直接通路和这些跨丘脑通路连接，我们希望了解为什么： 每条路径传递的信息有什么不同？为什么一个人要穿过丘脑 有可能在那里被封杀吗？当两个通路同时存在时，靶区皮质是否存在非线性叠加？ 是活跃的，这是否涉及到区域的动态链接，以辅助各种认知任务，如 注意了吗？为了开始开发这些问题的答案，我们建议探索以下基本电路属性 这些途径有助于更好地了解跨丘脑途径在高级认知功能中的作用。

PROJECT SUMMARY The proposed research will test related hypotheses that thalamus plays a heretofore neglected and critical role in cortical processing. In particular, many thalamic nuclei, that together comprise the majority of thalamic volume and that were previously mysterious in function, we now suggest are critically involved in information flow and functional, dynamic binding between cortical areas via cortico-thalamo-cortical pathways. We propose to study these pathways using the mouse somatosensory system as the model involving both in vitro slice and in vivo whole animal preparations. It appears that, in many and perhaps all cases, cortical areas are connected by both direct and these transthalamic pathways, and we wish to understand why: What is different in the information passed by each pathway? Why does one pass through thalamus with the possibility of being blocked there? Is there nonlinear summation in the target cortical area when both pathways are active, and could this be involved in dynamic linking of areas to subserve various cognitive tasks, such as attention? To begin developing answers to these questions, we propose to probe basic circuit properties of these pathways to better understand the role of the transthalamic pathways in higher cognitive functioning.