Cortical Neural Coding and Dynamics

项目摘要：项目2，新皮质区域的神经编码和动力学 工作记忆，即在脑海中暂时记住多个信息以进行操作的能力，是 几乎是所有认知能力的核心。这一多组分研究项目旨在全面 在工作记忆和决策任务中剖析这种能力的神经回路机制 感官证据的积累。在该项目的另一个组件中进行的失活实验将确定 参与的大脑区域及其在这类任务中的特殊角色。这个项目的目标是描述 新皮质区域的神经编码和动力学被发现对行为有因果作用。首字母 失活结果表明，大部分新大脑皮层参与其中。因此，该项目将产生一项广泛的调查 使用细胞分辨率钙成像和最先进的光学成像技术对新皮质进行成像， 就像介镜一样。这项调查的结果将是工作记忆领域史无前例的数据集 和决策，这将极大地阐明每个区域潜在贡献的性质和它们的 计算。同时，新皮质动力学将以细胞类型的特异性来测量，从 抑制性神经元的群体。初步数据显示选择特定的序列和线索锁定的单元格 涉及导航的证据积累任务中六个脑区的新皮质锥体神经元 在虚拟现实中，但目前还不清楚这些类型的活动是专门针对初步实验还是将 归纳为不同的证据积累行为。为了解决这个问题，研究人员将应用 在其他证据积累任务中的双光子、细胞分辨率钙成像，以探索 依赖于物种(大鼠与小鼠)、行为读数(T迷宫导航与定向与右/左 舔)，或感觉通道(塔楼，闪光灯，喷雾)。细胞内新皮质活动的研究概况 解决方案将一次完成一个或几个领域。最后，该项目将使用广域成像荧光 显微镜，包括新的头戴式版本，用于同时成像所有背侧皮质区域 在收集证据的任务中。这些地图将首次识别同时获得的 一年中跨新皮质表面区域激活的时空结构 啮齿动物的证据积累任务。根据初步数据，这项工作与成像一起 在另一个项目组成部分取得的成果，预计将提供现有的最详细信息 到目前为止，在认知任务的执行过程中，在细胞分辨率下的全脑活动。最终，这些 结果将与项目其他部分的扰动和相互作用数据一起使用，以 开发和约束工作记忆潜在神经机制的生物物理现实模型 以及跨多个大脑区域的决策。

Project Summary: Project 2, Neural Coding and Dynamics in Neocortical Regions Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information in mind for manipulation, is central to virtually all cognitive abilities. This multi-component research project aims to comprehensively dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of this ability during a working memory and decision task based on accumulation of sensory evidence. Inactivation experiments in another component of the project will identify participating brain areas and their particular roles in such tasks. The goal of this project is to characterize the neural coding and dynamics in the neocortical brain areas found to have a causal role in the behavior. Initial inactivation results suggest that much of neocortex is involved. Thus, the project will produce a broad survey of neocortex using cellular-resolution calcium imaging with the most advanced optical-imaging technology, like the mesoscope. The results of this survey will be a dataset, unprecedented in the field of working memory and decision-making, that will greatly illuminate the nature of each region’s potential contributions and their computations. In parallel, neocortical dynamics will be measured with cell-type specificity, starting with populations of inhibitory neurons. Preliminary data shows choice-specific sequences and cue-locked cells in neocortical pyramidal neurons in six brain regions during an evidence-accumulation task involving navigation in virtual reality, but it is unclear whether these kinds of activity are specific to preliminary experiments or will generalize to diverse evidence-accumulation behaviors. To address this question, researchers will apply two-photon, cellular-resolution calcium imaging during other evidence-accumulation tasks, to explore the dependence on species (rat vs. mouse), behavioral readout (T-maze navigation vs. orienting vs. right/left licking), or sensory modality (towers, light flashes, airpuffs). The survey of neocortical activity at cellular resolution will be done one or a few areas at a time. Finally, the project will use widefield imaging fluorescence macroscopes, including a novel head-mounted version, for simultaneous imaging of all dorsal cortical areas during evidence-accumulation tasks. The maps will identify, for the first time, the simultaneously acquired spatial and temporal structure of region activation across the neocortical surface during an evidence-accumulation task in rodents. Based on the preliminary data, this work, along with the imaging results obtained in another project component, is expected to produce the most detailed information available to date on brain-wide activity, at cellular resolution, during performance of a cognitive task. Ultimately, these results will be used, in conjunction with perturbation and interaction data from other parts of the project, to develop and constrain biophysically realistic models of the neural mechanisms underlying working memory and decision-making across multiple brain areas.