Causal Role of Cortico-Cerebellar Networks in Working Memory

项目摘要/摘要 工作记忆(WM)能够短期维持心理表征，以支持 持续的认知操作，被认为是广泛范围内最佳认知表现的基础 上下文。更好地了解WM的心理和神经机制可以提供 对认知成败的主要决定因素之一的有价值的见解。健壮的身躯 许多文献都试图揭示支持工作记忆的特定大脑结构和机制。到目前为止，这 文献主要集中在一组有限的额顶皮质区域的贡献上。 然而，最近的研究还涉及WM过程中的小脑部分。然而，仍然有 在我们对小脑在WM中所扮演的确切角色的理解上存在很大差距。正如先前的工作所做的 主要使用相关测量技术来论证小脑对WM的贡献，这个问题 关于小脑是否确实是维持西医信息所必需的，这一问题仍然存在 无人接听。这项拟议的研究的目标是研究小脑在西医中的因果作用。 经颅磁刺激(TMS)、功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和 行为的计算建模。在目标1中，参与者将收到TMS以扰乱以下区域的活动 在表演前对小脑、顶叶皮质和额叶皮质感兴趣 这项任务需要精确回忆所呈现的空间位置。然后我们将研究这一点的影响 对从索引WM的不同方面的计算模型派生的参数的干扰，例如 内存的保真度或项目成功编码的概率。在目标2中，我们将把TMS与 FMRI检查小脑和大脑皮层区域对WM储存的神经标志物的因果影响 贯穿整个大脑。具体来说，我们将使用贝叶斯生成模型来解码存储在 内存，以及对该位置进行编码的不确定性。拟议的实验将使 小脑和大脑皮层区域在工作记忆任务绩效中的相对作用的分离，从而提供了一个 对西医的神经基础有更细微的了解。对WM的更完整的描述 系统有可能为旨在治疗广泛临床疾病的治疗方法的发展提供信息 以WM功能障碍为主要症状的情况。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Working memory (WM) enables the short-term maintenance of mental representations in support of ongoing cognitive operations and is thought to underlie optimal cognitive performance across a wide range of contexts. Achieving a better understanding of the psychological and neural mechanisms of WM can provide valuable insight into one of the primary determinants of both cognitive success and failure. A substantial body of literature has sought to reveal the specific brain structures and mechanisms that support WM. To date, this literature has predominantly focused on the contributions of a limited set of fronto-parietal cortical areas. Recent work, however, additionally implicates portions of the cerebellum in WM processes. Yet, there remain substantial gaps in our understanding of the precise role that the cerebellum plays in WM. As prior work has primarily used correlational measurement techniques to argue for cerebellar contributions to WM, the question of whether the cerebellum is actually necessary for the maintenance of information in WM remains unanswered. The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the causal role of the cerebellum in WM using a combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and computational modeling of behavior. In Aim 1, participants will receive TMS to disrupt activity in regions of interest in cerebellum, parietal cortex, and frontal cortex in independent sessions just prior to the performance of a task that requires precise recall of presented spatial locations. We will then examine the effect of this disruption on parameters derived from a computational model that index distinct aspects of WM, such as the fidelity of memory or the probability that an item is successfully encoded. In Aim 2, we will combine TMS with fMRI to examine the causal influence of cerebellar and cortical areas on neural markers of WM storage throughout the brain. Specifically, we will use a Bayesian generative model to decode the location stored in memory, as well as the uncertainty with which that location is encoded. The proposed experiments will enable the dissociation of the relative roles of cerebellar and cortical areas in WM task performance, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of the neural underpinnings of WM. A more complete characterization of the WM system has the potential to inform the development of therapies aimed at treating a broad range of clinical conditions for which WM dysfunction is a primary symptom.