The role of cortical D1R-expressing neurons in taste-based sensorimotor transformations

项目总结 为了生存，动物必须使用味觉刺激来通知和引导以奖励为导向的行为，如 又舔又嚼。以前研究这一过程的工作，即所谓的感觉运动整合，已经确定 以前外侧运动皮质(ALM)为模型脑区研究感觉运动相关加工 在舔。该区域内的神经活动反映了舔、暗示的感觉信息和运动计划 ALM在调节基于感觉的舔决策中的作用。然而，目前尚不清楚ALM是否参与了味觉指导 感觉运动集成-尽管舔和味道总是联系在一起-以及这个过程是否在- 传递多巴胺能神经回路。研究发现，在ALM内阻断D1R信号会影响两种感觉- 刺激引导舔舔的诱发反应和运动规划，提示ALM神经元的潜在作用 在舔相关感觉运动转化中表达D1R(D1R神经元)。然而，中国的贡献 D1R神经元在味觉引导的感觉运动整合中的作用仍未被研究。这项提议将考验中央银行 假设D1R神经元在味觉感觉运动转换过程中是必需的，并显示出 代表味觉加工和舔舔选择准备的活动。拟议中的实验将依赖于 最近建立的4味2选一(2-AC)任务，小鼠必须从四个中选择一个 品尝(即，两种糖：蔗糖，麦芽糖和两种苦味：奎宁和蔗糖八醋酸酯) 吐出并将具有相反感知特性的配对与特定动作(即蔗糖或奎宁→舔)联系在一起 左VS麦芽糖和蔗糖八醋酸酯→在延迟时间后舔右)。研究D1R神经元的作用 在这一行为中，我将利用尖端技术的组合，包括细胞类型的特定光学- 磁操纵和双光子钙成像。据我所知，这些将是最初的一些实验 研究味觉感觉运动处理和表达D1Rs的神经元之间的联系。

PROJECT SUMMARY To survive, animals must use gustatory sensory stimuli to inform and guide reward-oriented actions like licking and chewing. Previous work examining this process, known as sensorimotor integration, has established the anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM) as a model brain region to study sensorimotor processing related to licking. Neural activity within this region reflects sensory information and motor planning of licking, implicating ALM in mediating sensory-based lick decisions. However, it remains unknown if ALM is involved in taste-guided sensorimotor integration – despite licking and taste being invariably connected – and whether this process in- volves dopaminergic circuits. Blockade of D1R signaling within ALM has been found to affect both sensory- evoked responses and motor planning of stimuli-guided licking, suggesting a potential role for ALM neurons expressing D1Rs (D1R+ neurons) in lick-related sensorimotor transformations. However, the contributions of D1R+ neurons in taste-guided sensorimotor integration remains unstudied. This proposal will test the central hypothesis that D1R+ neurons are required during gustatory sensorimotor transformation and exhibit patterns of activity representing gustatory processing and preparation of lick choice. The proposed experiments will rely on a recently established 4-taste, 2-alternative choice (2-AC) task in which mice must sample one out of four tastants (i.e., two sweets: sucrose, maltose and two bitters: quinine and sucrose octaacetate) from a central spout and associate pairs with opposite perceptual qualities with specific actions (i.e., sucrose or quinine → lick left vs maltose and sucrose octaacetate → lick right) after a delay period. To study the role of D1R+ neurons during this behavior, I will utilize a combination of cutting-edge techniques that include cell-type specific optoge- netic manipulation and 2-photon calcium imaging. To my knowledge, these will be some of the first experiments examining the link between gustatory sensorimotor processing and neurons expressing D1Rs.