Comparison of Frontal Cortex and Striatum during Visual Categorization

描述（由申请人提供）：正常认知取决于前额叶皮层（RFC）和基底神经节（BG）之间的相互作用。在包括精神分裂症、帕金森病、亨廷顿病和多动症在内的许多神经精神障碍中观察到的认知障碍与其功能障碍有关。因此，了解PFC和BG之间的各自贡献和合作对于开辟治疗这些疾病的途径至关重要。然而，我们对这些区域的正常功能知之甚少，因为它们的神经活动在很大程度上是分开研究的，由不同的实验室在不同的猴子身上执行不同的任务。这项提议的目的是通过记录同时植入每个区域的多个电极来促进我们的理解，同时猴子执行一项认知要求很高的任务，该任务将测试基底神经节负责获取和执行简单关联的假设，而PFC将这些信息片段化为整个任务结构的更高级别表示。本项目将通过将调查扩展到一种新型的目标导向行为来验证这一假设。以前的研究使用的规则具有很强的运动成分;相比之下，我将使用分类学习。它是认知的基础，可以与运动反应分离。对猴子的神经生理学研究和对人类的功能磁共振成像研究表明，PFC和BG都参与了分类，但它们从未被直接比较。本提案的目的1是直接比较PFC与BG中的视觉类别信息。这将使我们能够比较神经类别信息的普遍性，强度和延迟，并检查大脑区域内部和之间的精确时序关系，从而深入了解它们各自的角色以及信息如何在它们之间传递。先前的研究还表明，熟悉的，高阶的，电机相关的规则，甚至更强烈的代表，并有一个较短的潜伏期在运动前皮层（PMC）比PFC。因此，PMC可能会发挥作用，以巩固有关的信息经常使用的任务。但我们不知道这是否仅限于有运动成分的规则;非运动规则，如视觉类别，从未在PMC中进行过研究。这是第二个目标的目标，直接比较前运动皮层、前额叶皮层和BG中的视觉类别信息。通过直接比较这三种结构中的神经活动，我希望能够深入了解它们在基本认知功能-分类中的作用。通过了解这些大脑区域的正常功能以及它们在认知中的各自作用，我们可以更好地了解如何为涉及这些区域的患者提供治疗。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Normal cognition depends on interactions between the prefrontal cortex (RFC) and basal ganglia (BG). The cognitive impairments observed in a host of neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and ADHD have been linked to their dysfunction. Thus, understanding the respective contributions and collaborations between the PFC and BG will be critical to opening paths to treatment of these disorders. However, we understand little about the normal functioning of these areas because their neural activity has largely been studied separately, by different laboratories in different monkeys performing different tasks. The aim of this proposal is to advance our understanding by recording from multiple electrodes simultaneously implanted in each region while monkeys perform a cognitively demanding task that will test the hypothesis that the basal ganglia is responsible for the acquisition and implementation of simple associations while the PFC pieces such information into a higher-level representation of the entire task structure. This project will test this hypothesis by extending investigations to a novel type of goal-directed behavior. Previous studies have employed rules with a strong motor component; in contrast, I will use categorical learning. It is fundamental to cognition and can be dissociated from motor responses. Neurophysiological studies in monkeys and fMRI studies in humans indicate involvement of both the PFC and BG in categorization, but they have never been directly compared. Aim 1 of this proposal is to directly compare visual category information in PFC versus BG. This will allow us to compare the prevalence, strength, and latency of neural category information and to examine precise timing relationships within and between brain areas that can provide insight into their respective roles and how information is transferred between them. Prior studies also indicate that familiar, higher-order, motor-related rules are even more strongly represented and have a shorter latency in the premotor cortex (PMC) than the PFC. Thus, the PMC may function to consolidate information pertaining to frequently utilized tasks. But we do not know if this is only limited to rules with a motor component; non-motor rules such as visual categories have never been examined in the PMC. This is the goal of the second aim, to directly compare visual category information in premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and the BG. By directly comparing neural activity in these three structures, I hope to provide insight into their roles in a fundamental cognitive function - categorization. By understanding the normal functioning of these brain regions and their respective roles in cognition, we may better understand how to approach treatments for patients whose afflictions involve them.