Proj 5: Role of Locus Coeruleus in Decision Outcome (p. 261 - 283)

去甲肾上腺素能蓝斑（LC）系统与几种行为功能有关， 特别是对显著感觉事件的反应。最近，我们发现猴LC神经元的相位 在目标检测中，与行为反应有密切的时间关系，并明显先于行为反应被激活 和强迫选择任务。然而，这些反应的功能仍然未知。我们假设 LC系统由将感觉输入与运动输出联系起来的决策过程驱动， LC响应促进了决策所涉及的行为的执行。在这里，我们提出了一套 行为和电生理实验，以描绘LC反应和 决定，检查眶额叶皮层在LC中驱动决策相关反应的作用，以及 为了测试这种LC阶段性激活在促进行为反应中的因果作用， 决定了。总之，这些研究将建立灵长类动物的神经生物学基础， 该中心的其他项目中的心理学，建模和成像研究中调查的过程。

The noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) system has been implicated in several behavioral functions, most notably response to salient sensory events. Recently we found that monkey LC neurons are phasically activated in close temporal relation to, and significantly preceding, behavioral responses in target-detection and forced-choice tasks. However, the function of these responses remains unknown. We hypothesize that the LC system is driven by decision processes that link sensory input to motor output, and that the phasic LC response facilitates the execution of behaviors engaged by the decision. Here we propose a set of behavioral and electrophysiological experiments to delineate the relationship between LC responses and decisions, to examine the role of the orbital frontal cortex in driving decision-related responses in LC, and to test for a causal role of such LC phasic activation in facilitating behavioral responses that have been decided upon. Together, these studies will establish the neurobiological basis in primates for the decision processes investigated in psychological, modeling and imaging studies in other projects of this Center.