Distinct contributions of converging neural pathways to auditory learning

项目概要/摘要 对感官刺激的有效解释依赖于区分刺激特征的能力 并根据过去的经验将它们与适当的行为反应联系起来。仍有许多工作 然而，关于不同的神经通路在表征和学习中所起的作用， 这些关联，特别是信息如何在不同的组织中分布和组合， 学习和执行行为的途径。作为实现长期目标的一步， 了解神经系统如何灵活地将感官刺激与动作联系起来，这项研究将集中在 听觉决策研究的贡献，多个听觉通路的目标， 纹状体是基底神经节的主要输入阶段，也是运动调节的关键结构 行为具体来说，该项目将集中在信息流从听觉丘脑 以及听觉皮层的初级和非初级区域到纹状体的后尾。 中心假设是，各种听觉皮层和丘脑通路的纹状体， 在学习和执行声音驱动的决策过程中发挥独特的作用。这项工作将包括 发展多听觉通路中声音表征和学习的理论模型 集中在纹状体，以及进行实验的小鼠训练，以执行声学 识别任务，以测试和完善这些模型。这些实验将利用 新技术的可逆操纵特定的神经通路，同时监测大 神经元的数量在行为过程中。该项目有三个目标。第一 目的是确定听觉皮质-纹状体和丘脑-纹状体通路发挥作用的条件， 在执行声音动作关联任务过程中的不同角色。第二个目标是确定 听觉皮层与丘脑通路在这些任务的学习过程中的作用。第三 目的是识别由不同的听觉皮层场传递的自然声音的声学特征， 纹状体总之，这些研究将揭示收敛神经网络所扮演的计算角色。 获取和执行学习行为的途径。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Effective interpretation of sensory stimuli relies on the ability to discriminate stimulus features and link them to appropriate behavioral responses depending on past experience. Much remains unknown, however, about the roles that different neural pathways play in representing and learning these associations, and in particular, how information is distributed and combined among different pathways during learning and execution of behavior. As a step toward addressing the long-term goal of understanding how the nervous system flexibly links sensory stimuli to actions, this research will focus on auditory decision making to study the contributions of the multiple auditory pathways that target the striatum, the main input stage of the basal ganglia and a key structure in the regulation of motor behavior. Specifically, the project will focus on the flow of information from the auditory thalamus as well as primary and non-primary areas of the auditory cortex to the posterior tail of the striatum. The central hypothesis is that the various auditory cortical and thalamic pathways to the striatum all play distinct roles during learning and execution of sound-driven decisions. This work will consist of developing theoretical models of sound representation and learning in the multiple auditory pathways converging on the striatum, as well as carrying out experiments in mice trained to perform acoustic discrimination tasks in order to test and refine these models. These experiments will take advantage of novel techniques for reversible manipulation of specific neural pathways while monitoring large numbers of neurons simultaneously during behavior. The project is organized in three aims. The first aim is to determine the conditions in which auditory cortico-striatal and thalamo-striatal pathways play distinct roles during performance of sound-action association tasks. The second aim is to determine the roles of auditory cortical vs. thalamic pathways to the striatum during learning of these tasks. The third aim is to identify the acoustic features of natural sounds conveyed by distinct auditory cortical fields to the striatum. Together, these studies will reveal the computational roles played by converging neural pathways in acquiring and executing learned behaviors.