Prefrontal contributions to phase-dependent representation of visual information

大脑活动中节律性振荡的功能长期以来一直是两者的主题 推测和研究。最近的证据支持的理论比同步， 大脑区域之间的振荡有助于调节它们之间的连接强度; 在认知功能期间，已经报道了区域之间耦合的这种变化， 注意力和工作记忆。信息也可以被编码在神经元动作的定时中 实际上，这种“相位编码”有时可以代表 与仅在发射率中可获得的信息不同。这些实验将决定 相位编码是否用于在工作记忆和眼睛期间表示视觉信息 运动，并测试前额叶和视觉皮层之间的相互作用，在调制的作用， 这个相位编码。前额叶信号在调节视皮层相位编码中的作用将 使用前额叶和视觉区之间同步的相关测量进行测试 以及对前额活动的药理学操控。 药理学激活将用于测试视觉皮层中的某些活动模式是否 足以控制感官信号进入工作记忆最后，阶段的能力 在眼球运动的时间周围多路复用信息的代码，从而消除来源的歧义 感官信号的传递和视觉系统信息容量的扩大， 考察理解相位编码对视觉表示的贡献，沿着 前额叶和视觉皮层之间的相互作用在调节这种表征中的作用， 将为涉及受损前额叶的神经系统疾病提供必要的比较点- 感觉的相互作用，如精神分裂症，阿尔茨海默氏病，注意力缺陷多动症， 和自闭症谱系障碍。

The function of rhythmic oscillations in brain activity has long been a subject of both speculation and research. Recent evidence supports theories than synchronization of such oscillations between brain areas can contribute to modulating the strength of their connectivity; such changes in coupling between areas have been reported during cognitive functions including attention and working memory. Information can also be encoded in the timing of neuron’s action potentials relative to these oscillations; indeed, such ‘phase coding’ can sometimes represent different information than is available in the firing rate alone. These experiments will determine whether phase coding is used to represent visual information during working memory and eye movements, and test the role of interactions between prefrontal and visual cortex in modulating this phase coding. The role of prefrontal signals in modulating phase coding in visual cortex will be tested using both correlative measures of synchronization between prefrontal and visual areas during memory maintenance, and pharmacological manipulation of prefrontal activity. Pharmacological activation will be used to test whether certain patterns of activity in visual cortex are sufficient to gate entry of a sensory signal into working memory. Lastly, the ability of a phase code to multiplex information around the time of eye movements, thus disambiguating the source of sensory signals and expanding the information capacity of the visual system will be directly examined. Understanding the contribution of phase coding to the visual representation, along with the role of interactions between prefrontal and visual cortex in modulating such representations, will provide a necessary comparison point for neurological disorders involving impaired prefrontal- sensory interactions, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorders.