CRCNS: Network mechanisms of the learning and encoding of timed motor responses

大脑是一个天生的动态系统，它在强大的选择压力下进化，允许动物 与环境实时互动，并预测和准备未来的事件。出于这些原因， 了解神经动力学，以及大脑如何告诉和编码时间，是理解 大脑功能。神经动力学和时序对大脑功能的重要性强调了 允许收集和分析大规模并行的单个神经元记录的技术 动物行为中的多重结构。该项目将结合新颖的电生理学、行为学、 分析和计算方法，以逆向工程的神经电路潜在的学习和时间。 第一个目标是将大规模神经记录与计算方法相结合，以确定如何 时间代表在纹状体和前额叶皮质，这两个相互作用的大脑区域密切相关 与时间处理有关。我们将具体研究时间的编码是否依赖于绝对， 相对的，或刺激特定的编码机制。录音将在清醒的头部固定的小鼠身上进行 在经典的跟踪奖赏条件反射任务中接受训练，其中两个线索预测奖赏的延迟不同 句号。当动物学习到线索-奖赏联系时，它们会进行强有力的预期舔食 在奖赏呈现之前；此外，这种行为的时机取决于提示-奖赏 延迟时间。第二个目标是结合电生理学和光遗传学来确定 纹状体和前额叶皮质的编码会被短暂的网络活动干扰。这个 假设是，如果计时电路的动力学被扰动，那么随后的活动模式将是 不可逆的改变，从而降低了定时行为反应的准确性或精确度。第三个目标是 开发一种基于递归神经网络模型的新计算框架，可以预测 基于“现在”模式的神经集合活动的“未来”模式。这项工作的最终目标是 集成高度创新的电生理和计算方法用于逆向工程脑 回路在纹状体和前额叶皮质数百个神经元的网络水平上起作用。 相关性(请参阅说明)： 学会采取适当时机的行动是行为和颠覆的许多方面的基础 这一过程背后的大脑回路与许多神经和精神障碍有关。这 该项目将开发一种综合的方法来研究定时运动行为的机制，方法是 结合来自多个脑区的大规模神经记录和神经计算模型 网络。

The brain is an inherently dynamic system, it evolved under strong selective pressures to allow animals to interact with the environment in real-time, and predict and prepare for future events. For these reasons, understanding neural dynamics, and how the brain tells and encodes time is fundamental to understanding brain function. The importance of neural dynamics and timing to brain function emphasizes the need for techniques that allow for the collection and analysis of massively parallel single neuron recordings across multiple structures in behaving animals. This project will combine novel electrophysiological, behavioral, analytical and computational methods to reverse engineer the neural circuits underlying learning and timing. The first aim is to combine large-scale neural recordings with computational approaches to determine how time is represented in the striatum and prefrontal cortex, two interacting brain areas that are closely implicated in temporal processing. We will specifically examine whether encoding of time relies on absolute, relative, or stimulus-specific coding mechanisms. Recordings will be carried out in awake, head-fixed mice trained on a classical trace reward conditioning task in which two cues predict reward with a different delay period. When animals learn the cue-reward association, they engage in robust anticipatory licking that precedes the reward presentation; moreover, the timing of this behavior is dependent on the cue-reward delay time. The second aim is to combine electrophysiology and optogenetics to determine if temporal coding in the striatum and prefrontal cortex is perturbed by transiently disrupting network activity. The hypothesis is that if dynamics of the timing circuits are perturbed then the ensuing activity patterns will be irreversibly altered, thus reducing the accuracy or precision of timed behavioral responses. The third aim is to develop a novel computational framework based on recurrent neural networks models that can predict "future" patterns of neural ensemble activity based on "present" patterns. The ultimate goal of this work is to integrate highly innovative electrophysiological and computational methods for reverse engineering brain circuit function at the level of networks of hundreds of neurons in the striatum and prefrontal cortex. RELEVANCE (See instructions): Learning to produce appropriately timed actions is fundamental to many aspects of behavior, and disruption of the brain circuits underlying this process is implicated in many neurological and psychiatric disorders. This project will develop an integrated approach to studying the mechanisms of timed motor behavior by combining large-scale neural recordings from multiple brain areas and computational modeling of neural networks.