NIH Gonzalez-Amoretti Characterizing PopulationDynamics of Prefrontal Cortex which Govern the Modulation of Visual Processing

项目摘要/摘要 前额叶皮质(PFC)被广泛报道通过调制在视觉注意中发挥作用 视觉处理区域的神经元活动，如V4和MT。猴子PFC内的亚区， 如额叶眼区(FEF)和腹侧弓状前区(VPA)，据报道控制空间和 分别对视觉反应进行基于特征的注意调节。然而，蜂窝级电路和 参与视觉加工调制控制的神经计算机制仍不清楚。 以前的工作表明，FEF和VPA中不同亚群之间的相互作用可能有助于 视觉处理信号的调制以及注意力的转移，但这一点仍未得到测试。目的 我的项目的目的是确定支配顶叶的PFC亚区内的神经元动力学。 视觉处理的向下调制。有可能，FEF可以对表示对象信号进行积分 VPA中产生的身份，并将其转换为代表目标刺激的空间位置的信号。 我们计划通过：(1)描述FEF的空间和特征调整特性来解决这一假设 在视觉搜索的背景下，以理解注意信号的整合和转换 实现；(2)建立FEF和VPA之间的时间动力学，揭示神经元的本质 视觉搜索期间两个区域之间的交流；以及(3)确定VPA对 通过可逆性药物失活对视觉加工进行基于特征的注意调节。猴子 受过视觉搜索任务的训练，该任务旨在有条件地参与依赖于 要素或空间信息。利用神经生理学和种群分析，我们将确定神经元 控制完成这些任务所需的计算过程的PFC的关联性。这些发现 将提供对自上而下注意所涉及的电路级机制的描述，这通常是 受到神经心理障碍和神经退行性疾病的影响。因此，该项目旨在为 关于视觉加工的神经元关联的知识，这些关联涉及相关的潜在基础 症状。此外，了解大脑高级区域如何调节视觉处理可能会提供 更多关于知觉是如何在大脑中产生的信息。我在UR的环境培养了这个机会 拓宽我的研究技能，最终促进我努力实现我作为科学工作者的职业目标 领导人推动改善我们对精神疾病的干预方法。密歇根大学的社会环境 提供了很好的外展机会，让我能够实现我作为社区领袖的抱负 为代表不足的个人铺平道路，这些人因其背景而被忽视。

Project Summary/Abstract The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is widely reported to play a role in visual attention, employed through modulation of neuronal activity in visual processing regions, such as V4 and MT. Sub-regions within the PFC of monkeys, such as the frontal eye fields (FEF) and the ventral prearcuate region (VPA), are reported to govern spatial and feature-based attentional modulation of visual responses, respectively. However, the cellular-level circuitry and neurocomputational mechanisms involved in the modulatory control of visual processing remain unclear. Previous work suggests that interactions between diverse sub-populations in both FEF and VPA may facilitate modulation of visual processing signals as well as shifts of attention, but this remains untested. The purpose of my project is to determine the neuronal dynamics within sub-regions in PFC that govern top- down modulation of visual processing. It is possible, that FEF may integrate signals representing object identity which arise in VPA and transforms them to signals representing spatial locations of a target stimulus. We plan on addressing this hypothesis by: (1) characterizing the spatial- and feature-tuning properties of FEF in the context of visual search to understand how integration and transformation of attentional signals may be implemented; (2) establishing the temporal dynamics between FEF and VPA to reveal the nature of neuronal communication between both regions during visual search; and (3) determine the causal role of VPA towards feature-based attentional modulation of visual processing via reversible pharmacologic inactivation. Monkeys are trained on a visual search task designed to conditionally engage attentional processes that are dependent on feature or spatial information. Using neurophysiology and population analyses, we will determine the neuronal correlates of PFC which govern the computational processes needed to accomplish these tasks. These findings will provide a description of the circuit-level mechanisms involved in top-down attention which often times is affected in neuropsychological disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, this project aims to contribute knowledge concerning the neuronal correlates of visual processing that are involved in related underlying symptoms. Additionally, learning about how higher-level brain regions modulate visual processing may provide more information about how perception is conjured in the brain. My environment at UR fosters the opportunity to broaden my research skillset which ultimately facilitates my endeavor towards my career goal as a scientific leader pushing to improve our approach of intervening with mental illnesses. The social environment at UR provides great opportunity for outreach, allowing me to fulfill my aspirations as a community leader looking to pave a way for underrepresented individuals which get overlooked given their backgrounds.