How neural signals are integrated over time

项目摘要/摘要： 当我们在一个新环境中导航时，我们对自己所处的位置有一种内在的理解 环境。为了建立这种内在的空间感，随着时间的推移，我们的大脑整合了我们对我们距离的估计 都在往哪个方向走。我建议研究大脑是如何随着时间的推移整合感觉信息的 形成工作空间记忆。这个问题关系到人类的健康，因为空间障碍 工作记忆是神经和精神疾病的特征，如阿尔茨海默氏症和 精神分裂症。对空间认知机制的更详细的理解最终应该 导致对这些疾病进行更合理的治疗。我将研究果蝇中枢的神经整合 复杂，一种新兴的空间导航模式，与哺乳动物有显著的相似之处 导航系统。建立在最近的研究基础上，这些研究已经表征了追踪方向和 苍蝇飞行的速度，我将分析中央复杂细胞，以寻找可能整合此类信号的过程 变成苍蝇在太空中位置的工作记忆。这个项目的长期目标是建立一个蜂窝- 以及电路级对神经信号如何随时间整合以形成工作记忆的理解 空间变量。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: When we navigate a new environment, we have an internal understanding of where we are located in that environment. To build this internal sense of space, our brains integrate over time our estimate of how far we are walking and in which direction. I propose to study how brains integrate sensory information over time to form a working spatial memory. This question is pertinent to human health because impairments of spatial working memory are hallmarks of neurological and psychiatric disorders, like Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. A more detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatial cognition should ultimately lead to more rational treatments for these conditions. I will study neural integration in the Drosophila central complex, an emerging model for spatial navigation that has notable similarities with the mammalian navigational system. Building on recent work that has characterized neural signals that track the direction and speed in which a fly travels, I will analyze central complex cells for processes that might integrate such signals into a working memory of a fly's position in space. The long-term objective of this project is to build a cellular- and circuit-level understanding of how neural signals are integrated over time to form working memories of spatial variables.