How neural signals are integrated over time

项目总结/摘要： 当我们在一个新的环境中航行时，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，我们的大脑随着时间的推移整合了我们对距离的估计， 在走，在哪个方向。我建议研究大脑如何随着时间的推移整合感官信息， 形成工作空间记忆。这个问题与人类健康有关，因为空间障碍 工作记忆是神经和精神疾病的标志，如阿尔茨海默病， 精神分裂症对空间认知机制的更详细的理解最终应该 从而为这些疾病提供更合理的治疗方法。我将研究果蝇中枢神经系统的整合 复杂，一种新兴的空间导航模型，与哺乳动物有着显著的相似之处。 导航系统基于最近的研究，神经信号可以跟踪方向， 我将分析中央复杂细胞的过程，可能整合这些信号 变成了苍蝇在太空中位置的工作记忆该项目的长期目标是建立一个蜂窝- 以及对神经信号如何随着时间的推移而整合以形成工作记忆的电路级理解。 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.