Synaptic integration and plasticity in the rat piriform cortex

大鼠梨状皮层的突触整合和可塑性

• 批准号: nhmrc : 224240
• 负责人: Prof John Bekkers
• 金额: $ 16.7万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2003-01-01 至 2005-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/synaptic-integration-plasticity-piriform-cortex/97852
• 关键词: Synaptic; integration; plasticity; rat; piriform

The human cerebral cortex is the pinnacle of evolution. It is the most complex structure known, responsible for all of those skills - like language and reasoning - that make our species so remarkable. It is also a major site of many brain diseases, like schizophrenia and epilepsy. An understanding of how the cerebral cortex works would be a remarkable achievement, of immeasurable benefit to human health. How can one go about studying such a complex structure? The strategy taken in this project is to begin by studying one of the simplest regions of the cerebral cortex, the olfactory (or piriform) cortex. The olfactory cortex is an evolutionarily ancient region of cortex, with a simpler architecture than other cortical regions. Its task is to process the sense of smell, a primitive sense that is more elaborated in lower animals than in humans. The broad goal of our research is to understand, by studying the olfactory cortex of rats, how olfactory processing occurs at the level of nerve cells (neurons). We will use a number of powerful techniques - including microelectrode recording and laser microscopy - to measure the electrical properties of individual neurons. We will also study the synaptic connections between neurons, and how these connections change following memory-inducing stimuli. It is hoped that this work will shed light on how the healthy cortex is able to process and store information, and how brain diseases cause these functions to deteriorate.

人类大脑皮层是进化的顶峰。它是已知的最复杂的结构，负责所有这些技能——如语言和推理——使我们的物种如此非凡。它也是许多脑部疾病的主要发源地，如精神分裂症和癫痫症。了解大脑皮层如何工作将是一项了不起的成就，对人类健康有着不可估量的好处。如何研究如此复杂的结构呢？该项目采取的策略是从研究大脑皮层最简单的区域之一——嗅觉（或梨状）皮层开始。嗅觉皮层是一个进化上古老的皮层区域，其结构比其他皮层区域更简单。它的任务是处理嗅觉，这是一种在低等动物中比在人类中更为复杂的原始感觉。我们研究的总体目标是通过研究大鼠的嗅觉皮层来了解嗅觉处理是如何在神经细胞（神经元）水平上发生的。我们将使用许多强大的技术 - 包括微电极记录和激光显微镜 - 来测量单个神经元的电特性。我们还将研究神经元之间的突触连接，以及这些连接在记忆诱导刺激后如何变化。希望这项工作能够揭示健康的皮层如何处理和存储信息，以及大脑疾病如何导致这些功能恶化。