Bussey-Saksida touch screen chambers for monitoring cognitive behaviour in mice

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A substantial number of Canadians are obese and have trouble regulating their food intake. Difficulties in regulating food intake derive from an increased motivation to consume food and a decreased ability to inhibit food intake. My laboratory primarily focuses on dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which encode the learning of cues that predict rewards and increased motivation to obtain food driven by their output in target structures, such as the striatum. The overarching goal of the research program is to delineate neural circuits underlying changes in motivational state and decision-making and determine the neuroadaptations associated with increased food intake in nodes of these circuits. Glutamatergic inputs to the VTA dopaminergic neurons modulate learning of food-related cues. Furthermore, circuits within the cortex and their projections to the striatum may be implicated in deciding whether or not to eat. Using a combination of pharmacology and patch-clamp electrophysiology, we have made significant progress in determining how synaptic strength within nodes of these circuits varies with satiety state signaled by hormones or neuropeptides. We are now at a critical stage of the project where we need to understand how these mechanisms work in a pathophysiological circumstance. Indeed, aberrant motivation for food resulting in increased food intake can lead to alterations in cognitive behaviors including decision-making and impulsivity. This proposal is for funds to purchase a touch screen system to measure cognitive behaviors in mice so that, in combination with optogenetics, we can dissociate the contribution of different circuits underlying the learning of cues that predict rewards, decision making, and impulsivity. After behavioral assessment with the Bussey-Saksida chambers, we can then measure synaptic efficacy at different nodes within these circuits with our existing equipment. Using this strategy, we will be able to measure changes at the synaptic, neural circuit and behavioural level in the same mouse. Training associated with this grant will also provide a unique opportunity for trainees to learn a cutting-edge technology making them highly marketable for careers in academic, biotechnological or industrial research.