Cortical Multisensory Circuits: Role of Local Inhibition on Multisensory Processing and Behavior

皮质多感觉回路：局部抑制对多感觉处理和行为的作用

• 批准号: 435819-2013
• 负责人: Allman, Brian
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=596769
• 关键词: Cortical; Multisensory; Circuits; Role; Local

In providing us with a more complete sensory experience, our brains naturally merge information from our different senses (e.g., sight and hearing). In species ranging from mice to humans, there exist functionally-specialized regions of the cortex that are largely populated by neurons capable of processing information from more than one sensory modality (e.g., bimodal neurons). For more than 25 years, a theoretical framework has been championed in the field of multisensory processing which suggests that performance in multisensory behavioral tasks could be derived from the ability of bimodal neurons to show greater response activation to combined-modality stimuli (i.e., multisensory integration). For example, in humans and laboratory animals, it is well established that the reaction time to detect auditory and visual stimuli is fastest when the stimuli are presented together compared to when either stimulus is presented alone. By recording cortical activity in awake-behaving rats, this grant will determine whether this behavioral enhancement is indeed mediated by multisensory integration at the single neuron level. Furthermore, by using a combination of neuropharmacology, electrophysiology and behavioral experiments, the proposed studies will provide the first comprehensive investigation of the effect of local inhibitory neurotransmission on cortical multisensory processing and behavior. Importantly, the graduate students responsible for conducting these integrative studies will acquire advanced experimental skills which are highly marketable in academic and industrial neuroscience research. Ultimately, this grant will improve our understanding of how information processing in multisensory cortical circuits translates into behavioral outcomes. Such knowledge will help with the interpretation of results from an ever-increasing number of functional neuroimaging studies on multisensory processing. Finally, the significance of the proposed studies is not restricted to the field of multisensory processing, as the findings will be relevant to a wide-array of researchers investigating the neuronal basis of sensory processing in general.

为了给我们提供更完整的感官体验，我们的大脑自然地融合了来自不同感官的信息（例如，视觉和听觉）。在从小鼠到人类的各种物种中，皮层存在功能专一的区域，这些区域主要由能够处理来自多种感觉模态（例如，双峰神经元）的信息的神经元组成。在超过25年的时间里，多感觉处理领域一直倡导一个理论框架，该框架表明，多感觉行为任务的表现可能源于双峰神经元对组合模态刺激（即多感觉整合）表现出更大的反应激活的能力。例如，在人类和实验动物中，已经确定的是，当听觉和视觉刺激一起呈现时，检测到听觉和视觉刺激的反应时间比单独呈现任何一种刺激时都要快。通过记录清醒行为大鼠的皮层活动，这项资助将确定这种行为增强是否确实是由单个神经元水平的多感觉整合介导的。此外，通过神经药理学、电生理学和行为实验的结合，本研究将首次全面研究局部抑制性神经传递对皮层多感觉加工和行为的影响。重要的是，负责进行这些综合研究的研究生将获得先进的实验技能，这些技能在学术和工业神经科学研究中非常有市场。最终，这项资助将提高我们对多感觉皮层回路中信息处理如何转化为行为结果的理解。这些知识将有助于解释越来越多的关于多感觉处理的功能性神经成像研究的结果。最后，所提出的研究的意义并不局限于多感觉处理领域，因为这些发现将与广泛的研究人员调查感觉处理的神经元基础有关。