Understanding and promoting plasticity within the human visual cortex

理解和促进人类视觉皮层的可塑性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-05394
• 负责人: Thompson, Benjamin
• 金额: $ 4.52万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=691135
• 关键词: Understanding; promoting; plasticity; within; human

One basic difference between children and adults is that children's brains have a much greater propensity for change; i.e. children's brains are more `plastic' than adult brains. Reduced plasticity in the adult brain has direct implications for the learning of new skills and recovery from damage to the brain through trauma, disease or abnormal development. The proposed research will address two key questions: 1) how can plasticity be increased in the healthy adult human brain? and, 2) how and why does human brain plasticity decrease with age? The research will focus on visual brain areas because there is a wealth of neuroscientific data relating to visual cortex development and plasticity in animals that can directly inform research into human brain plasticity.******One potential technique for increasing human brain plasticity is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which allows for safe and painless stimulation of the human brain. It has been found that tDCS can reduce neural inhibition within the stimulated brain area. This is important, as inhibition has recently been shown to block plasticity in the visual cortex of adult animals. The proposed research will explore the effect of tDCS on inhibition in the adult human visual cortex using behavioural measures and advanced brain imaging techniques. Furthermore, the effect of tDCS on a basic measure of visual cortex plasticity called long-term potentiation (LTP) will be investigated. LTP involves the repetitive presentation of a visual stimulus. This triggers cortical plasticity that can be measured as a temporary increase in the electrical response of visual brain areas. Finally, the ability of tDCS to enhance learning of a visual task will be tested in adult participants. ******In a parallel line of research, visual cortex inhibition and plasticity will be measured in children and adults from 5-40 years of age. This study will use LTP and a behavioural measure of inhibition to identify whether the loss of visual cortex plasticity with increasing age is abrupt or gradual and whether it is related to an increase in visual cortex inhibition.******The proposed research will have a significant impact in the field of human neuroscience, as it will provide new insights into the fundamental processes that influence learning and the acquisition of new skills. Furthermore, the research may reveal new ways of increasing the rate and capacity of learning in adulthood. This has clear implications for education and training across the lifespan. In the longer term this information will support the development of rehabilitation strategies for the effects of brain injury and abnormal brain development in older children and adults. The proposed research will provide specialized training to at least nine highly qualified personnel in Canada and will provide a foundation for long-term collaborative research in the area of human visual development and plasticity.**

儿童和成人之间的一个基本区别是儿童的大脑有更大的变化倾向;即儿童的大脑比成人的大脑更具“可塑性”。成年人大脑可塑性的降低对学习新技能和从创伤、疾病或异常发育造成的大脑损伤中恢复有直接影响。这项研究将解决两个关键问题：1）如何增加健康成年人大脑的可塑性？2）人类大脑可塑性如何以及为什么会随着年龄的增长而下降？这项研究将集中在视觉大脑区域，因为有大量与动物视觉皮层发育和可塑性有关的神经科学数据，可以直接为人类大脑可塑性的研究提供信息。增加人类大脑可塑性的一种潜在技术是经颅直流电刺激（tDCS），它允许对人类大脑进行安全和无痛的刺激。已经发现，tDCS可以减少受刺激的脑区域内的神经抑制。这一点很重要，因为最近的研究表明，抑制作用会阻碍成年动物视觉皮层的可塑性。这项拟议的研究将利用行为测量和先进的大脑成像技术，探索tDCS对成年人视觉皮层抑制的影响。此外，tDCS对视觉皮层可塑性的基本测量（称为长时程增强（LTP））的影响将被研究。LTP涉及视觉刺激的重复呈现。这触发了皮质可塑性，可以通过视觉脑区电反应的暂时增加来测量。最后，将在成年参与者中测试tDCS增强视觉任务学习的能力。****** 在平行研究中，将在5-40岁的儿童和成人中测量视觉皮层抑制和可塑性。这项研究将使用LTP和抑制的行为测量来确定随着年龄的增长视觉皮层可塑性的丧失是突然的还是逐渐的，以及它是否与视觉皮层抑制的增加有关。这项研究将对人类神经科学领域产生重大影响，因为它将为影响学习和获得新技能的基本过程提供新的见解。此外，这项研究可能会揭示提高成年人学习速度和能力的新方法。这对整个生命周期的教育和培训具有明显的影响。从长远来看，这些信息将支持制定康复策略，以应对年龄较大的儿童和成人的脑损伤和脑发育异常的影响。拟议的研究将为加拿大至少9名高素质人员提供专业培训，并将为人类视觉发育和可塑性领域的长期合作研究奠定基础。