An investigation of rest-stimulus interactions in mesoscale cortical networks

传统上对大脑功能的研究主要集中在单纯的任务诱发反应上。然而，我们知道，即使在没有主动行为或感官刺激的情况下，大脑也处于一种深度持续活动的状态。本提案的中心目标是研究静息状态或自发的大脑活动如何积极地促进我们如何处理感官信息，并在感知和行为的背景下理解这些过程的长期目标。了解这些休息-刺激的相互作用对于确定我们如何在“真实世界”条件下处理感觉信息是至关重要的，而这些信息并没有在理想的、信号平均的实验室环境中得到反映。这个研究项目采用了先进的神经成像方法，利用光来监测大脑。重要的是，这种方法允许对小鼠大脑几乎整个表面进行功能成像，从而使我们能够捕获与静息状态和感觉处理相关的大规模大脑网络的电活动。这对于理解休息-刺激的相互作用是至关重要的，因为我们现在知道大脑在不同的活动模块中运作，这些活动模块分布在大脑的各个区域。已知这些分布式模块积极调节感觉处理。因此，为了真正理解休息-刺激的相互作用，我们必须能够监测这种活动的分布式组织。我将研究与触觉、视觉和听觉相关的感觉激活的大规模功能组织和活动，以及持续的自发大脑活动。通过选择性地操纵自发的大脑活动，我将确定这种活动如何改变我们处理感官信息的方式。最后，我将研究这种关系的反向是如何成立的。也就是说，感官刺激可以改变自发的大脑活动，影响我们的大脑如何适应不断变化的感官环境。本研究项目通过连接微观电生理研究和全球大脑网络变化的开创性工作，解决了我们对休息-刺激相互作用理解的重大空白。这项研究计划将提供对休息-刺激相互作用的更深入的理解，以及它们在塑造我们对感官信息的感知以及我们如何适应不断变化的感官环境中的作用。

Traditionally investigations into brain function have focused on purely task-evoked responses. However, we know the brain exists in a state of profound constant activity even in the absence of active behaviours or sensory stimulation. The central goal of this proposal is to investigate how resting-state or spontaneous brain activity actively contributes to how we process sensory information with the longer-term goals of understanding these processes in the context of perception and behaviour. Understanding these rest-stimulus interactions are essential for determining how we process sensory information in `real world' conditions that are not reflected in idealized, signal averaged laboratory environments. This research program employs leading-edge neuroimaging approaches using light to monitor brain. Importantly, this approach allows for functional imaging of nearly the entire surface of the brain in mice and thus allows us to capture the electrical activity of large-scale brain networks related resting-states and sensory processing. This is essential for understanding rest-stimulus interactions as we now know that the brain operates in distinct modules of activity that are distributed across brain regions. These distributed modules are known to actively regulate sensory processing. Thus, in order to truly understand rest-stimulus interactions we must be able to monitor the distributed organization of this activity. I will examine the large-scale functional organization and activity of sensory activation related to touch, vision, and audition with ongoing spontaneous brain activity. By selectively manipulating spontaneous brain activity, I will determine how this activity changes how we process sensory information. Lastly, I will investigate how the reverse of this relationship is also true. That is, sensory stimulation can modify spontaneous brain activity with implications on how our brains adapt to optimize to our changing sensory environment. This research program addresses a significant gap in our understanding of rest-stimulus interactions by bridging pioneering work from microscopic electrophysiological studies and global brain network changes. This research proposal will provide a deeper understanding of rest-stimulus interactions and their role in shaping our perception of sensory information and how we adapt to our changing sensory environment.