Top-Down Control of Sensorimotor Performance by Prefrontal Cortex

这个项目将研究大脑中被称为前额叶皮层的部分是如何参与控制行为的。前额叶皮层控制行为，就像企业高管控制公司一样。“自上而下”的控制信号从前额皮质传递到大脑下部区域，如运动皮质，以控制动物对外部刺激的反应。这些信号可能会向运动皮层传递有关预期刺激时间的信息，或者可能只是通过向运动皮层发送“开始”信号来控制运动动作的时间。为了研究这个问题，当动物在行为任务中学习对刺激进行计时时，将对前额叶和运动皮层的神经活动进行记录。解剖学方法将用于确定前额叶和运动皮层之间的对话是否通过运动皮层的一个特殊部分发生，称为运动前皮层。智力优势：该项目将是第一个通过同时记录前额叶和大脑皮层运动区域的神经元之间的相互作用来研究这两个区域的项目之一。这个项目的独特之处在于在学习过程中研究这些领域的相互作用。最后，该项目将是第一个解决啮齿动物的运动前皮层是否从前额叶皮层接收信息的项目，从而可能提供第一个证据，证明啮齿动物的皮层区域与包括人类在内的高等动物的运动前皮层相似。更广泛的影响：所有的实验方案和程序将向神经科学界和公众开放。一种新的Linux发行版将被开发出来，其中包含重现这项研究所需的程序。本科生将支持这些努力。耶鲁大学暑期本科生研究奖学金（SURF）项目的学生将参与该项目，并将由在PI实验室工作的研究生指导，他们将获得超出正常研究生研究活动的培训。此外，PI还通过当地的公共图书馆发起了一个针对儿童的神经科学项目，并参与了神经科学协会的神经科学家-教师合作项目。图书馆计划的所有材料以及PI与当地教师的互动将在http://www.spikelab.jbpierce.org上提供。

This project will examine how a part of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex, isinvolved in controlling behavior. The prefrontal cortex controls behavior muchlike a business executive controls a company. "Top-down" control signals aresent from the prefrontal cortex to lower brain areas, such as the motor cortex, tocontrol when animals respond to external stimuli. These signals might conveyinformation to the motor cortex about the expected timing of stimuli or mightsimply control the timing of motor action by sending a "go" signal to the motorcortex. To investigate this issue, recordings of neural activity will be made inthe prefrontal and motor cortices as animals learn to time stimuli in a behavioraltask. Anatomical methods will be used to determine if conversations between theprefrontal and motor cortices occur through a special part of the motor cortex,called the premotor cortex.Intellectual merit: This project will be one of the first to examine interactions betweenneurons in prefrontal and motor areas of the cerebral cortex by recordingin the two areas simultaneously. This project is also unique in that interactionsthese areas are studied during learning. Finally, the project will be the first to resolveif the rodent premotor cortex receives information from the prefrontal cortexand thus might provide the first evidence that rodents have a cortical area that isanalogous to the premotor cortex of higher animals, including human beings.Broader impact: All experimental protocols and procedures will be made availableto the neuroscience community and the general public. A novel Linux distributionwill be developed that contains programs needed to reproduce this research.Undergraduate students will support these efforts. Students in Yale'sSummer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program will take part inthe project and will be supervised by graduate students working in the PI's lab,who will acquire training that goes beyond normal graduate student research activities.In addition, the PI has initiated a neuroscience program for young childrenthrough a local public library and is taking part in the Neuroscientist-TeacherPartner Program of the Society for Neuroscience. All materials from the libraryprogram and the PI's interactions with local teachers will be made available athttp://spikelab.jbpierce.org.