Spatial Organization Of A Neural Network For Serial-Order Behavior

大脑如何创造有序的行为序列？行为的顺序问题渗透到人类语言、演奏乐器的能力或任何数量的其他活动中，在这些活动中，只有当几个行为手势以特定的顺序链接在一起时，人类或动物的意图才能有效地传达出来。目前还不清楚大脑是如何完成这项任务的。一种方法是使用一个动物模型(鸣禽，斑马雀)，在这个模型中，负责歌曲音节序列排序的大脑区域已经确定(被称为HVC，首字母缩写是专有名称)。这个项目将研究一种假设，即歌曲音节的序列顺序映射到几个空间排列的HVC神经元链上。这一假说是基于初步数据，这些数据表明，在歌唱过程中，HVC神经活动在很大程度上局限于单一的空间轴。实验将描绘HVC神经元连接的空间组织和电生理特性。然后，基于HVC神经元特性的计算模型将被用来发现产生有序、连续的神经活动模式的网络配置。模型将通过表现鸟类行为的电路断路实验进行验证。结果将让我们第一次看到动物大脑用来创建行为秩序和序列的网络架构，这反过来将提供一个计算平台，以了解学习新行为序列的过程如何利用或塑造这种架构。该研究计划协调来自三个不同学术系(心理学、数学和统计学)的教职员工研究团队的活动，为研究生和本科生提供接触本国院系以外教职员工研究人员的专业知识的途径。计算软件工具以及该项目的数据将在http://www.math.fsu.edu/~bertram/software/birdsong/和http://www.songbirdscience.com.上向公众提供

How does the brain create orderly sequences of behavior? The problem of serial order in behavior permeates human language, the ability to play a musical instrument, or any number of other activities where human or animal intent can only be effectively communicated if several behavioral gestures are chained together in a specific sequence. How the brain accomplishes this task is currently unknown. One approach is to use an animal model (a songbird, the zebra finch) in which the brain region responsible for the serial ordering of song syllables has been identified (called "HVC", the acronym is the proper name). This project will investigate the hypothesis that the serial ordering of song syllables is mapped across several spatially-arranged chains of HVC neurons. This hypothesis is based on preliminary data indicating that HVC neural activity is largely confined to a single spatial axis during singing. Experiments will delineate the spatial organization of connections and electrophysiological properties of HVC neurons. Computational models based on the properties of HVC neurons will then be used to discover network configurations that produce orderly, sequential patterns of neural activity. Models will be validated with circuit-breaking experiments in behaving birds. Results will provide a first look at a network architecture used by an animal brain to create order and sequence in behavior, which in turn will provide a computational platform to understand how the process of learning new behavioral sequences utilizes or shapes such architectures. The research plan coordinates the activity of a faculty research team from three different academic departments (Psychology, Mathematics and Statistics), providing graduate and undergraduate students with access to the expertise of faculty researchers outside their home departments. Computational software tools as well as data from this project will be made available to the public at http://www.math.fsu.edu/~bertram/software/birdsong/ and at http://www.songbirdscience.com.