Visual Target Selection for Saccadic Eye Movements

项目摘要 认知神经科学中一个主要的、也是非常重要的问题是： 做出的决定？最近的电生理证据从大脑皮质区认为发挥关键作用 在知觉决策（LIP）中的作用表明，LIP区神经元的活动并不反映一个渐进的 为作出决定而收集证据。此外，LIP区的可逆失活不产生 决策表现的变化，质疑其在视觉感知决策中的因果作用- 制作。这些意想不到的结果打开了其他感觉运动区域在大脑中发挥关键作用的可能性。 神经元处理导致知觉决定。我们的目标是扩大这些最近的发现和我们的 在以前的奖励周期取得的成就，以测试假设，基底神经节（BG）和 上级丘（SC）在视觉决策中起着关键作用。我们有两个具体目标：1） 确定上级丘（SC）在知觉决策中的作用，2）确定 抑制从基底神经节的一个输出核，黑质网状部（黑质），SC在 知觉决策我们建议使用最先进的多神经元记录技术， 当受试者执行视觉感知决策任务时，测量SC和黑质中的群体活动。 我们将采用分析方法对行为数据进行建模，并使用 群体神经元数据。我们还将采用尖端的分子遗传学方法来操纵神经元 活动，以确定这些大脑区域在感知决策中的因果作用。

PROJECT SUMMARY A major open - and very important - question in cognitive neuroscience is: how and where in the brain are decisions made? Recent electrophysiological evidence from a cerebral cortical area thought to play a key role in perceptual decision-making (LIP) suggests that the activity of neurons in area LIP do not reflect a gradual accumulation of evidence toward a decision. Furthermore, reversible inactivation of area LIP produces no change in decision-making performance, calling into question its causal role in visual perceptual decision- making. These unexpected results open the possibility that other sensorimotor areas play a critical role in the neuronal processing leading to perceptual decisions. Our goal is to expand on these recent findings and on our accomplishments made during previous award cycles to test the hypothesis that the basal ganglia (BG) and the superior colliculus (SC) play key roles in visual perceptual decision-making. We have two specific aims: 1) Determine the role of the superior colliculus (SC) in perceptual decision-making and, 2) determine the role of the inhibition from one output nucleus of the basal ganglia, the substantia nigra pars reticulata (nigra), to the SC in perceptual decision-making. We propose to use state of the art multiple neuron recording technologies to measure population activity in the SC and in the nigra while subjects perform visual perceptual decision tasks. We will employ analytical methods to model the behavioral data and make predictions about behavior using the population neuronal data. We will also employ cutting edge molecular genetic methods to manipulate neuronal activity to determine the causal role of these brain areas in perceptual decision-making.