NEURAL COMPUTATION IN THE RAT HEAD-DIRECTION SYSTEM

大鼠大脑的边缘系统包含被称为头部的神经元- 方向细胞。这些细胞的行为就像一个指南针， 只有当老鼠的头朝向特定的方向时，才能产生电位。 的 这项建议的目的是调查的神经机制， 结合单单位记录的大鼠边缘脑头部定向系统 实验和计算建模。有证据表明大脑边缘系统 结构在学习和记忆中起着重要作用。损坏 边缘系统与衰老，中风， 阿尔茨海默病、韦尼克-科萨科夫综合征和癫痫。虽然 关于边缘系统损伤对认知的影响， 关于特定类型的信息是如何在大脑边缘系统中处理的， 结构.有几个原因可以解释为什么老鼠的头部方向系统 为研究边缘系统信息加工提供了一个良好的模型。 第一、 在几个主要的边缘结构中发现了头向细胞。 第二，头部方向细胞的行为易于测量， 理解，使观察边缘系统中的单个神经元成为可能 在执行可识别的任务时，最后，头部方向的细胞 被认为是受到特定的感官信息的影响，所以他们 为研究边缘系统结构如何整合 从不同的感官形式，以形成复杂的信息， 对周围环境的新描述。

The limbic system of the rat brain contains neurons known as head- direction cells. These cells behave like a compass, firing action potentials only when the rat's head faces in a specific direction. The objective of this proposal is to investigate the neural mechanisms of the limbic head-direction system in rats, by combining single-unit recording experiments and computational modeling. Evidence has shown that limbic structures play an important role in learning and memory. Damage to the limbic system has been associated with the symptoms of aging, stroke, Alzheimers disease, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and epilepsy. Although much is known about the cognitive effects of limbic damage, very little is known about how specific types of information are processed in limbic structures. There are several reasons why the rat head-direction system provides a good model for studying limbic information processing. First, head-direction cells are found in several major limbic structures. Second, the behavior of head direction cells is easy to measure and understand, making it possible to observe individual neurons in limbic areas as they perform an identifiable task. Finally, head-direction cells are known to be influenced by specific sensory information, so they provide a concrete example for studying how limbic structures integrate complex information from different sensory modalities, in order to form new representations of the surrounding environment.