COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF CEREBELLAR MOTOR LEARNING

描述(摘自申请者摘要)：长期目标 拟议的研究是通过使用生物细节计算机进行的 模拟，以阐明小脑机制的运动学习 足够的细节以允许对关键功能进行计算机仿真 这种大脑结构的特性。因为有证据表明人类 小脑也调节某些认知功能，这样的信息可能 有助于识别认知的神经基础及其功能障碍 在精神疾病方面。拟议研究的具体目标是使用 模拟以确定由 小脑调节具有良好特征的运动学习形式。一个 许多因素使这种方法特别有效：1)行为 这些形式的运动学习的特性被广泛地描述； 2)小脑的突触组织和生理(连接 图)是众所周知的；以及，3)简单形式的马达 学习参与小脑允许的输入和输出属性 相对直接地对小脑进行研究和建模。有了这些 优点，可以使用生物学上详细的计算机模拟 来解决关于小脑机制的具体假设 产生目标行为。通过以下方式成功解释目标行为 这些模拟代表了对基础的理解程度 机制既是定量的，也是详细的。相比之下，识别 模拟的局限性应该会带来更清晰的想法，新的 理论，并应指向对进一步进展至关重要的实验。 具体的目标将检验一系列关于 前人提出的小脑运动学习机制 实证研究和模拟研究。这些假说阐述了 小脑可以学习、保留和忘记动作，以及 获得了适当的运动时间。因为突触解剖学 在运动区和非运动区小脑的分布是一致的， 识别与运动学习有关的小脑信息处理 还将为涉及的信息处理提供入门知识 认知，这可能会导致对病理学的更好理解 潜在的精神疾病。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): The long-term objective of the proposed studies is, through the use of biologically detailed computer simulations, to elucidate the cerebellar mechanisms of motor learning with sufficient detail to permit computer emulation of the key functional properties of this brain structure. Since evidence indicates that the human cerebellum also mediates certain cognitive functions, such information may be useful in identifying the neural basis of cognition and its malfunction in mental illness. The specific goal of the proposed studies is to use simulations to identify the information processing mechanisms employed by the cerebellum to mediate well-characterized forms of motor learning. A number of factors make this approach especially powerful: 1) the behavioral properties of these forms of motor learning are extensively characterized; 2) the synaptic organization and physiology of the cerebellum (the wiring diagram) is well known; and, 3) the way in which the simple forms of motor learning engage the cerebellum permit the input and output properties of the cerebellum to be studied, and modeled, relatively directly. With these advantages, it is possible to use biologically detailed computer simulations to address specific hypotheses regarding the cerebellar mechanisms that produce the target behaviors. Successful accounts for target behaviors by the simulations represent a level of understanding of the underlying mechanisms that is both quantitative and detailed. In contrast, identifying the limitations of the simulations should lead to crisper ideas, new theories, and should point to the experiments critical for further progress. The specific aims will test a series of detailed hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of cerebellar motor learning that are suggested by previous empirical and simulations studies. These hypotheses address how the cerebellum can learn, retain, and unlearn movements, as well as how the appropriate timing of the movements is obtained. Since the synaptic anatomy of the cerebellum is uniform across both motor and non-motor areas, identifying the cerebellar information processing involved in motor learning will also provide inroads into the information processing involved in cognition, which may lead to a better understanding of the pathologies underlying mental illness.