STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF LOCAL INTERNEURONS

局部中间神经元包括哺乳动物脑中的大部分神经元， 但对它们形成的局部回路的细胞分析 由于神经元数量多，体积小， 无法接近 局部回路神经元将在更简单和更复杂的环境中进行研究。 更容易接近的蝗虫Schistocerca的神经系统。 在这里， 尖峰和非尖峰局部中间神经元协同作用， 感觉信息和控制运动活动。 第一个目标是 发现尖峰局部interneurons如何招募运动神经元在局部 触觉回避反射 目标是：A）调查人口 在后肢运动神经元上形成突触的局部中间神经元 腿 B）为了确定尖峰局部中间神经元如何收敛以生成 单个运动神经元的感受野。 （一）如何确定 中间神经元分叉以在局部反射中募集运动神经元群。 第二个目标是发现非尖峰局部中间神经元发挥什么作用 触觉回避反射。 目标是：A）表征 非尖峰局部中间神经元的触觉反应。 B）确定如何 nonspiking本地interneurons有助于触觉感受野 运动神经元 C）确定非尖峰信号的感受野 中间神经元由尖峰局部中间神经元的输入产生。 实验将在最小解剖的动物上进行，以便 单个神经元的活动可以与定义的感觉和运动有关。 功能协调发展的 实验将依赖于成熟的技术， 细胞神经生理学和神经解剖学。 细胞内微电极 记录将成对地从局部中间神经元和突触后神经元进行。 腿部运动神经元 中间神经元的感受野 映射，然后在细胞内染色的中间神经元，使他们的 形态学可以与它们的生理学相关。 长期目标 是为了发现不同的功能， 中间神经元在局部回路中的作用，并将这些与它们的 形态学和细胞生理学。 最终，这可能会提供一个 本地电路内的两种不同信令模式的基本原理， 并为理解两人的独特贡献提供了坚实的基础 interneuronal类型使神经元整合。

Local interneurons comprise the majority of neurons in the mammalian brain, but the cellular analysis of the local circuits they form is unavoidably limited by the large numbers of neurons, their small size,and their inaccessibility. Local circuit neurons will be studied in the simpler and more accessible nervous system of the grasshopper Schistocerca. Here, spiking and nonspiking local interneurons act in concert to integrate sensory information and control motor activity. The first aim is to discover how spiking local interneurons recruit motor neurons in local tactile avoidance reflexes. The goals are: A) To survey the populations of spiking local interneurons that synapse on motor neurons of the hind legs. B) To determine how spiking local interneurons converge to generate the receptive fields of individual motor neurons. C) To determine how the interneurons diverge to recruit groups of motor neurons in local reflexes. The second aim is to discover what part nonspiking local interneurons play in tactile avoidance reflexes. The goals are: A) To characterize the tactile responses of nonspiking local interneurons. B) To determine how nonspiking local interneurons contribute to the tactile receptive fields of motor neurons. C) To determine how the receptive fields of nonspiking interneurons arise from the inputs of spiking local interneurons. Experiments will be performed on minimally dissected animals, so that the activity of individual neurons can be related to defined sensory and motor functions. Experiments will rely on well-established techniques of cellular neurophysiology and neuroanatomy. Intracellular microelectrode recordings will be made in pairs from local interneurons and postsynaptic leg motor neurons. The receptive fields of the interneurons will be mapped, then the interneurons stained intracellularly, so that their morphology can be related to their physiology. The long term objectives are to discover the different functions that spiking and nonspiking interneurons have in local circuits, and to relate these to their morphology and cellular physiology. Ultimately, this may provide a rationale for the two different modes of signaling within local circuits, and give a firm basis for understanding the unique contributions the two interneuronal types make to neuronal integration.