FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEM

这项拟议的研究涉及三个长期目标。研究将会 包括提供明显技术优势的新世界猫头鹰猴子，以及 东半球猕猴，它们与人类的亲缘关系更近。1)一名少校 目标是更好地了解 灵长类动物的体感和运动系统。我们想知道这些 系统被划分为核心、区域和模块，以及它们是如何 各分区相互连接，形成加工网络。计划中的 研究将结合电生理微电极标测 程序、组织化学构筑方法和多种示踪剂 同样的猴子中的连接跟踪协议。一项重大努力将是 确定和比较建议细分的连接 外侧沟的躯体感觉皮质、后顶叶皮质和 运动前皮质。2)灵长类动物成体可塑性的相关研究 确定部分剥夺对感觉表征的影响 由于皮质损伤、神经损伤或脊髓损伤。我们 将试图确定神经元生长和 神经递质在可塑性中的分子标记调控 神经元重建，轴突-乔木和生长的示踪物，以及 与神经元活动和可塑性有关的分子；3)其他 研究将检查胎儿和出生后早期剥夺的影响 以及对躯体感觉系统后续发育的损害 为了了解猴子发育可塑性的潜力 以及复杂感官系统的重组。三种类型的研究 将提供a)详细和全面的感应器模型 适用于人类的处理：b)对机制的理解 在躯体感觉系统中的成人可塑性可以指导程序 对人类的治疗，以及c)对 发育可塑性，可指导医学治疗和指导 患有产前缺陷和出生后早期损伤的人类。

The proposed research addresses three long term goals. Studies will include New World owl monkeys, which offer clear technical advantages, and Old World macaques, which are more closely related to humans. 1) A major goal is to develop a better understanding of the organization of the somatosensory and motor systems in primates. We want to know how these systems are divided into nuclei, areas, and modules, and how these subdivisions are interconnected to form processing networks. Planned studies will combine electrophysiological microelectrode mapping procedures, histochemical architectonic methods, and multiple tracers in connection-tracing protocols in the same monkeys. A major effort will be to determine and compare connections of proposed subdivisions of somatosensory cortex of the lateral sulcus, posterior parietal cortex, and premotor cortex. 2) Related studies of adult plasticity in primates will determine the effects on sensory representations of partial deprivations as a result of cortical lesions, nerve damage, or spinal cord lesions. We will attempt to determine the contribution of neuronal growth and neurotransmitter regulation in plasticity by using molecular markers of neuron restructuring, tracers of axon-arbors and growth, and markers of molecules associated with neuronal activity and plasticity; 3) Other studies will examine the effects of fetal and early postnatal deprivation and damage on subsequent development of the somatosensory system in monkeys in order to understand the potential for developmental plasticity and reorganization in complex sensory systems. The three types of studies will provide a) a detailed and comprehensive model of sensorimotor processing that applies to humans: b) an understanding of the mechanisms of adult plasticity in the somatosensory system that can guide programs of therapy in humans, and c) an understanding of the extent and limits of developmental plasticity that can guide medical treatment and guidance of humans with prenatal defective and early postnatal injury.