New Title Risky decision-making: revealing the neural mechanisms of behaviour selection that maximize survival

了解动物如何做出关键决定以最大限度地提高生存机会是神经科学的一个主要课题。通过利用新的成像、电生理学和尖端的行为分析技术，现在有可能在中枢神经系统中实际计算这些决定的关键控制电路的水平上检查这个问题。这个项目将使用非常熟悉的无脊椎动物系统——淋巴动物，它的六种主要行为（进食、运动、繁殖、退缩、呼吸、心脏控制）已经被广泛地表征到控制它们的单个已识别神经元的水平。当系统处理有关其内部和外部状态的信息时，这提供了“在线”监视与生存相关的关键决策事件的机会。计划中的工作项目将重点关注动物在面对相互冲突的威胁（如捕食和饥饿）时如何计算反应这一悬而未决的问题。随着饥饿的增加，重新确定寻找食物行为的优先次序必须与其他增加的风险相平衡。这背后的行为和神经机制令人着迷，但完全没有特征。我们现在有初步证据表明，中枢神经系统中的一个小神经元回路代表了“主控制器”——评估影响并计算风险。该项目将测试这样一种观点，即同一回路也连接到控制动物主要行为的网络，从而设定行动选择的优先级。该研究将具有吸引力，挑战性和高度多样性，学生将在定向和高密度多电极记录以及基于机器学习的行为量化方面发展尖端技能。一个关键的目标将是建立基于电压敏感染料的新的光学成像方法，允许远程读取整个大脑的电路。这种专业知识是高度可翻译的，将为博士生在广泛的神经科学研究学科的职业生涯奠定非常好的基础。由一名经验丰富的博士后研究员提供支持，该博士后研究员将获得BBSRC的平行资助，他将与学生一起工作。其他博士后研究人员和实验室的其他博士生也有更广泛的专业知识，他们在各种系统中使用类似的技术，包括脊椎动物。我们完全期望该项目的产出具有开创性和高影响力，与我们最近在相关主题领域的工作一致（Nat comm 2016, 7:11 1793; Sci Adv 2018 eaau9180; Sci Adv 2018 eaat1357; Cell Reports 2020 30:06 -2017; Sci Adv 2023 eadd3403）。

Understanding how animals make critical decisions to maximize their survival chances is a major topic in neuroscience. By exploiting new imaging, electrophysiological and cutting-edge behavioural analysis techniques it is now possible to examine this question at the level of the key control circuits in the CNS that actually compute these decisions.This project will use the remarkably well-understood invertebrate system, Lymnaea, whose six principal behaviours (feeding, locomotion, reproduction, withdrawal, respiration, heart control) have been extensively characterized down to the level of the individual identified neurons that control them. This provides the opportunity to monitor the key survival-linked decision-making events 'online' as the system processes information about both its internal and external state.The planned work program will focus on the open question of how animals compute responses when faced with conflicting threats e.g. predation and starvation. With increased hunger, a reprioritization of behaviours towards food-finding must be balanced against other elevated risks. The behavioural and neural mechanisms that underlie this are fascinating but completely uncharacterized. We now have preliminary evidence to indicate that a small circuit of neurons in the central nervous system represents the 'master-controller' - assessing the impacts and computing the risk. The project will test the idea that the same circuit also connects to the networks that control the animal's principal behaviours and thus acts to set the priorities of action selection.The research will be engaging, challenging and highly varied and the student will develop cutting-edge skills in targeted and high-density multi-electrode recording, and machine-learning based behavioural quantification. A key objective will be to establish new optical imaging methods based on voltage-sensitive dyes allowing remote readout of circuits across the brain. This expertise is highly-translatable and will set the PhD student up extremely well for a career in a broad range of neuroscience research disciplines. Support will be available from an experienced postdoctoral researcher funded on a parallel BBSRC grant who will work alongside the student. There is also wider expertise available from other postdoctoral researchers, and other PhD students in the lab, who use similar techniques in a variety of systems, including vertebrates. We fully expect the outputs from this project to be ground-breaking and high-impact, consistent with our recent work in related topic areas (Nat Commun 2016, 7:11793; Sci Adv 2018 eaau9180; Sci Adv 2018 eaat1357; Cell Reports 2020 30:2006-2017; Sci Adv 2023 eadd3403).