Variation as a Neural Code

神经反应是嘈杂的。然而，行为是非常准确和精确的。这是如何实现的呢？神经反应的变化仅仅是需要减少的噪音吗？或者它是用来控制行为和学习的重要信号？这七个项目是为Conte神经科学研究中心（CCNR）申请的，将探讨如何利用神经变异来驱动行为，确定噪音在连续体中的位置，从对大脑功能的损害，中性的，还是有益的。一组神经元对给定刺激或动作的反应被称为“中枢表征”，它们存在于整个大脑中，用于处理复杂的感官刺激，或计划和执行复杂的动作。大脑皮层具有特别可变的神经编码，但已广泛涉及指导正常的表现和学习的感觉和行动。这个CCNR的长期目标是理解变异在皮层和基底神经节相关区域中作为神经密码组成部分的作用。一个相关的长期目标是了解异常变异如何导致适应失败，行为的精确性和准确性降低，并最终导致神经行为和神经精神疾病的症状。这七个项目有三个中心范围内的具体目标。首先，他们将描述特定神经编码和行为的变异，并将变异分为与行为相关的成分和由不相关的或“残余”变异组成的成分。其次，他们会问神经调节的自然模式，如注意和奖励，或化学调节系统，是否会改变神经变异，从而改变行为。第三，他们将研究神经变异的变化与行为学习之间的关系，寻找因果关系。这七个项目将对六种不同的行为提出这些问题：平滑的眼球运动、伸展的手臂运动、鸟鸣、空间行为、听觉处理和语音分类。他们将使用包括啮齿动物、鸣禽、非人类灵长类动物和人类在内的物种。CCNR的最终目标将是理解神经变异和正常行为之间的关系，从而创造出用于治疗和治愈神经行为障碍的行为和化学疗法。

Neural responses are noisy. Yet behavior is remarkably accurate and precise. How is this accomplished? Is variation in neural responses simply noise that needs to be reduced? Or is it an important signal that is used to control behavior and learning? The seven projects in this application for a Conte Center for Neuroscience Research (CCNR) will ask how neural variation is used to drive behavior, determining where noise falls on the continuum from being a detriment for brain function, neutral, or an asset. The responses of a group of neurons for a given stimulus or action is called a "central representation", and these exist throughout the brain for processing complex sensory stimuli, or planning and executing complex movements. The cerebral cortex has particularly variable neural codes, yet has been widely implicated in guiding normal performance and learning for both sensation and action. This CCNR has the long-term goal of understanding the role of variation as a component of the neural code in the cortex and related areas of the basal ganglia. A related long-term goal is to understand how abnormal variation contributes to failures of adaptation, reductions in the precision and accuracy of behavior, and ultimately to the symptoms of neuro-behavioral and neuro- psychiatric disorders. The seven projects have three center-wide specific aims. First, they will characterize the variation in specific neural codes and behaviors and divide the variation into the component that is related to behavior and one that comprises unrelated, or "residual", variation. Second, they will ask whether natural modes of neural modulation such as attention and reward, or chemical modulatory systems, alter neural variation, and thereby behavior. Third, they will investigate the relationship between changes in neural variation and behavioral learning, seeking cause-and-effect relationships. The seven projects will ask these questions on six different behaviors: smooth pursuit eye movements, reaching arm movements, bird song, spatial behavior, auditory processing, and categorization of speech sounds. They will use species including rodents, songbirds, non-human primates, and humans. The ultimate goal of the CCNR will be to understand the relationship between neural variation and normal behavior to enable creation of behavioral and chemical therapies for treating and curing neuro-behavioral disorders.