Structure and function of the mouse parafasicular and entopeduncular nuclei

项目摘要 每一只动物都必须时刻考虑它的环境、过去的经验， 现在的目标选择未来的行动。例如，给饥饿的动物提供可能会吃的食物， 尽管如果捕食者在附近或者如果食物出现的环境之前是相关的， 具有不利的输出。动作选择的过程取决于基底膜的正常功能 神经节（BG）。BG的扰动导致许多疾病，包括帕金森氏症、亨廷顿氏症、 妥瑞症，强迫症以及药物成瘾。BG中的活动如何 调解行动选择，并加强与积极结果相关的行动的重复， 仍然未知。从各种物种的工作，表明脚内（EP）和旁束 (PF)核心对这些进程和对行动结果评价和行动的贡献都很重要 选择，分别。在这里，我们建议进行解剖，功能和行为研究， 小鼠了解这些核团的电路，以及它们的活动如何有助于动作选择， 评价我们利用新的工具和行为模式来解决这些未知数， 解剖学研究来指导我们的体内分析。

Project Summary On a moment-by-moment basis each animal must consider its environment, past experience, and present goals to choose future actions. For example, presented with food a hungry animal will likely eat, although not if a predator is near or if the context in which the food appears was previously associated with an adverse output. The process of action selection depends on the proper function of the basal ganglia (BG). Perturbations of BG contribute to many diseases including Parkinson's, Huntington's, Tourette's, and obsessive-compulsive disorders as well as to drug addiction. How activity in the BG mediates action selection and reinforces the repetition of actions associated with positive outcomes is still unknown. Work from a variety of species, indicates that the entopeduncular (EP) and parafascicular (PF) nuclei are important for these processes and contribution to action outcome evaluation and action selection, respectively. Here we propose to carry out anatomical, functional, and behavioral studies in mice to understand the circuitry of these nuclei and how their activity contributes to action selection and evaluation. We make use of new tools and behavioral paradigms to address these unknowns and use anatomical studies to guide our in vivo analyses.