Cortical Neural Coding and Dynamics

项目概要：项目2：新皮层区域的神经编码和动力学 工作记忆是一种在头脑中暂时保存多条信息以进行操作的能力， 对几乎所有认知能力都至关重要这一多方面的研究项目旨在全面 在工作记忆和决策任务中，根据以下内容剖析这种能力的神经回路机制： 感官证据的积累。该项目另一个组成部分的灭活实验将确定 参与这些任务的大脑区域及其在这些任务中的特殊作用。该项目的目标是描述 新皮质脑区的神经编码和动力学被发现在行为中起着因果作用。初始 失活结果表明，大部分新皮层参与。因此，该项目将进行广泛的调查， 使用细胞分辨率钙成像和最先进的光学成像技术， 就像显微镜一样这项调查的结果将是一个数据集，在工作记忆领域是前所未有的 和决策，这将大大阐明每个地区的潜在贡献的性质， 计算。同时，将用细胞类型特异性测量新皮层动力学，从 抑制性神经元的群体。初步数据显示，选择特异性序列和线索锁定细胞， 在涉及导航的证据积累任务期间六个脑区的新皮层锥体神经元 但目前还不清楚这些活动是专门针对初步实验，还是 归纳为不同的证据积累行为。为了解决这个问题，研究人员将 在其他证据积累任务期间进行双光子细胞分辨率钙成像，以探索 对物种的依赖性（大鼠与小鼠），行为读出（T-迷宫导航与定向与右/左 舔），或感觉形态（塔，闪光，airpuffs）。细胞内皮层活动的观察 解决方案将一次解决一个或几个区域。最后，该项目将使用宽视场成像荧光 宏观镜，包括一种新型的头戴式版本，用于所有背侧皮层区域的同时成像 在收集证据的过程中这些地图将首次识别出同时获得的 在一个过程中，跨新皮层表面的区域激活的空间和时间结构 啮齿类动物的证据积累任务。基于初步的数据，这项工作，沿着成像 在另一个项目组成部分取得的成果，预计将产生最详细的资料， 迄今为止，在认知任务的执行过程中，在细胞分辨率下，全脑活动。最终，这些 研究结果将与来自项目其他部分的扰动和相互作用数据一起使用， 发展和限制工作记忆神经机制的生物病理学现实模型 和决策的能力。

Project Summary: Project 2, Neural Coding and Dynamics in Neocortical Regions Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information in mind for manipulation, is central to virtually all cognitive abilities. This multi-component research project aims to comprehensively dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of this ability during a working memory and decision task based on accumulation of sensory evidence. Inactivation experiments in another component of the project will identify participating brain areas and their particular roles in such tasks. The goal of this project is to characterize the neural coding and dynamics in the neocortical brain areas found to have a causal role in the behavior. Initial inactivation results suggest that much of neocortex is involved. Thus, the project will produce a broad survey of neocortex using cellular-resolution calcium imaging with the most advanced optical-imaging technology, like the mesoscope. The results of this survey will be a dataset, unprecedented in the field of working memory and decision-making, that will greatly illuminate the nature of each region’s potential contributions and their computations. In parallel, neocortical dynamics will be measured with cell-type specificity, starting with populations of inhibitory neurons. Preliminary data shows choice-specific sequences and cue-locked cells in neocortical pyramidal neurons in six brain regions during an evidence-accumulation task involving navigation in virtual reality, but it is unclear whether these kinds of activity are specific to preliminary experiments or will generalize to diverse evidence-accumulation behaviors. To address this question, researchers will apply two-photon, cellular-resolution calcium imaging during other evidence-accumulation tasks, to explore the dependence on species (rat vs. mouse), behavioral readout (T-maze navigation vs. orienting vs. right/left licking), or sensory modality (towers, light flashes, airpuffs). The survey of neocortical activity at cellular resolution will be done one or a few areas at a time. Finally, the project will use widefield imaging fluorescence macroscopes, including a novel head-mounted version, for simultaneous imaging of all dorsal cortical areas during evidence-accumulation tasks. The maps will identify, for the first time, the simultaneously acquired spatial and temporal structure of region activation across the neocortical surface during an evidence-accumulation task in rodents. Based on the preliminary data, this work, along with the imaging results obtained in another project component, is expected to produce the most detailed information available to date on brain-wide activity, at cellular resolution, during performance of a cognitive task. Ultimately, these results will be used, in conjunction with perturbation and interaction data from other parts of the project, to develop and constrain biophysically realistic models of the neural mechanisms underlying working memory and decision-making across multiple brain areas.