Timing and Sequence learning

描述(申请人提供)：尽管时间顺序对大脑功能具有基本意义，但人们对产生和学习序列的能力所依据的电路机制知之甚少。在鸣禽运动前通路中，有关学习发声产生的信息被编码在一个名为HVC的高阶核团内的时空活动模式中。在目前的提议中，体内细胞内记录将被用来更好地了解在HVC内产生精确定时活动序列所涉及的机制。这些实验将解决突触抑制和传入输入在产生刻板印象的神经元编码中的作用。此外，将考虑HVC内顺序活动的个体发生，以解决学习的发声被编码的方式。目前的建议与人类的语音学习直接相关，因为鸣禽不同于大多数动物，如非人类灵长类动物，能够学习发声。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite the fundamental significance of temporal order on brain function, little is known about the circuit mechanisms that underlie the ability to generate and learn sequences. In the songbird premotor pathway, information concerning the production of learned vocalizations is encoded in the spatiotemporal activity patterns within a higher-order nucleus, named HVC. In the present proposal, in vivo intracellular recordings will be used to better understand the mechanisms involved in generating precisely timed sequences of activity within HVC. These experiments will address the role of synaptic inhibition and afferent inputs in generating stereotyped neuronal codes. Furthermore, the ontogeny of sequential activity within HVC will be considered in order to address the means by which learned vocalizations are encoded. The present proposal has direct relevance for human speech learning in that songbirds, unlike most animals such as nonhuman primates, are capable of learning vocalizations.