Role of the Superior Colliculus in Orienting Eye Movements during REM Sleep

项目总结/摘要 快速眼动睡眠伴随着以生动的视觉体验为特征的梦，这显然表明 我们的大脑拥有一个关于世界的生成模型。多项研究表明， 通过这样一个生成模型，模型的异常表达可能是一些精神疾病的基础。 紊乱因此，了解我们的大脑如何支持生成模型是很重要的。这个目标 项目是通过关注神经元来阐明生成模型的神经生理学基础。 快速眼动睡眠期间的活动，在此期间，大脑的生成模型与外部世界分离。 在该奖项的指导阶段，我首先建议调查快速眼动，作为读出 快速眼动睡眠期间的生成模型。快速眼动睡眠期间的快速眼动被认为代表了 对梦的虚拟视觉环境进行主动采样。然而，这一假设得到了以下方面的支持： 生理学证据为了提供生理学证据来检验这一假设，我将重点讨论 头部方向（HD）细胞，编码动物相对于环境的HD。活动模式 HD细胞在REM睡眠期间的活动与在清醒期间观察到的类似。这使得解码 在REM睡眠期间的虚拟高清。我将测试快速眼动睡眠期间的快速眼动是否可以预测变化 在HD解码从HD细胞记录在前背丘脑。为了实现这一目标，我将联合收割机 大规模的电生理记录，先进的解码方法，以及小型化的眼动跟踪系统。 在R 00阶段，我建议研究上级丘（SC）作为虚拟的神经元基底。 快速眼动睡眠期间的头部定向和快速眼动。SC是头部和眼睛的重要中枢 在清醒的动物中定向。我将测试快速眼动睡眠期间SC的自发活动是否预示着 通过同时记录SC和前背侧丘脑中的神经元活动， 以及监测快速眼球运动。我将进一步测试SC活动对虚拟 在REM睡眠期间通过激活和失活SC来调节头部定向和快速眼球运动。 总之，这个项目将提供新的见解，神经生理学的理解如何 世界的生成模型以及我们与它的互动是在快速眼动睡眠期间组织的。这将构成 关键的一步，以了解我们如何看到世界通过内部模型和如何异常表达 该模型可能是精神分裂症等精神疾病发病机制的基础。 我将在该奖项的培训期间获得的技术和科学专业知识将至关重要 为我自己的独立实验室的研究计划奠定了基础，重点是SC在以下方面的作用： 在快速眼动睡眠期间协调生成模型。除此之外，密集的职业发展培训， 来自指导团队的指导，以及在 UCSF神经科学社区将确保我成功过渡到一个独立的研究者。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT REM sleep is accompanied by dreams characterized by vivid visual experience, which evidently indicates that our brain holds a generative model of the world. Converging studies suggest that we perceive the world through such a generative model and the abnormal expression of the model could underlie some psychiatric disorders. Thus, it is important to understand how our brain supports the generative model. The goal of this project is to elucidate the neurophysiological basis for the generative model by focusing on the neuronal activity during REM sleep, during which the brain’s generative model is detached from the external world. In the mentored phase of the award, I first propose to investigate rapid eye movements as a readout of the generative model during REM sleep. Rapid eye movements during REM sleep are proposed to represent active sampling of the virtual visual environment of dreams. However, this hypothesis is poorly supported by physiological evidence. To provide physiological evidence to test the hypothesis, I will focus on the activity of the head direction (HD) cells, which code for the animals’ HD relative to the environment. The activity pattern of HD cells during REM sleep is similar to what is observed during wake. This makes it possible to decode virtual HD during REM sleep. I will test whether rapid eye movements during REM sleep can predict changes in HD decoded from HD cells recorded in the anterodorsal thalamus. To achieve this goal, I will combine large scale electrophysiological recordings, advanced decoding methods, and miniaturized eye tracking systems. In the R00 phase, I propose to investigate the superior colliculus (SC) as the neuronal substrate for virtual head orienting and rapid eye movements during REM sleep. The SC is an important hub for head and eye orienting in awake animals. I will test whether spontaneous activity in the SC during REM sleep predicts changes in virtual HD by simultaneously recording neuronal activity in the SC and in the anterodorsal thalamus as well as monitoring rapid eye movements. I will further test the causal impact of the SC activity on virtual head orienting and rapid eye movements by activating and inactivating the SC during REM sleep. In summary, this project will provide new insights into the neurophysiological understanding of how the generative model of the world and our interaction with it is organized during REM sleep. This will constitute the critical step to understand how we see the world through the internal model and how the abnormal expression of the model could underlie the pathogenesis of some psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The technical and scientific expertise that I will acquire during the training period of the award will be crucial for setting the basis of research programs in my own independent laboratory focusing on the role of the SC in orchestrating the generative model during REM sleep. In addition to this, intense career development training, the guidance from the mentoring team, as well as the collaboration and the rich intellectual interaction in the UCSF neuroscience community will ensure my successful transition into an independent investigator.