Frontal Striatal Systems and Dopamine in Normal and Pathological Behavior

我们的实验室将计算建模、神经生理学、药理学和成像相结合，以了解由杏仁核、纹状体、白质、丘脑、前额皮质和多巴胺组成的一系列大脑区域是如何影响学习的。这些领域在高度组织化的网络中相互联系，我们的研究基于这个组织。我们已经将这个回路概念化为广泛组织成腹侧和背侧系统。腹侧系统，也被称为边缘系统，在系统发育上更古老，存在于所有脊椎动物中，对包括设定目标在内的动机过程很重要。另一方面，从系统发育的角度来看，背部系统是最近才出现的，在人类和其他灵长类动物中高度扩展，对追求目标的认知和行动之间的相互作用很重要。在行为上，我们专门研究学习的过程，以预测选择是否会导致好的或坏的结果。我们与临床合作者密切合作，在显示出患者和对照组之间差异的动物身上实施任务，并从动物工作中获得发现，以帮助了解临床人群。当我们更好地理解这些大脑系统如何支持学习时，我们就能更好地理解这些系统中的病理是如何成为各种精神疾病的基础的，包括焦虑、抑郁和成瘾。我们最近的工作重点是扩大我们对这些学习过程中重要区域网络的理解。目前关于这种学习背后的电路的概念集中在多巴胺和腹侧纹状体上，而我们最近的工作也指出了腹侧纹状体和背侧纹状体连接的更广泛的区域的重要作用。目前正在进行的研究是，不同的神经系统是否构成了从积极和消极结果（奖励和惩罚）中学习的基础，以及重叠或不同的神经系统是否构成了有益的学习行为和学习目标对象价值的基础。我们也开始研究这些回路和它们支持的行为在青春期是如何变化的，因为青春期是一个重要的发展时期，许多精神疾病在此期间首次出现。

Our lab uses a combination of computational modeling, neurophysiology, pharmacology and imaging to understand how a set of brain areas composed of the amygdala, striatum, pallidum, thalamaus, prefrontal cortex and dopamine underlie learning. These areas are connected in highly organized networks, and we base our studies on this organization. We have conceptualized this circuitry as broadly organized into ventral and dorsal systems. The ventral system, also referred to as the limbic system, is phylogenetically older, present in all vertebrates, and important for motivational processes including setting goals. The dorsal system on the other hand, is phylogenetically more recent, highly expanded in humans and other primates, and important for the interplay between cognitive and action in the pursuit of goals. Behaviorally, we specifically study the process of learning to predict whether choices will lead to good or bad outcomes. We work closely with clinical collaborators, implementing tasks in animals that have shown differences between patients and controls, and taking findings from the animal work to help understand clinical populations. As we develop a better understanding of how these brain systems support learning, we can develop a better understanding of how pathology in these systems can underlie various psychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression and addiction. Our recent work has focused on broadening our understanding of the network of areas important for these learning processes. Current conceptions of the circuitry that underlies this learning focuses on dopamine and the ventral-striatum, whereas our recent work also points to an important role for the broader set of areas with which the ventral and dorsal striatum are connected. Ongoing work examines whether different neural systems underlie learning from positive vs. negative outcomes (rewards vs. punishments), and whether overlapping or distinct neural systems underlie learning actions that are beneficial vs. learning the values of goal objects. We are also beginning to study how these circuits and the behaviors that they support change during adolescence, as adolescence is an important developmental period during which many psychiatric disorders first emerge.