Noninvasive modulation of prefrontal contributions to the organization of episodic memories

 描述(申请人提供)：前额叶皮质与长期情景记忆的形成有关，尽管它的作用还没有完全明确。这个项目的主要目标是评估非侵入性脑刺激对特定的前额叶过程的选择性调制的效用，这些前额叶过程有助于情景记忆。我们的方法基于这样的概念，即依赖于海马体的关系绑定通过将事件期间发生的各种场景、声音、思想和其他内容与独特的上下文和时间联系起来，来建立情景记忆。我们假设，特定的前额叶皮质区域通过选择并组织不同的事件成分成一个连贯的结构来与海马体结合，从而对这种结合过程起关键作用。我们建议使用经颅磁刺激暂时调节健康成年人的这些区域的功能。的影响 这种对记忆的调节将使用复杂的认知神经科学范式进行评估，以确定有助于情景记忆的前额叶选择/组织过程的行为和神经关联，与其他有助于情景记忆的并发前额叶过程不同。这些范式将主动和被动学习的操作与敏感的行为和眼动跟踪措施相结合，以提供对情景记忆形成过程中不同的前额叶过程的高度特异性。这将允许对使用经颅磁刺激调节有助于记忆形成的特定前额叶过程的能力进行彻底评估。功能神经成像将被用来评估非侵入性刺激对记忆影响的机制。对选择性调节前额叶对情景记忆的特定贡献的非侵入性脑刺激的验证，将为前额叶对记忆和其他认知功能贡献的强大因果测试打开大门，并可能激励基于刺激的新干预措施，以治疗前额叶皮质的神经精神和神经障碍。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Prefrontal cortex has been implicated in the formation of long-term episodic memories, although its contributions have not been fully specified. The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the utility of noninvasive brain stimulation for selectve modulation of specific prefrontal processes that contribute to episodic memory. Our approach is based on the notion that hippocampal-dependent relational binding builds episodic memories by linking the various sights, sounds, thoughts, and other content that occur with unique context and timing during events. We hypothesize that specific prefrontal cortical regions contribute critically to this binding process by selecting and organizing the various episode components into a coherent structure for binding by hippocampus. We propose to temporarily modulate the function of these regions in healthy adults using transcranial magnetic stimulation. The effects of this modulation on memory will be assessed using sophisticated cognitive neuroscience paradigms to identify behavioral and neural correlates of prefrontal selection/organization processes that contribute to episodic memory as distinct from other concurrent prefrontal processes that contribute to episodic memory. These paradigms blend manipulations of active versus passive learning with sensitive behavioral and eye-movement tracking measures to provide high specificity to distinct prefrontal processes during episodic memory formation. This will allow thorough evaluation of the ability to modulate specific prefrontal processes contributin to memory formation using transcranial magnetic stimulation. Functional neuroimaging will be used to assess mechanisms for effects of noninvasive stimulation on memory. Validation of noninvasive brain stimulation for the selective modulation of specific prefrontal contributions to episodic memory would open the door for strong causal tests of prefrontal contributions to memory and other cognitive functions and could motivate new stimulation-based interventions for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders of prefrontal cortex.