Information coding in neurons: bridging the gap between cellular and behavioral neuroscience

目的：我们实验室研究项目的长期目标是将大脑神经元的活动与我们更高层次的感知体验联系起来。为了理解神经元活动是如何与我们对外部世界的感知联系在一起的，我们需要知道神经元在其动作电位（或脉冲）输出中编码信息的规则。这通常被称为理解“神经密码”。方法：我们的实验室从两个层面研究神经密码。首先，我们使用视觉皮层的电生理记录将神经元活动与视觉能力联系起来。第二个层次的研究解决了单个神经元中spike整合和适应的细胞机制。这个提议的目标是揭示单个神经元如何以一种可以应用于理解视觉感知的神经基础的方式整合时变信息。具体目标：1)揭示单个神经元如何使用系统识别方法整合和适应时变输入信号。体外细胞内记录和计算模型将用于发现神经元如何提取和编码信息的尖峰列车。2)确定整合和适应的细胞特性如何在行为动物的水平上对神经密码做出贡献。体内的细胞外记录将用于弥合Aim 1中揭示的细胞特性与这些细胞特性和行为之间的联系之间的差距。我们将学到什么：这项研究的结果将使我们了解神经元如何处理信息，这对于理解大脑如何成为我们精神生活的基础以及影响精神健康的疾病的基础至关重要。

OBJECTIVE: The long-term objective of our laboratory's research program is to link the activity of neurons in the brain to our higher-level perceptual experiences. To understand how neuronal activity is linked to our perception of the external world, we need to know the rules neurons use to encode information in their action potential (or spike) output.  This is usually referred to as understanding the "neural code". APPROACH: Our laboratory studies the neural code at two levels.  In the first, we use electrophysiological recordings from the visual cortex to link neuronal activity to visual capabilities.  The second level of investigation addresses the cellular mechanisms of spike integration and adaptation in single neurons.  The goal of this proposal is to reveal how single neurons integrate time-varying information in a way that can be applied to understanding the neural bases of visual perception. SPECIFIC AIMS: 1) Reveal how single neurons integrate and adapt to time-varying input signals using a systems-identification approach.  In vitro intracellular recordings and computational models will be used to discover how neurons extract and encode information in spike trains. 2) Determine how the cellular properties of integration and adaptation contribute to the neural code at the level of the behaving animal.  In vivo extracellular recordings will be used to bridge the gap between the cellular properties revealed in Aim 1 and the link between these cellular properties and behavior.   WHAT WE WILL LEARN: The results of this research will provide us with an understanding of how neurons process information, which is critical for understanding how the brain underlies our mental life and the basis of diseases that affect mental health.