Integrated touchscreen system for behavioural testing in mice

人类有意识的体验源于对来自多个感官来源的刺激的感知。神经科学领域的一个重要问题涉及将多感官信息整合成有意义的表征的大脑机制。这项拟议的研究将使用啮齿动物模型来研究多感觉信息处理的神经机制。具体地说，我们将研究交叉通道物体识别的神经基础，即当动物以不同的感觉通道呈现之前探索的物体时，动物识别该物体的能力。我们已经证明，当一个物体以前只通过触摸探索时，大鼠可以在视觉上识别它。我们建议的研究将评估参与这种适应性认知形式的互动大脑回路。第二种类型的行为任务将使用配备了触摸屏的计算机化小室来测量大脑操作对直接多感觉整合的影响。例如，人类研究表明，通过同时呈现与行为相关的听觉和视觉刺激，反应时间显著加快。我们将使用触摸屏小室来开发这种多感官整合任务的鼠标版本。这些实验室将使我们能够更有效和灵活地进行实验，并将促进跨物种与人类发现的比较。随着这些任务的建立，我们将开始测试转基因小鼠，以评估选择性删除各种神经递质受体对多感觉整合的影响。像这样的动物研究对于我们观察神经操作和行为变化之间的因果关系是必不可少的。因此，我们的研究计划应该有助于阐明多感觉整合背后的大脑机制，这是一种认知能力，其适应优势影响着许多重要的心理功能，包括感知、记忆、语言、情感和意识。因此，这项研究计划将产生有助于我们理解哺乳动物大脑基本功能的知识，并可能为优化人类认知功能的努力提供信息。

Human conscious experience arises from the perception of stimuli originating from multiple sensory sources. An important question in the field of neuroscience relates to the brain mechanisms involved in the integration of multisensory information into meaningful representations. The proposed research will use rodent models to study the neural mechanisms of multisensory information processing. Specifically, we will study the neural bases of crossmodal object recognition, the ability of an animal to recognize a previously-explored object when it is presented in a different sensory modality. We have shown that rats can recognize an object visually when it has only previously been explored by touch. Our proposed research will assess the interactive brain circuitry involved in this adaptive form of cognition. A second type of behavioural task will use computerized touchscreen-equipped chambers to measure the effects of brain manipulations on direct multisensory integration. For example, human studies indicate that reaction times are significantly facilitated by the simultaneous presentation of behaviourally relevant auditory and visual stimuli. We will use touchscreen chambers to develop mouse versions of this kind of multisensory integration task. These chambers will enable us to run experiments more efficiently and flexibly and will facilitate cross-species comparisons with human findings. With these tasks established, we will begin to test genetically modified mice to assess the impact on multisensory integration of selective deletion of various neurotransmitter receptors. Animal studies like these are essential in enabling us to observe cause and effect relationships between neural manipulations and behavioural changes. As such, our research program should help to shed light on the brain mechanisms underlying multisensory integration, a cognitive ability whose adaptive advantage impacts numerous vital psychological functions, including perception, memory, language, emotion, and consciousness. This research program will therefore generate knowledge that will contribute to our understanding of the basic functions of the mammalian brain and which may inform efforts to optimize human cognitive function.