Neural Circuits for the Executive Control of Action

执行控制行动的神经回路

• 批准号: 1456560
• 负责人: Mark Laubach
• 金额: $ 13.27万
• 依托单位: American University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-31 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1456560&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neural; Circuits; Executive; Control; Action

This project will examine how neural activity in the medial frontal (or cingulate) cortex changes as new behavioral tasks are learned for the first time. The central issue is to understand how activity in this part of the brain allows for learning from past mistakes in order to avoid future failures. The experimental approach involves recording from chronically implanted arrays of electrodes in the medial frontal cortex of rats as the animals learn to perform reaction time tasks. These tasks are commonly used to study cognitive processing in human beings. The expected results will include testing a leading hypothesis in neuroscience that persistent activity in medial frontal cortex enables self-control, e.g. the ability to wait calmly before acting. We predict that this activity will develop in the medial frontal cortex during learning and will come to predict how well animals are able to adjust performance after mistakes are made. The potential impact of the study is that it will provide some of the first data on how error-related activity develops in this part of the brain during learning. Broader impact activities include data and computer resource sharing on a website, a multi-lingual children's program on the brain, and participation by undergraduates from a non-traditional research university in cutting-edge neurobiological research.

该项目将研究当首次学习新的行为任务时，内侧额叶（或扣带回）皮层的神经活动如何变化。核心问题是了解大脑这部分的活动如何能够从过去的错误中学习，以避免未来的失败。实验方法包括在大鼠学习执行反应时间任务时，记录长期植入大鼠内侧额叶皮层的电极阵列。这些任务通常用于研究人类的认知过程。预期结果将包括测试神经科学中的一个主要假设，即内侧额叶皮层的持续活动能够实现自我控制，例如在采取行动之前冷静等待的能力。我们预测这种活动将在学习过程中在内侧额叶皮层中发展，并预测动物在犯错误后调整表现的能力。这项研究的潜在影响在于，它将提供一些关于学习过程中大脑这部分与错误相关的活动如何发展的首批数据。更广泛影响的活动包括网站上的数据和计算机资源共享、多语言儿童大脑计划以及非传统研究型大学的本科生参与尖端神经生物学研究。