Examining Population Coding Underlying Complex Behavior in Freely Moving Primates

检查自由活动的灵长类动物复杂行为背后的群体编码

基本信息

批准号：
7979898
负责人：
VALENTIN DRAGOI
金额：
$ 75万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2010
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2010-09-30 至 2015-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION Abstract: I propose a new technology that will fundamentally change our understanding of brain function and the relationship with behavior. Examining complex functions, such as vision, hearing, memory, attention, decision making, or sleep, have been traditionally performed by studying the brain of nonhuman primates in a laboratory environment in which the head and body are restrained while synthetic stimuli are presented on a computer monitor. However, it has become increasingly understood that studying the brain in a restrained laboratory rig poses severe limits on our capacity to understand the function of brain circuits. Indeed, when responses of individual neurons are measured in naturalistic settings they tend to be different compared to when they are measured in the laboratory environment. In addition, it has always been unclear whether phenomena well described in laboratory conditions, such as adaptation, learning, or decision making, can be replicated when animals freely move in their natural environment. To overcome these limitations, I will construct a wireless system that will allow neuroscientists to study cortical dynamics and plasticity at the population level while nonhuman primates are moving freely in their natural environment. Studying brain function in an unconstrained environment will open new opportunities. Phenomena that were difficult or impossible to observe in an experimental rig, such as foraging, sleep, or social behavior will now become possible to study. Our technology will allow us to acquire vastly more brain data than has ever been gathered in live subjects, at a much higher rate than is possible today. The large quantity of contiguous neural data recorded by such a system will be of great interest to clinicians and theorists studying general properties of normal and dysfunctional neural networks. Our system will lead not only to medical insights into the mechanisms of brain disorders, but also to practical applications for neuronal pros

描述抽象的：我提出了一种新技术，它将从根本上改变我们对大脑功能及其与行为关系的理解。传统上，检查视觉、听觉、记忆、注意力、决策或睡眠等复杂功能是通过在实验室环境中研究非人类灵长类动物的大脑来进行的，在实验室环境中，头部和身体受到限制，同时在屏幕上呈现合成刺激。电脑显示器。然而，人们越来越认识到，在有限的实验室设备中研究大脑严重限制了我们理解大脑回路功能的能力。事实上，当在自然环境中测量单个神经元的反应时，与在实验室环境中测量时相比，它们往往会有所不同。此外，一直不清楚当动物在自然环境中自由移动时，实验室条件下描述的现象（例如适应、学习或决策）是否可以复制。为了克服这些限制，我将构建一个无线系统，使神经科学家能够在非人类灵长类动物在自然环境中自由移动时研究群体水平的皮层动力学和可塑性。在不受约束的环境中研究大脑功能将带来新的机遇。在实验装置中难以或不可能观察到的现象，例如觅食、睡眠或社交行为，现在将可以进行研究。我们的技术将使我们能够以比今天更高的速度获取比在活体受试者中收集到的更多的大脑数据。这种系统记录的大量连续神经数据将引起研究正常和功能失调神经网络一般特性的临床医生和理论家的极大兴趣。我们的系统不仅将带来对大脑疾病机制的医学见解，而且还将为神经元专家带来实际应用