The role of gustatory cortex in perceptual learning of taste

味觉皮层在味觉知觉学习中的作用

• 批准号: 10655595
• 负责人: Joshua Kogan
• 金额: $ 5.27万
• 依托单位: STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10655595
• 关键词: Animals; Area; Auditory; Auditory system; Axon; Behavioral; Brain; Calcium; Chronic; Clozapine; Code; Cognition; Control Animal; Data Analyses; Decision Making; Discrimination; Disease; Dopamine; Electrophysiology (science); Environment; Fiber; Genetic; Goals; Health; Image; Implant; Infusion procedures; Ingestion; Knowledge; Learning; Lesion; Mediating; Mentors; Modality; Modeling; Monitor; Mus; Neuromodulator; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Optics; Outcome; Oxides; Oxidopamine; Pattern; Perceptual learning; Performance; Poison; Population; Process; Psychometrics; Research; Rodent; Role; Sensory; Shapes; Signal Transduction; Smell Perception; Stimulus; Study models; Sucrose; System; Task Performances; Taste Perception; Testing; Training; Viral Vector; Visual; Visual System; Work; behavioral outcome; calcium indicator; comparison control; design; experimental study; improved; in vivo; insight; nerve supply; neural; neuromechanism; neuropsychiatric disorder; novel; response; sensory cortex; sensory discrimination; sensory input; sensory stimulus; sound; taste stimuli; transmission process; two-photon

PROJECT SUMMARY To adapt and survive in natural environments, animals need to learn to discriminate sensory stimuli predicting different outcomes. This ability is particularly important in the case of largely overlapping sensory inputs. For example, in taste, small differences between otherwise similar solutions could mean the difference between ingesting a poison and having a safe meal. This phenomenon, known as perceptual learning, has been well documented across species and sensory modalities. However, understanding the mechanisms of neural plas- ticity underlying perceptual learning - i.e. how the brain plastically encodes, generalizes and discriminates large numbers of overlapping stimuli - remains a great challenge in neuroscientific research. Studies in the visual and auditory systems have converged on two non-mutually exclusive models, 1) enhancement of sensory represen- tations and 2) improved ability of decision-making circuits to interpret sensory evidence to guide actions. Gener- ally, these two types of activity are found in different brain areas, however both types can be found in the primary taste cortex, known as the gustatory insular cortex (GC). This makes taste an ideal system to test relative con- tributions of the two models. Additionally, the mechanisms of plasticity underlying perceptual learning remain incompletely understood, but some studies have suggested a role for the neuromodulator, dopamine. The cur- rent proposal will test the hypotheses that 1) representations of overlapping taste stimuli and associated deci- sions by GC neurons separate as mice learn a perceptual discrimination task; 2) GC DAergic signaling mediates plasticity underlying task learning and performance. I will rely on a taste-based two alternative forced choice (2AFC) in which mice are trained to detect the predominant taste in a mixture. To study chemosensory and decision-related coding in GC, I will use chronic 2-photon and widefield calcium imaging in populations of GC neurons as mice learn. To parse the role of dopamine in task learning and performance, I will use selective lesioning of GC dopaminergic axons and local chemogenetic inhibition of dopamine transmission combined with calcium imaging. These experiments will provide important information about taste processing, the neural basis of perceptual learning and the role of cortical dopamine in taste and sensory processing more broadly.

项目摘要 为了适应和生存在自然环境中，动物需要学会区分感觉刺激 不同的结果。在很大程度上重叠的感觉输入的情况下，这种能力尤为重要。为了 例如，在口味上，其他相似解决方案之间的微小差异可能意味着 摄取毒药并吃一顿安全的饭菜。这种现象被称为感知学习，一直很好 记录在物种和感觉方式上。但是，了解神经质量的机制 感知学习的基础 - 即大脑如何塑料编码，概括和区分大型 在神经科学研究中，重叠的刺激数量仍然是一个巨大的挑战。视觉和 听觉系统已在两个非纯正的模型上汇聚，1）增强感觉代表 tations和2）提高了决策循环解释感官证据以指导行动的能力。发电 Ally，这两种类型的活动在不同的大脑区域都可以找到，但是两种类型都可以在主要中找到 味道皮质，称为味觉岛状皮质（GC）。这使得味道成为测试相对结合的理想系统 两种模型的敬业。此外，仍然存在感知学习的可塑性机制仍然存在 不完全理解，但是一些研究表明神经调节剂多巴胺的作用。 cur- 租金提案将检验以下假设，即1）重叠口味刺激的表示和相关的决定性 随着小鼠学习感知歧视任务，GC神经元的Sions分开； 2）GC Daergic信号介导 可塑性的基础任务学习和表现。我将依靠基于味觉的两个替代强制选择 （2AFC）训练小鼠以检测混合物中的主要味道。研究化学感应和 在GC中，与决策相关的编码，我将在GC的种群中使用慢性2-Photon和广场钙成像 随着老鼠的学习，神经元。为了解析多巴胺在任务学习和绩效中的作用，我将使用选择性 GC多巴胺能轴突的病变和局部化学抑制多巴胺传播与 钙成像。这些实验将提供有关味觉处理的重要信息，神经基础 感知学习以及皮质多巴胺在味道和感觉处理中的作用。