Subcortical Neural Coding and Dynamics

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Project Summary: Project 3, Neural Coding and Dynamics?Subcortical Regions    Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information in mind for manipulation, is  central to virtually all cognitive abilities. This multi-component research project aims to comprehensively  dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of this ability across multiple brain areas. The individual parts of the  project cohere conceptually, in part, because they all involve rodents trained to perform a type of  decision-making task that is based on the gradual accumulation of sensory evidence and thus relies on  working memory. Although most previous characterization of neural correlates of working memory and  decision making has focused on cortical regions, there is growing appreciation that subcortical regions  contribute to these processes as well. Thus, this project focuses on characterization of the neural dynamics  underlying working memory and decision-making in a network of subcortical regions. Speci cally,  cellular-resolution two- and three-photon calcium imaging will be used to characterize neural coding and  dynamics in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra, granule cells and Purkinje  cells of the cerebellum, medium spiny neurons in the striatum, and pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. This  data will be supplemented with multi-electrode recordings, which capture fast neural activity that calcium  imaging cannot. The experiments will combine these two data types for the rst time in the setting of a  working memory and decision-making task. The results from this project, together with those from another  component that investigates similar measures in neocortex, are expected to provide an unprecedented  amount of data that will give new insight into the processing of task-relevant information during a cognitive  task across a wide variety of cortical and subcortical areas. Another component will combine these results  with temporally and spatially speci c inactivation data from the other two components to build and constrain  a biophysically realistic, multi-region computational model of the behavior.