Training

PROJECT SUMMARY How information is transformed as it propagates through a neural circuit remains an outstanding question of modern neuroscience. Answering this question for a given circuit requires knowledge of: 1) the information being transformed, 2) activity in pre- and postsynaptic populations, and 3) connectivity between pre- and postsynaptic populations. The tremendous complexity of neural circuits has made such investigation exceedingly difficult, with success limited to small local circuits or across gross brain regions.

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Major breakthroughs in neuroscience have been achieved through the application of computational models to empirical research. Models are essential to connect theory to behavior and the increasingly rich and complex measures of nervous function at multiple spatial and temporal scales. That said, modeling is a highly complex activity requiring extensive training and multiple skills sets, which has created a critica shortfall in the cadre of researchers with the requisite skills to meet the modeling needs in computational neuroscience.

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Truly integrative and interdisciplinary training in neuroscience is necessary to understand brain function in both normal and pathological states. And such training is not available presently at the pre- and post-doctoral and junior faculty level due to a multitude of reasons. We propose an integrated approach to train the next generation of `neuro' research scientists from several disciplines including biology, psychology, medicine, engineering, physics and mathematics.

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is to administer and further develop a successfully established two-week summer training course titled "Mining and Modeling of Neuroscience Data" which is held at UC Berkeley. The course teaches methods for analyzing neurophysiology data, that is, measurements of the neural activity over time, co-registered with behavior or stimuli.

PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of the proposed research career development program is to allow the applicant to acquire training in a new form of brain stimulation using ultrasonic waves. The career development activities will be carried out in a prominent ultrasound laboratory, where the candidate will receive hands-on training in the application and analysis of ultrasonic stimulation in animal models.

ABSTRACT The basal ganglia are critical for the learning and subsequent selection of motor programs. In health, adaptive plasticity in the basal ganglia enables easy execution of complex motor tasks through formation of habits. Conversely, in disease, repetitive behaviors, addictions and compulsions are thought to derive from maladaptive plasticity involving basal ganglia circuitry.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive technique used for neuroscience research and treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. During TMS, a current-carrying coil placed on the scalp induces an electric field that modulates targeted neuronal circuits. Computational simulations of the electric field (E-field) induced by TMS are increasingly used to gain a mechanistic understanding of the effect of TMS on the brain and to inform its administration.

We experience the world as a continuous sequence of events, but we remember the events as segmented episodes (e.g., my sister’s wedding). During encoding, we associate a sequence of relevant events and segment deviant events. At retrieval, episodic memory utilizes the encoded associations to replay the flow of events. The encoded associations lead to remembering the sequence of events that occurred within an episode better than the flow of events across segments.

During postnatal brain development, newly assembled neural circuits are refined through the strengthening of a subset of synaptic connections and the concurrent elimination of others. This process of synaptic refinement is first coordinated by intrinsically generated neural activity early in life and then driven by sensory experience during a later phase of postnatal development.

It has become increasingly clear that both spontaneous and trained behaviors engage activity throughout the cortex. However, at least in the case of perceptual decisions, task complexity critically modulates the underlying large- and mesoscale cortical dynamics. When decisions are simple sensorimotor mappings, cortical activity is correlated, and behavioral effects of inactivation are essentially restricted to the relevant sensory areas. Conversely, when decisions are complex and demanding, e.g.