PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Episodic memories integrate the content of human experience in space and time and constitute the core of one's identity. Memory formation involves processing, and constructing interpretations of the incoming information in our daily lives and is one of the first functions compromised in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease.
Summary, Overall (Thalamus in the middle: computations in multi-regional neural circuits) This collaborative project aims to uncover the logic of signal routing from subcortical areas to the frontal cortex through the thalamus. The frontal cortex displays rich patterns of neural activity, which can be decomposed into “activity modes” that correspond to specific aspects of behavior. Examples include the persistent activity correlated with short-term memory and motor planning, and the rapidly oscillating activity during voluntary movements.
Summary/Abstract, Core D: Behavioral Analysis and Modeling This proposal’s overarching goal is to understand how internal states influence decisions and to identify the underlying neural mechanisms. The Behavioral Analysis and Modeling Core’s development, testing, and application of statistical tools to rigorously characterize behavioral states is critical to achieving this goal.
Abstract We propose to investigate the role of neuromodulation in the phenomenon of “whole-cortex” activity of the pial neurovascular circuit. This circuit is composed of a network of pial arterioles that integrate neuronal activity with the intrinsic arteriolar vasomotion producing dynamic patterns of coherent oscillations in the arteriolar diameter effectively parcellating the cortical mantle. Prior research suggests that ascending neuromodulatory systems may work in parallel affecting the brain state and processing capacity of large-scale cortical networks.
Project Summary: Project 2 - Linking Fast Timescale Neuron-Astrocyte Communication to Neural Circuit Function and Behavior A fundamental yet unresolved question in neuroscience is how non-neuronal cells communicate with the surrounding neurons, influence their function, and potentially affect animal behavior. Astrocytes are in a unique position to modulate neural circuit function.
SUMMARY / ABSTRACT – Project 1. Multi-feature, Multi-scale Atlas Project 1 of the Berghia Brain Project is to create a multi-scale, multi-feature atlas of the Berghia brain and peripheral neural plexus. Berghia has a brain that is both physically small enough to be serially sectioned and reconstructed from electron micrographs and also has few enough neurons that they can be individually characterized and catalogued.
Program abstract: This proposal aims to identify the neural circuit mechanisms that control periarterial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pumping and glymphatic clearance of fluid and solutes. We have developed a collaboration to quantify CSF transport dynamics in both humans and mice across several scales, spanning molecular transport, neuronal and glial activity, vascular and brain-wide fluid dynamics. We propose that coordinated neural activity during sleep drives global and local changes in blood volume, which in turn are the primary drivers of CSF transport.
The heart and the mind: an integrative approach to brain-body interactions in the zebrafish Our current U19 has focused primarily on Exteroception, which can be defined as the accumulated sensory experience originating from events in the outside world. However, all neural computation takes place in the context of the body, which is subject to the dynamics of hunger, fatigue, motivation and diurnal cycles.
Reading involves complex transformations of word forms, with visual input mapped to lexical, semantic and phonological systems in less than a second. While much has been learned about the neuroanatomy of reading from functional imaging and lesion studies, the dynamic and interactive properties of this system remain largely unknown.
A key problem in neuroscience is to uncover fundamental principles and algorithms that allow neuronal networks to perform the complex calculations that underlie normal behavior effectively and efficiently.
