Theory & Data Analysis Tools

Project summary Nausea is an unpleasant sensation of visceral malaise often accompanied by an involuntary urge to vomit. Nausea responses to toxin ingestion and infection are evolutionarily beneficial survival behaviors that avoid or expel toxins which may cause peripheral tissue damage. However, the sensation of nausea can also be maladaptive, as many treatments for cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses induce nausea as a major side effect, while current anti-emetic drugs have only limited efficacy.

Project summary Our lives unfold over time, weaving rich, dynamic, and multisensory information into a continuous experience. However, we remember this as a series of discrete events. For example, the memory of a two-hour movie consists of a few memorable moments tied to the main story. During encoding, we segment deviant events and associate relevant events. During retrieval, we utilize the temporal association among encoded events to search for specific memory information.

Project Summary The same pattern of neural activity can correspond to multiple events in the world. Signals sweeping across the retina, for instance, might be generated by a moving object or by the animal's self-motion. The brain resolves this ambiguity by inferring what events best explain sensory activity. This process, called causal inference, is a foundation of action-perception loops in all sensory-motor systems. To support adaptive action, neural representations of variables involved in these computations should be internally consistent.

Resource Core 3 - Teaching/Training/Dissemination Core (TTDC) Leads: Maisie Lo PhD and Kristin Overton PhD Summary The TTDC’s teaching mission specifically leverages our educational infrastructure for advancing the application of modern neurotechnology methods in short (3-day) or extended-format (3-week) workshops.

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.