Elucidation of physiological mechanisms underlying modification of habitual movements and development of a new training method for fixing habits

• Project/Area Number: 16K12973
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental mechanisms and the body works
• Research Institution: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
• Principal Investigator: Aoki Sho 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 神経生物学研究ユニット, 研究員 (80720672)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,120,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥720,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
• Keywords: 線条体 / 動作の癖 / シークエンス学習 / ラット / 習慣動作 / 運動制御 / 習慣的行動 / 大脳基底核 / コリン作動性介在ニューロン / 行動 / 身体運動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Those who are in the field of sports including athletes and coaches often struggle to fix habits in their actions and movements. The aim of this study is to understand neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the inhibition and modification of habitual actions. Developing new behavioral tasks in rats, where they had to suppress or replace their acquired habits with new actions, we tested the effect of either ablation or activation of striatal cholinergic interneurons on these tasks. We discovered that artificial activation of the striatal cholinergic interneurons enhances animals' ability to substitute a new movement for an old habit (Aoki et al., Eur J Neurosci., 2018). This finding reveals a possibility that facilitating cholinergic activity in the striatum enables us to acquire a new action by suppressing an old habit.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

動作の癖を他の動作に置換するという概念は新しく、かつその神経基盤として線条体コリン作動性介在ニューロンの機能を明らかにできたことは行動神経科学分野における重要な知見である。また、スポーツ科学・身体運動科学分野において、どのようにして体に染みついた動きの癖を直すのかという問いは難問である。今後、ヒトを対象とした新規トレーニングの開発といった研究に対して、本研究はどのような脳部位あるいは細胞の活性化を狙ってトレーニングを行うべきかという重要知見を与えると考えられる。

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] Salk Institute for Biological Studies(米国)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Salk Institute(米国)
• [Journal Article] Cerebellar modules and their role as operational cerebellar processing units. (2018)
  • Author(s): Richard Apps, Richard Hawkes, Sho Aoki, Amanda M. Brown, Gang Chen, Timothy J. Ebner, Philippe Isope, Elizabeth P. Lackey, Charlotte Lawrenson, Bridget Lumb, Martijn Schonewille, Roy V. Sillitoe, Ludovic Spaeth, Izumi Sugihara, Antoine Valera, Jan Voogd, Douglas R. Wylie Tom J.H. Ruigrok
  • Journal Title: The Cerebellum Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Pages: 654-682
  • DOI: 10.1007/s12311-018-0952-3
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Cholinergic interneurons in the rat striatum modulate substitution of habits (2018)
  • Author(s): Sho Aoki, Andrew W. Liu, Yumiko Akamine, Aya Zucca, Stefano Zucca, Jeffery R. Wickens
  • Journal Title: European Journal of Neuroscience Volume: 47 Issue: 10 Pages: 1194-1205
  • DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13820
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Pauses in cholinergic interneuron firing exert an inhibitory control on striatal output in vivo (2018)
  • Author(s): Zucca Stefano、Zucca Aya、Nakano Takashi、Aoki Sho、Wickens Jeffery
  • Journal Title: eLife Volume: 7
  • DOI: 10.7554/elife.32510
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Multizonal Cerebellar Influence Over Sensorimotor Areas of the Rat Cerebral Cortex (2017)
  • Author(s): Aoki Sho、Coulon Patrice、Ruigrok Tom J H
  • Journal Title: Cerebral Cortex Volume: in press Issue: 2 Pages: 598-614
  • DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx343
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Linking emotion to motion: novel interaction across “limbic” and “motor” cortico-basal ganglia loops (2019)
  • Author(s): Sho Aoki
  • Organizer: OIST workshop: Neural Circuits for Motor Behavior
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] Multiple viral tracings reveal an anatomical hierarchy in cortico-basal ganglia loops (2018)
  • Author(s): Sho Aoki, Jared. B Smith, Masakazu Igarashi, Patrice Coulon, Jeffery R. Wickens, Xin Jin, Tom J.H. Ruigrok
  • Organizer: Society for Neuroscience 2018
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Anatomical evidence that multiple striatal regions influence motor cortex. (2017)
  • Author(s): Sho Aoki, Masakazu Igarashi, Patrice Coulon, Jeffery R. Wickens, Tom J.H. Ruigrok
  • Organizer: Society for Neuroscience
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Anatomical evidence that multiple striatal regions influence motor cortex in the rat (2017)
  • Author(s): Sho Aoki, Masakazu Igarashi, Patrice Coulon, Jeffery R. Wickens, Tom J.H. Ruigrok.
  • Organizer: Procedural Learning Summer School
  • Int'l Joint Research