| Project/Area Number |
17591226
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
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| Research Institution | RIKEN (2006)
Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine (2005) |
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Principal Investigator |
YOKOYAMA Chihiro RIKEN, Functional Probe Research Laboratory, Researcher, 分子プローブ機能評価研究チーム, 研究員 (90264754)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
FUKUI Kenji Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Psychiatry, Professor, 医学研究科, 教授 (50165263)
YAMADA Chifuyu Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Psychiatry, Assistant, 医学研究科, 助手 (20347462)
KINOSHITA Seijiro Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Psychiatry, Assistant, 医学研究科, 助手 (00433269)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2005 – 2006
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
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| Keywords | developmental disorders / prefrontal cortex / orbitofrontal cortex / reversal learning / delayed alteration task / go / no-go task / serotonin / 扁桃体 / 逆転課題 / 逆転学習セット / n-back課題 / 神経科学 / 実験系心理学 |
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| Research Abstract |
The aim of the present research is to develop objective tests for the assessment of developmental disorders such as autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, which should be relevant to the neural mechanisms underlying them. We studied reversal learning performance as an index for behavioral flexibility in both clinical patients and animal models for developmental disorders. For a clinical use, an automated task for reversal learning was prepared. We made preliminary experiments for measurement of the change in local blood flow in the prefrontal cortex during the task performance by a near-infrared spectroscopy. For experimental studies using animal models, rats with the prefrontal lesions were tested on serial reversal and delayed alternation tasks using odor cues. The prefrontal lesion rats demonstrated selective difficulty in the second reversal in the serial reversal task and impaired variably delayed alternation task. These results suggest that the rat prefrontal cortex mediating monitoring ability in working memory process takes part in reversal learning, which may associated with learning ability of 'reversal' as a concept. Next, we examined rats with serotonin depletion by p-chloroamphetamine in simple and reversal go/no-go visual discrimination tasks. Correlations between serotonin content and learning performance in all animals were assessed in both tests. Serotonin neurotransmission to the prefrontal cortex and amygdala is correlated with inhibitory control ability over responses to discriminated stimuli, while 5-HT neurotransmission to the orbitofrontal cortex is especially involved in additional processes associated with reversal learning. Further studies using animal models and clinical patients are needed to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying specific symptoms of developmental disorders including different types of behavioral flexibility.
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