Mechanism of cognitive flexibility in the microcircuit of striatum.

• Project/Area Number: 18K03178
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10040:Experimental psychology-related
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: Hashimoto Kana 広島大学, 医系科学研究科(医), 研究員 (50528263)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 神経回路網

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study psycho-physiologically addressed how the functional change was involved in cognitive flexibility of learning, focusing on the role of striatal cholinergic interneurons. The results of extracellular recordings in performing rats on spatial reversal learning suggested the importance of cortical input to the striatum during the execution of cognitive flexibility. Moreover, the result showed that the knockout mice enhanced auditory learning after the resilience task, indicating the possibility that the pause response of striatal cholinergic interneurons might be associated with the cognitive flexibility. These findings insisted that striatal neuronal activities including cortical inputs and pause response of cholinergic interneurons might be involved in the cognitive flexibility.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

動物が環境に適応した行動をとるためには、自身の記憶・学習内容やそれに基づく行動を安定的に維持することが必要である一方で、一度形成した記憶と学習内容や行動を環境の変化に応じて変化させ、その変化後の内容をまた安定的に使用していく必要がある。この安定化と柔軟化のバランスがどのようなメカニズムで形成され、維持されているのかを検討することは、ヒトをはじめとする動物の認知と行動における神経機構を解明していく上で、重要な問題である。本研究は、この認知柔軟性メカニズムにどのような神経活動が関与しているのかを同定する足掛かりのひとつである。