| Budget Amount *help |
¥18,850,000 (Direct Cost: ¥14,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,350,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥5,330,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,230,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥8,060,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,860,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Physical exercise has been hypothesized to improve the cognitive functions via the actions of neuromodulators such as acetylcholine. To elucidate the actions of acetylcholine (ACh) on visual perceptual and cognitive functions and the underlying neuronal mechanisms, we conducted the behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuropharmacological experiments on long-evans rats. The animal performed visual stimulus detection task with or without receiving ACh-related drugs. Increasing brain ACh concentration improved behavioral stimulus detectability, and decreasing one impaired the execution of the task itself because of the retrieval difficulty of long-term memory concerning the task. ACh applied directly to the primary visual cortex facilitated or suppressed the neuronal visual responses in a modulatory manner of response gain control which optimizes visual information processing.
|
