Flexible information processing after learning visual discrimination-initiated movement task.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26830019
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Institute for Physiological Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Kimura Rie 生理学研究所, 基盤神経科学研究領域, 特任助教 (60513455)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 神経生理学 / 大脳皮質 / 神経回路 / ラット / 学習

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Animals can learn the particular perception-action association. After learning, even if the external stimulation slightly changes, the animals can produce the same action. In the brain, the information processing is thought to be flexibly executed. In this study, rats were trained to push or pull a lever, depending on whether visual stimuli were vertical or horizontal. After achieving good performance for the task, the low-contrast stimuli were also presented. We obtained spike data by multiple single-unit recordings from the primary visual cortex while rats were performing the task. In addition to the neurons whose firing rates were significantly decreased as the contrast of visual stimuli was reduced, we observed the neurons with the opposite preference, namely low-contrast preference. The latter low-contrast preference was rarely observed in these animals under anesthesia. This indicates that the top-down inputs to V1 are recruited to produce the preference during the task.

Free Research Field

神経生理学