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ANALYSIS OF HIPPOCAMPAL ENCODING OF BEHAVIORAL DECISIONS

Award Number: R01MH061397
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/10/2000
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2005

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ANALYSIS OF HIPPOCAMPAL ENCODING OF BEHAVIORAL DECISIONS - DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract) Studies involving hippocampal neural ensemble recordings in rodents performing a delayed-nonmatch-to-sample (DNMS) task have demonstrated a distinct correlation between a sequence of external stimuli (i.e., behavioral events), patterns of firing across hippocampal neurons in response to those stimuli, and the animal's decision-making process which determines the response on a given trial. Behavioral errors have been shown to correlate to neural activity patterns (i.e. ensemble "states") that were at variance with the actual stimuli or behavioral responses executed by the animal. As a model of decision making, hippocampal activity during performance of the DNMS task can be viewed as the result of a neural circuit that integrates information regarding task-relevant stimuli, task demands, spatial position and trial sequence across trials, and predicts the appropriate signal strength for encoding task-relevant information on the next trial. Thus, ensemble firing pattern of weak to moderate strength (as measured via information theoretic and canonical discriminant analyses) may sufficiently encode information sufficient for correct responses on trials with short delays, but not on long delays. In contrast, strongly encoded information would bridge a long delay, but could interfere with the encoding of novel information on the subsequent trial. On a given trial, the role of a prediction circuit including the hippocampus is to determine the appropriate response based on the prior task-relevant information. In fact, two decisions are being performed by this neural circuit, the appropriate response, and the appropriate signal strength for the encoding. This project is designed around the following goals with respect to studying this hippocampal decision circuit: (1) In depth characterization of patterns of spatial and temporal correlation between hippocampal neurons during the decision-making stages of the spatial and nonspatial variants of the DNMS task. (2) Identification of the temporal nature of neural firing patterns that correlate to the decisions required for successful behavioral response, combined with known placement of recorded neurons with respect to hippocampal anatomy. (3) Construction of a theoretical model of the information processing performed by the hippocampus. (4) Implementation of an Artificial Neural Network model of the processing performed by the hippocampus. (5) Evaluation of the "biological computing" capabilities of the in vivo mammalian hippocampus by presenting specific computational problems in the form of trial-specific stimulus sequences, and reading the solutions to those computations as a combination of hippocampal neural activity and behavioral outcome.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2004 ( Subtotal = $252,000 )
2004	2004	WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES	MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD	WINSTON SALEM	NC	27157	FORSYTH	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	5	4/8/2004	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$252,000
														Subtotal = $252,000

Issue Date FY: 2003 ( Subtotal = $252,000 )
2003	2003	WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES	MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD	WINSTON SALEM	NC	27157	FORSYTH	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	4		NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$252,000
														Subtotal = $252,000

Issue Date FY: 2002 ( Subtotal = $249,060 )
2002	2002	WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD	WINSTON-SALEM	NC	27157		USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	6/13/2002	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$249,060
														Subtotal = $249,060

Issue Date FY: 2001 ( Subtotal = $249,900 )
2001	2001	WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD	WINSTON-SALEM	NC	27157		USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	8/10/2001	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$249,900
														Subtotal = $249,900

Issue Date FY: 2000 ( Subtotal = $273,575 )
2000	2000	WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD	WINSTON-SALEM	NC	27157		USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	5/7/2000	NEW	$273,575
														Subtotal = $273,575

Grand Total All Awards = $1,276,535

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ANALYSIS OF HIPPOCAMPAL ENCODING OF BEHAVIORAL DECISIONS

Award Number: R01MH061397

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/10/2000

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2005

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