We propose to use trace eyelid conditioning to study the neural mechanisms operating in prefrontal cortex to mediate working memory. We have demonstrated that trace eyelid conditioning in rabbit is a working memory task that involves the persistent activity of the so called """"""""delay cells"""""""" of prefrontal cortex. There are many fundamental questions about delay cells and the mechanisms of working memory that have remained unanswered largely owing to limitations of studies in primates: the traditional system for working memory studies. Specifically, working with trace conditioning in rabbits makes it feasible to study the origins of delay cell activity in PFC: what roles are played by learning? what are the inputs to PFC that are necessary for delay cells? Because recordings are feasible in rabbits completely na?ve to the task, which is not feasible with primates, such questions become feasible and affordable to answer. We will use recordings from PFC neurons to determine how delay cell activity arises and to characterize the rules that govern changes in delay cell responding as task demands are changed. Rabbit studies also make feasible analysis of the pathways projecting to prefrontal cortex that are involved in trace conditioning and delay cell activity. The completion of these studies will therefore yield fundamental new insights into the mechanisms responsible for the formation of working memories and their modulation by changes in environmental demands. Such knowledge will greatly facilitate our ability to develop strategies for the prevention or treatment of a host of neurological disorders that appear to relate to working memory deficits, including attention disorders and age-related dementias.

Public Health Relevance

These studies investigate the mechanisms in prefrontal cortex of working memory. Working memory deficits are known to be associated with attention disorders such as ADD and ADHD, and with forms of age-related senility including Alzheimer's disease. As such, understanding the normal operation of working memory mechanisms is as fundamental to the treatment and prevention of these disorders as understanding how a car works is to being a car mechanic.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH074006-09
Application #
8596737
Study Section
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Study Section (LAM)
Program Officer
Osborn, Bettina D
Project Start
2005-04-15
Project End
2015-11-30
Budget Start
2013-12-01
Budget End
2014-11-30
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$723,676
Indirect Cost
$248,676
Name
University of Texas Austin
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
170230239
City
Austin
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
78712
Halverson, Hunter E; Khilkevich, Andrei; Mauk, Michael D (2018) Cerebellar Processing Common to Delay and Trace Eyelid Conditioning. J Neurosci 38:7221-7236
Hoffmann, Loren C; Zara, S James; DeLord, Evan D et al. (2018) Medial Auditory Thalamus Is Necessary for Expression of Auditory Trace Eyelid Conditioning. J Neurosci 38:8831-8844
Hausknecht, Matthew; Li, Wen-Ke; Mauk, Michael et al. (2017) Machine Learning Capabilities of a Simulated Cerebellum. IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst 28:510-522
Khilkevich, Andrei; Halverson, Hunter E; Canton-Josh, Jose Ernesto et al. (2016) Links Between Single-Trial Changes and Learning Rate in Eyelid Conditioning. Cerebellum 15:112-21
Halverson, Hunter E; Hoffmann, Loren C; Kim, Yujin et al. (2016) Systematic variation of acquisition rate in delay eyelid conditioning. Behav Neurosci 130:553-62
Halverson, Hunter E; Khilkevich, Andrei; Mauk, Michael D (2015) Relating cerebellar purkinje cell activity to the timing and amplitude of conditioned eyelid responses. J Neurosci 35:7813-32
Siegel, Jennifer J (2014) Modification of persistent responses in medial prefrontal cortex during learning in trace eyeblink conditioning. J Neurophysiol 112:2123-37
Moya, Maria V; Siegel, Jennifer J; McCord, Eedann D et al. (2014) Species-specific differences in the medial prefrontal projections to the pons between rat and rabbit. J Comp Neurol 522:3052-74
Li, Wen-Ke; Hausknecht, Matthew J; Stone, Peter et al. (2013) Using a million cell simulation of the cerebellum: network scaling and task generality. Neural Netw 47:95-102
Siegel, Jennifer J; Mauk, Michael D (2013) Persistent activity in prefrontal cortex during trace eyelid conditioning: dissociating responses that reflect cerebellar output from those that do not. J Neurosci 33:15272-84

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