The immediate aim of the proposed research is to develop an awake behaving primate model to investigate the role of the intralaminar and associated paralaminar thalamic nuclei in visual awareness. The long-range goal is to develop a neurophysiological basis for remediation of acquired cognitive disabilities, including deep brain stimulation in the intralaminar thalamus. Direct injury or functional impairment of the intralaminar thalamic nuclei (ILN) leads to disturbances of attention, working memory, and other cognitive processes. It is proposed that the ELN play a critical role in facilitating specific longrange cortico-cortical communications that link attention, working memory, and gaze control in support of visual awareness. The precise cellular mechanisms of interaction between the ILN and the cortical regions that support these functions are only beginning to be understood. This is the focus of the present proposal. Two research paradigms will be developed: pharmacological inactivation and electrical stimulation of the intralaminar nuclei during a visuospatial attention task. Impaired cognition resulting from head trauma or stroke remains a growing problem for which little intervention is currently available. Several experimental and clinical studies suggest that deep brain stimulation and other approaches aimed at improving cognitive function may be possible. While these are long-range goals, and the studies proposed here do not represent direct investigations of these possibilities, completion of these experiments is necessary and logical step toward these goals.
| Shah, Sudhin A; Schiff, Nicholas D (2010) Central thalamic deep brain stimulation for cognitive neuromodulation - a review of proposed mechanisms and investigational studies. Eur J Neurosci 32:1135-44 |
| Schiff, Nicholas D (2010) Recovery of consciousness after brain injury: a mesocircuit hypothesis. Trends Neurosci 33:1-9 |
| Smith, Anne C; Shah, Sudhin A; Hudson, Andrew E et al. (2009) A Bayesian statistical analysis of behavioral facilitation associated with deep brain stimulation. J Neurosci Methods 183:267-76 |
