The long term goal of our research is to characterize mechanisms that endow an organism with its ability to generate behavior that is plastic in the sense that it can be continuously modified to accommodate changes in the external environment. Our experiments are conducted in a relatively simple model system with experimentally advantageous features. In this system biting is generated when higher order command/modulatory neurons are activated. Bites are converted into bite-swallows when food contacts an animal and activates sensory neurons. Some of the food-induced alterations in feeding are coincident with activity in sensory neurons while other alterations occur after sensory neurons are no longer active, i.e., they rely on a ?memory? of the stimulus. In the previous grant period my laboratory identified sensory neurons activated by food that initiate bite to bite-swallow transformations. Work described in this application follows up on an exciting recent finding concerning how afferent-induced changes in feeding are likely to occur. Namely, our data suggest that afferent input only modifies motor activity if it is ?gated-in?. If afferents are activated in quiescent animals, reflex or motor output will not be generated. In contrast, when afferents are activated while behavior is ongoing, feeding movements can be altered. Afferent input is, however, only gated-in at certain times. This arrangement permits afferent-induced modifications of behavior but does not permit afferent-induced reconfigurations of behavior. Experiments described in this proposal will determine how this regulation of afferent transmission occurs. We will test a specific hypothesis that postulates that gating occurs at least in part by the selective control of spike propagation in sensory neurons. We will characterize cellular mechanisms that are utilized and we will conduct experiments in semi-intact preparations that will relate cellular findings to behavior. We believe that our work will provide insights into dysfunctions of the nervous system that are associated with attention deficits. Data indicate that at least in some cases (e.g., in schizophrenia) these dysfunctions are specifically associated with defects in sensory gating.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH051393-12
Application #
6794044
Study Section
Integrative, Functional and Cognitive Neuroscience 8 (IFCN)
Program Officer
Quinn, Kevin J
Project Start
1993-08-01
Project End
2007-07-31
Budget Start
2004-08-01
Budget End
2005-07-31
Support Year
12
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$339,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
078861598
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10029
Perkins, Matthew H; Cropper, Elizabeth C; Weiss, Klaudiusz R (2018) Cellular Effects of Repetition Priming in the Aplysia Feeding Network Are Suppressed during a Task-Switch But Persist and Facilitate a Return to the Primed State. J Neurosci 38:6475-6490
Cropper, Elizabeth C; Jing, Jian; Perkins, Matthew H et al. (2017) Use of the Aplysia feeding network to study repetition priming of an episodic behavior. J Neurophysiol 118:1861-1870
Ludwar, Bjoern Ch; Evans, Colin G; Cambi, Monica et al. (2017) Activity-dependent increases in [Ca2+]i contribute to digital-analog plasticity at a molluscan synapse. J Neurophysiol 117:2104-2112
Yang, Chao-Yu; Yu, Ke; Wang, Ye et al. (2016) Aplysia Locomotion: Network and Behavioral Actions of GdFFD, a D-Amino Acid-Containing Neuropeptide. PLoS One 11:e0147335
Cropper, Elizabeth C; Dacks, Andrew M; Weiss, Klaudiusz R (2016) Consequences of degeneracy in network function. Curr Opin Neurobiol 41:62-67
Svensson, Erik; Evans, Colin G; Cropper, Elizabeth C (2016) Repetition priming-induced changes in sensorimotor transmission. J Neurophysiol 115:1637-43
Friedman, Allyson K; Weiss, Klaudiusz R; Cropper, Elizabeth C (2015) Specificity of repetition priming: the role of chemical coding. J Neurosci 35:6326-34
Jing, Jian; Alexeeva, Vera; Chen, Song-An et al. (2015) Functional Characterization of a Vesicular Glutamate Transporter in an Interneuron That Makes Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Connections in a Molluscan Neural Circuit. J Neurosci 35:9137-49
Cropper, Elizabeth C; Friedman, Allyson K; Jing, Jian et al. (2014) Neuromodulation as a mechanism for the induction of repetition priming. Curr Opin Neurobiol 29:33-8
Wu, Jin-Sheng; Wang, Nan; Siniscalchi, Michael J et al. (2014) Complementary interactions between command-like interneurons that function to activate and specify motor programs. J Neurosci 34:6510-21

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