This proposal examines two kinds of working memory-memory for shape and space- at the cellular level using a single unit recording technique in awake behaving rhesus monkeys. Much work suggests that perceptual processing proceeds along two cortical paths in temporal and parietal cortices, often characterized as the 'what' and where pathways, respectively. Both pathways project to regions of prefrontal cortex. Previous work has not been careful in the manipulation of featural and spatial working memory requirements and no study has compared cell response to both kinds of working memory within the same cortical area with identical visual conditions. Using the proposed paradigms, we have just finished recording from posterior parietal and inferior temporal cortices of animals performing these tasks where we found quite different patterns of findings. This study will provide valuable information as to whether working memory of shape and space are physiologically segregated in prefrontal cortex. We will also be able to report exactly how these types of working memory modulate cell response and how this relates to the sensory and motor response of the cell. Further, we will be able to compare the findings directly to data we have obtained from posterior parietal and inferior temporal cortices. Prefrontal cortex has been implicated in a variety of human neurological and mental diseases, including Parkinson's disease. Huntington's chorea, Korsakoff's disease, and schizophrenia. Little work in the neuropsvchology of memory has focused on short-term or working memory. Characterization of mechanisms related to working memory in prefrontal cortex may prove useful for better understanding what role short-term or working memory deficits play in the cognitive and psychiatric abnormalities that are associated with these conditions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH063340-06
Application #
7076883
Study Section
Integrative, Functional and Cognitive Neuroscience 8 (IFCN)
Program Officer
Osborn, Bettina D
Project Start
2001-04-01
Project End
2008-03-31
Budget Start
2006-04-01
Budget End
2008-03-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$217,515
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Health Science Center Houston
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771594
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77225
Peng, Xinmiao; Sereno, Margaret E; Silva, Amanda K et al. (2008) Shape selectivity in primate frontal eye field. J Neurophysiol 100:796-814
Lehky, Sidney R; Peng, Xinmiao; McAdams, Carrie J et al. (2008) Spatial modulation of primate inferotemporal responses by eye position. PLoS One 3:e3492
Lehky, Sidney R; Sereno, Anne B (2007) Comparison of shape encoding in primate dorsal and ventral visual pathways. J Neurophysiol 97:307-19
Amador, Silvia C; Hood, Ashley J; Schiess, Mya C et al. (2006) Dissociating cognitive deficits involved in voluntary eye movement dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease patients. Neuropsychologia 44:1475-82
Sereno, Anne B; Amador, Silvia C (2006) Attention and memory-related responses of neurons in the lateral intraparietal area during spatial and shape-delayed match-to-sample tasks. J Neurophysiol 95:1078-98
Sereno, Anne B; Jeter, Cameron B; Pariyadath, Vani et al. (2006) Dissociating sensory and motor components of inhibition of return. ScientificWorldJournal 6:862-87
Sereno, Anne B; Briand, Kevin A; Amador, Silvia C et al. (2006) Disruption of reflexive attention and eye movements in an individual with a collicular lesion. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 28:145-66
Larrison, Abigail L; Briand, Kevin A; Sereno, Anne B (2004) Nicotine improves antisaccade task performance without affecting prosaccades. Hum Psychopharmacol 19:409-19
Larrison-Faucher, Abigail L; Matorin, Anu A; Sereno, Anne B (2004) Nicotine reduces antisaccade errors in task impaired schizophrenic subjects. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 28:505-16
Seidlits, Stephanie K; Reza, Tammie; Briand, Kevin A et al. (2003) Voluntary spatial attention has different effects on voluntary and reflexive saccades. ScientificWorldJournal 3:881-902

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