Speaker： 徐宁龙 研究员，中国科学院神经科学研究所 Chair： 余山 研究员，中国科学院自动化研究所 Time： 2018年11月2日，上午 9:30-10:30 Venue：智能化大厦三层第一会议室
Title：Neural circuit mechanisms for auditory-based perceptual decision-making and categorization
Abstract:
Decision-making consists of discrete sub-processes rather than a unitary process. We study the neural circuit mechanisms of distinct sub-processes, including sensory to category transformation, categorical decisions, and action planning. We use mouse auditory decision behavior, combined with in vivo functional imaging and circuit perturbations to investigate these issues. First, we use in vivo two-photon calcium imaging from mouse primary auditory cortex to examine the computational mechanism of how the brain transform continuous sensory information into discrete categories. We observed task-dependent dynamic recruitment of local neuronal ensembles, which sharpens the categorization boundary via selective amplification. At population level, we found that perceptual categorization is strongly encoded by local population activity. Second, we investigate how the posterior parietal association cortex (PPC) contribute to categorical decision-making for novel sensory stimuli. We found that PPC neurons in mice exhibit population dynamics co-evolve with categorical learning of new sensory stimuli, adaptively incorporating new sensory information into established categories while maintaining stable representations for learned categories. Photoinhibition of PPC revealed a causal contribution of PPC to categorical decisions on new sensory stimuli, but not for well-experienced stimuli. Third, we identified a critical role of the connectivity between motor cortex and superior colliculus during sensory-guided motor planning, revealing a distributed circuit mechanisms for action planning during perceptual decision-making.
Biography:
徐宁龙，博士。中国科学院神经科学研究所研究员，课题组长，博士生导师，中国科学院脑科学与智能技术卓越创新中心青年骨干。1995年毕业于四川大学生命科学学院，获理学学士，2006年毕业于中国科学院上海生命科学研究院神经科学研究所，获理学博士，2006-2008年在美国冷泉港实验室（Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory）从事博士后研究，2008-2013年在美国霍华德休斯医学研究所（HHMI, Janelia Research Campus）先后作为博士后及研究专员（Research Specialist）。研究论文发表在Nature等学术期刊。2013年8月加入中科院神经科学研究所任研究组组长。徐宁龙博士主要从事感知与行为的神经环路研究，利用小鼠听觉行为学、在体双光子成像、光遗传学和神经计算等多种技术手段研究大脑听觉皮层、联合皮层、前额叶及皮层下结构形成的神经环路在基于听觉感知的抉择与行动过程中的运作原理。