Descrizione del progetto
Il coinvolgimento dell’amigdala nelle decisioni
Il modo in cui gli animali elaborano le informazioni e le decisioni che prendono non sempre portano al risultato migliore. Una decisione sbagliata potrebbe provocare la morte, mentre la decisione giusta garantirà la sopravvivenza. Il processo decisionale è un processo complesso in cui l’amigdala, ampiamente considerata una delle principali strutture cerebrali, svolge un ruolo centrale nel guidare la scelta. Il progetto ACoDM, finanziato dall’UE, studierà il ruolo della proiezione amigdalo-striatale (dall’amigdala basale allo striato dorsomediale, DMS) e i meccanismi sinaptici inerenti all’interazione di questo input con il noto percorso cortico-striatale (dalla corteccia prelimbica PrL al DMS). I risultati faranno nuova luce sul coinvolgimento dell’amigdala.
Obiettivo
The environment is an ever changing system to which an animal has to properly respond in order to survive. Decisions are made in unfamiliar situations, where risk assessment critically impacts the decision making; or based on previous experience, where the animal has prior knowledge of possible outcomes. Decision making is a complex process that requires the interplay of multiple neural structures and constant re-evaluation of the outcomes that involve emotional factors. The brain structure most linked to emotion and affective behaviour is the amygdala and its aberrant function caused by lesions or neurodegenerative diseases is associated with impaired decision-making.
The proposed research aims to understand the affective aspects of circuit mechanisms underlying decision making. Specifically, the role of an understudied pathway, the amygdalostriatal projection (basal amygdala, BA to dorsomedial striatum, DMS), in decision making; and the synaptic mechanisms underlying the interaction of this input with the well-known corticostriatal pathway (prelimbic cortex, PrL to DMS). Thus, a first goal aims to reveal the function of the BA inputs to DMS in an approach-avoidance conflict and to assess the association of neural activity with decision making behaviour. The second goal aims to uncover circuit mechanisms underlying the control of DMS neuron spiking by the amygdalostriatal pathway and how the cortical and amygdalar inputs impact each other in controlling the DMS activity.
These experiments will reveal the role of BA projection in decision-making at DMS level and how the PrL and BA inputs affect neuron activity at single cell level, results that can elucidate the role of the convergent amygdalostriatal and corticostriatal pathways in control of DMS function. Our findings will elucidate the participation of the amygdala in a functional circuit involving the DMS and uncover how it enables efficacious development of optimal strategies during decision making.
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
(si apre in una nuova finestra) H2020-WF-2018-2020
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-WF-01-2018
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF -Coordinatore
1083 Budapest
Ungheria