Project Details
Projekt
The fabric of the primate neocortex and the origin of mental representations. From transcriptomics to single neurons and neuronal networks.
Subject Area
Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
Experimental and Theoretical Network Neuroscience
Experimental and Theoretical Network Neuroscience
Term
since 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 436260547
Primates possess an advanced ability to generate persistent mental representations, a function known as working memory. Studies in macaques performing working memory tasks have found neurons in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) with strong persistent firing, representing memorized items for up to 15-20 seconds. Previous studies have related the origin of these representations to the expansion of the neocortex, particularly the appearance of a granular prefrontal cortex with expanded layers 2/3 in primates. From an evolutionary perspective, such expansion is clear in old world primates such as macaques, and less manifested in new world primates such as marmosets. We hypothesize that the increase in the complexity of layer-specific microcircuits, cell types that populate them, and their molecular regulation in the LPFC has allowed the emergence of mental representations that increase in complexity from new to old world primates. Here we pool the efforts of different labs to tackle the following questions. What are the features of neurons and circuits that allow persistent activity to arise in neocortical areas? Are these features particularly salient in old world primates relative to their less evolved new world cousins?
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
Canada, USA
Cooperation Partners
Professorin Dr. Amy F.T. Arnsten; Professor Dr. Stefan Everling; Professor Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez-Burgos; Dr. Wataru Inoue; Professor Dr. David A. Lewis; Professor Dr. Julio C. Martinez-Trujillo; Professor Dr. Steven McCarroll; Dr. Lyle Muller; Professor John D. Murray, Ph.D.; Dr. Shreejoy Tripathy; Professor Xiao-Jing Wang
