Project Details
Projekt
Neural mechanisms of operant learning in zebrafish larvae
Applicant
Dr. Hanna Zwaka
Subject Area
Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
Term
from 2017 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386685839
Operant learning is a form of associative learning – a process defined by the association of a behaviour with a specific outcome. Learning theory assumes that during acquisition neuronal circuits compare the predicted with the actual outcome. Thus, a generated prediction error can inform the system whether a previous action was effective and therefore should be repeated or not. This theory has been widely studied in a specific form of operant learning, reinforcement learning, yet the neural mechanisms are largely unknown. How neurons collaborate to accomplish operant learning and subsequent memory consolidation has been difficult to study. The size of vertebrate brain´s with the technical challenges involved in monitoring single cells have so far hindered the interrogation of neural circuit activity across the brain. Here, I will investigate the neuronal mechanisms of operant learning by taking advantage of the larval zebrafish. The larval zebrafish provides the only vertebrate system that is genetically amenable, optically accessible for whole-brain imaging at single cell resolution and has a brain that shares basic structures with the human. Specifically, I plan to study learning and long-term memory in freely swimming animals and identify brain regions activated by different reinforcers. Imaging these brain regions, I will investigate circuit mechanisms underlying operant learning using two-photon whole-brain imaging. Further, I will screen the whole brain for neurons with activity profiles predicted by reinforcement learning theory. The results will provide valuable insights into the mechanism underlying operant learning, both at the cellular and circuit level.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
USA
