Project Details
Projekt
Mapping variability in prefrontal representations of goal-oriented reward tasks in dependence of learning performance
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Marlene Bartos
Subject Area
Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
Experimental and Theoretical Network Neuroscience
Experimental and Theoretical Network Neuroscience
Term
since 2026
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 437610067
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) serves as a critical hub integrating salient information from various brain areas to guide behavioral output based on previous experience. This behavioral flexibility, however, markedly relies on the individuals’ ability to memorize and update prior memories in relation to the current task. This ability can markedly vary among individuals and in dependence of task complexity. How intra- and inter-individual variability in task performance is represented on the level of prefrontal neuronal network activity, and how much it depends on afferent inputs in flexibly changing tasks, remains poorly understood. To address this issue, we will train head-fixed mice to a spatial and a non-spatial goal-oriented reward-learning task within virtual realities over several days up to weeks of learning. Once learned, the tasks will be randomly switching. We will use 2-Photon calcium imaging to record neuronal population activity with single cell resolution in the medial PFC (mPFC) and its hippocampal inputs from ventral CA1, which encode goal locations and contextual information. In the proposed study we aim to examine: (a) whether variability in the efficacy of goal-oriented reward learning across runs (intra-individual) and among mice (inter-individual) is reflected on the level of population activity in the mPFC; (b) whether behavioral variability in the spatial and non-spatial task is mirrored at the level of hippocampal afferents in the mPFC; and (c) whether modulation of hippocampal input activity can influence prefrontal activity and behavioral performance by applying pharmacogenetics. Thus, our work will provide novel mechanistic insights in the potential relationship between neuronal population activity dynamics and behavioral variability.
DFG Programme
Research Units
