对惊反射的前脉冲抑制是减少干扰影响、保护脑内信息加工的重要机制。它既是研究感觉运动门控的模型,也是探究精神分裂症机制的模型。前脉冲抑制可被选择性注意和情绪等高级认知活动所调节。本论文工作围绕着恐惧条件化和知觉空间分离去掩蔽(空间选择性注意)对听觉前脉冲抑制多层次化的自上而下调节,在大鼠行为模型、神经通路、神经电生理机制等几个层次上开展了系统性研究,并引入了精神分裂症的神经发育模型,证实早期社会隔离饲养对前脉冲抑制注意调节的破坏影响。本论文研究成果不仅对认识正常情况下脑在复杂刺激场景中的信息加工机制有重要意义,以感觉运动门控认知调节功能缺失为基础的动物模型也将推动精神分裂症心理学和神经生物学机制的研究。
Prepulse inhibition (PPI), which reflects the important mechanisms inhibiting interference and protecting information processing, is widely recognized as a model for studying both sensorimotor gating and schizophrenia. PPI can be top-down modulated by higher-order cognitive processes, such as attention and emotion. This dissertation focuses on the hierarchically organized top-down modulation of PPI by fear conditioning and perceptual spatial separation (selective spatial attention). Systematic and cross-level researches on rat behavioral model, neural pathways, and neurophysiological mechanisms were conducted, and the neuro-developmental model of schizophrenia was also applied which demonstrates that isolation rearing in rats can disrupt the attentional modulation of PPI. The findings from this research will not only promote the understanding of the brain mechanisms in information processing under complex environment, the animal model based on deficient attention-on-gating modulation function will also advance the psychological and neurobiological research on schizophrenia.