2026-09-19T00:18:22Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1298732026-06-06T00:55:35Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Ann Graybiel.
Drammis, Sabrina Mariel.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
2021-02-19T20:32:12Z
2021-02-19T20:32:12Z
2020
2020
https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129873
1237411441
Thesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, February, 2020
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-77).
Learning to approach for rewards and avoid for costs is a necessary skill for species survival. In this thesis, I investigate the role of the striosomal compartment of the rodent basal ganglia while learning a cost-benefit decision making task. I analyze data from animals of different age groups and animals with expressive Huntington's disease (HD) gene. My goal is to understand the computational role of striosomes in learning, and how aging and Huntington's disorder affect the anatomical structure of striosomes and thus the ability to learn. By analyzing Ca⁺⁺ (Calcium) neuron population recordings, behavior recordings, and histological brain slice images of mice, I find that: 1) the activity of spiny projection neurons (SPNs) in striosomes correlate with learning ability; 2) an animal's attentiveness to the task is critical for learning; 3) anatomical circuit disassembly, specifically reduced connectivity of inhibitory Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons on SPNs, is found in animal groups with lower learning ability. These results help elucidate the unclear role of striosomes in learning and provide ideas for future research directions that could inspire neurological treatments for neuro-degradation in aging and disorder.
by Sabrina Mariel Drammis.
M.Eng.
M.Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
77 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Understanding the role of striosomes in learning a decision-making task
Thesis
application/pdf
2021-02-19T20:31:42Z
Publication
Master
EECS
unknown
unknown
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<Abstract>Learning to approach for rewards and avoid for costs is a necessary skill for species survival. In this thesis, I investigate the role of the striosomal compartment of the rodent basal ganglia while learning a cost-benefit decision making task. I analyze data from animals of different age groups and animals with expressive Huntington's disease (HD) gene. My goal is to understand the computational role of striosomes in learning, and how aging and Huntington's disorder affect the anatomical structure of striosomes and thus the ability to learn. By analyzing Ca⁺⁺ (Calcium) neuron population recordings, behavior recordings, and histological brain slice images of mice, I find that: 1) the activity of spiny projection neurons (SPNs) in striosomes correlate with learning ability; 2) an animal's attentiveness to the task is critical for learning; 3) anatomical circuit disassembly, specifically reduced connectivity of inhibitory Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons on SPNs, is found in animal groups with lower learning ability. These results help elucidate the unclear role of striosomes in learning and provide ideas for future research directions that could inspire neurological treatments for neuro-degradation in aging and disorder.</Abstract>
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