Role of neuronal ensembles in visual processing

神经元集合在视觉处理中的作用

基本信息

批准号：
10224204
负责人：
Alejandro Akrouh
金额：
$ 7.26万
依托单位：
COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-08-01 至 2022-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10224204
关键词：
3-Dimensional Action Potentials Address Amblyopia Animals Behavior Behavioral Benchmarking Blindness Brain Calcium Cells Chronic Cognitive Discrimination Disease Economics Exhibits Future Human Image Individual Lasers Lead Learning Light Link Modality Mus Neurons Opsin Optics Pattern Perception Performance Population Reproducibility Retina Rewards Role Sensory Signal Transduction Stimulus Structure Task Performances Technology Testing Time Training V1 neuron Viral Vision Vision Disorders Visual Visual Fields Visual Perception Visual system structure Vocabulary Work analytical tool area striata awake effective therapy experimental study neocortical novel optogenetics relating to nervous system response sensory input sensory stimulus social relationships therapy development two-photon visual information visual learning visual processing visual stimulus

3-Dimensional Action Potentials Address Amblyopia Animals Behavior Behavioral Benchmarking Blindness Brain Calcium Cells Chronic Cognitive Discrimination Disease Economics Exhibits Future Human Image Individual Lasers Lead Learning Light Link Modality Mus Neurons Opsin Optics Pattern Perception Performance Population Reproducibility Retina Rewards Role Sensory Signal Transduction Stimulus Structure Task Performances Technology Testing Time Training V1 neuron Viral Vision Vision Disorders Visual Visual Fields Visual Perception Visual system structure Vocabulary Work analytical tool area striata awake effective therapy experimental study neocortical novel optogenetics relating to nervous system response sensory input sensory stimulus social relationships therapy development two-photon visual information visual learning visual processing visual stimulus

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项目摘要

Project Summary Vision is the sensory modality that humans depend on most to navigate through the world and to establish meaningful social relationships. Disorders of the visual system therefore often lead to severe interpersonal and economic hardships. Although much progress has been made dissecting the retinal mechanisms that generate action potentials in response to light, surprisingly little is known about how the brain actually interprets and contextualizes these signals. I propose to leverage cutting-edge optical technologies to clarify how neuronal ensembles (coactive groups of cells) encode sensory information in primary visual cortex (V1), the neocortical region which is required to perform cognitively demanding tasks including visual discrimination. Ensembles in V1 exhibit activity patterns with reproducible spatial and temporal structures which define the functional vocabulary of cortical microcircuits and that likely carry information pertaining to both the visual field and to the internal state of the animal. Yet how these computations emerge, whether they are comprised of independent circuits, and the extent to which they provide a template for visual perception remain unknown. To address these questions, I will perform chronic two-photon holographic calcium imaging of a consistent population of V1 neurons in awake mice learning a visually-guided task. Imaging the same region longitudinally will allow us to identify how cortical ensembles emerge or are remodeled as visual features become task-salient (Aim 1). Then, to test their functional role, I will artificially activate identified neural ensembles with two-photon holographic optogenetics to test whether their activity is sufficient to generate a percept and to elicit the expected visually-evoked response (Aim 2). Successful completion of these experiments will test whether neural ensembles are indeed building blocks of cortical function and will provide a new understanding of the link between perception and behavior. Furthermore, the current project will demonstrate how cortical ensembles integrate visual information with non-sensory variables during learning and will yield new inroads towards a more complete understanding of vision, a prerequisite to addressing the paucity of effective treatments options for illnesses such as blindness.

项目摘要视觉是人类最依赖于大多数浏览的感官方式世界并建立有意义的社会关系。因此，视觉系统的疾病通常会带来严重的人际交往和经济困难。虽然取得了很多进展使剖析视网膜机制响应光，产生动作电位，令人惊讶的是，关于大脑实际上如何解释和上下文化这些知之甚少信号。我建议利用尖端的光学技术来阐明如何神经元在主视觉皮层（V1）中编码感觉信息的合奏（单元格的共同组），需要执行认知要求任务（包括视觉）的新皮层区域歧视。 V1中的合奏表现出具有可再现的空间和时间的活性模式定义皮质微电路的功能词汇的结构，并且可能携带与视野和动物的内部状态有关的信息。但是怎么样这些计算出现了，无论它们是由独立电路组成的，以及程度他们为视觉感知提供的模板仍然未知。解决这些问题，我将执行一致的慢性两光量全息钙成像在清醒小鼠中，V1神经元的种群学习视觉引导的任务。成像一样纵向区域将使我们能够确定皮质合奏如何出现或重塑为视觉功能成为任务降低的（AIM 1）。然后，为了测试他们的功能角色，我将人为地激活用两光子全息光遗传学的鉴定的神经集成剂，以测试是否是否他们的活动足以产生感知并引起预期的视觉诱发响应（目标2）。这些实验的成功完成将测试是否神经合奏确实是皮质功能的基础，将提供新的理解感知与行为之间的联系。此外，当前项目将证明在学习过程中，皮层合奏如何将视觉信息与非感官变量整合在一起并将产生新的侵害，以对愿景有更全面的理解，这是一个先决条件解决诸如失明等疾病的有效治疗方法的匮乏。