Intracortical Connections Underlying Cortical Function

大脑的初级视觉皮层，也被称为V1区，是视觉通路中神经纤维的第一个主要皮层目标。传统上认为，它主要用于分析视觉世界中被认为是物体碎片的“局部”特征的特征，例如物体的空间方向和局部对比部分。我们现在知道，它也参与了更复杂的感知任务，比如完成整个物体的轮廓，对视觉属性的上下文依赖感知，以及感知表现中一些依赖经验的变化。其中一些特性是由最近发现的V1内单细胞的远距离横向连接介导的。该项目利用神经活动光学成像的新方法，以及生理学、药理学和解剖学，来研究对视觉刺激的反应，这些刺激包含多个局部元素，形成更多的“全局”视觉特征。将V1固有的这些水平相互作用的功能特性与来自高阶皮层区域的反馈连接的贡献进行了比较，特别是检查了促进和抑制的相对作用。这项工作的结果将有助于更好地理解视觉皮层中视觉处理的早期阶段，也有助于理解皮层结构与皮层功能的关系，这仍然是理解大脑本身的一个基本问题。

The primary visual cortex of the brain, also known as area V1, is the first major cortical target for the nerve fibers in the visual pathway. It has been considered classically to function mainly for analyzing features in the visual world considered to be "local" characteristics of pieces of objects, such as spatial orientations and locally contrasting parts of objects. We now know that it also is involved in much more complex perceptual tasks such as completion of contours around whole objects, for context-dependent perception of visual attributes, and for some of the experience-dependent changes in perceptual performance. Some of these properties are mediated by recently discovered long-range lateral connections of single cells within V1. This project utilizes new methods of optical imaging of neural activity, along with physiology, pharmacology and anatomy, to study responses to visual stimuli containing multiple local elements that form more "global" visual features. Functional properties of these horizontal interactions intrinsic to V1 are compared to the contributions of feedback connections to and from higher order cortical areas, particularly examining the relative roles of facilitation and inhibition. Results from this work will lead to a better understanding of the early stages of visual processing in visual cortex, and also be relevant to understanding how cortical architecture relates to cortical function in general, which remains a fundamental issue in understanding the brain itself.