The Effect of Feedback Inhibition on Sensory Relay by Visual Thalamus

视觉信息从眼睛(视网膜)流向大脑中视觉感知所必需的区域(大脑皮层)，通过一种称为丘脑的大脑结构进行传递。丘脑的一部分称为外侧膝状核(LGN)，是视网膜和视觉皮质之间的“中继站”。目前的研究表明，LGN在视觉处理中扮演着重要的角色，应该被认为是一个“动态过滤器”，而不是一个“继电器”。本研究项目的目的是了解LGN(及其附近脑区)抑制机制的功能作用。特别令人感兴趣的是抑制性神经元是如何参与从这一视觉通路中“过滤”视网膜信息的。PI的方法是数学和计算的。在构建了LGN神经网络的生物物理和解剖学详细的数学模型后，数值实验将量化模拟神经网络的输入/输出特性。LGN模型随后将被用来预测抑制机制对视网膜信息传递到视觉皮质的影响。由于LGN是研究最广泛的丘脑中继核团，因此它是研究丘脑感觉加工中抑制作用的一个很好的系统。这项对丘脑感觉中继器的研究可能会为研究丘脑在皮质内交流中的作用提供方法，这是大脑功能的一个基本方面。

The flow of visual information from the eye (retina) to the areas of the brain (cerebral cortex) necessary for visual perception is routed through a brain structure known as the thalamus. Part of the thalamus called the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) serves as a "relay station" between the retina and visual cortex. Current research indicates that the LGN plays an important role in visual processing and should be thought of as a "dynamic filter" as opposed to a "relay." The aim of this research project is to understand the functional role of the inhibitory mechanisms of the LGN (and nearby brain areas). Of particular interest is how inhibitory neurons are involved in "filtering out" retinal information from this visual pathway. The PI's approach is mathematical and computational. After constructing a biophysically and anatomically detailed mathematical model of the LGN neuronal network, numerical experiments will quantify the input/output properties of the simulated neural network. The LGN model will then be used to predict the influence of inhibitory mechanisms on the relay of retinal information to visual cortex. Because the LGN is the most extensively studied thalamic relay nuclei, it is a good system in which to study the role of inhibition in sensory processing by thalamus. This study of a sensory thalamic relay may suggest approaches to investigating the role of the thalamus in intracortical communication, a fundamental aspect of brain function.