Visual motor processing in retino-collicular and cortico-collicular circuits

视网膜丘脑和皮质丘脑回路中的视觉运动处理

• 批准号: 348229062
• 负责人: Dr. Jens Kremkow
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Neurowissenschaftliches Forschungszentrum (CCM)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Independent Junior Research Groups
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/348229062?language=en
• 关键词: Visual; motor; processing; retino; collicular

Visual stimuli are encoded in the retina and processed in cortical and subcortical circuits to ultimately guide behaviors. A neural circuit that is central for visually guided behaviors and visual motor processing is the superior colliculus. The superior colliculus is a layered structure in the midbrain that receives afferent sensory inputs, descending top-down information from cortical neurons and that mediates behavior via its output projections to different motor structures. For example, neurons in the superficial visual layer receive inputs from retinal ganglion cells and are organized in a direction preference map for visual motion, while neurons in the deeper layers integrate inputs from the motor cortex and mediate directional saccadic eye movements. Thus, the superior colliculus serves as a critical gateway for visual processing and visually guided behaviors. However, several questions remain open in regard to the mechanisms underlying the functional organization of the superior colliculus and the neural basis of visual-motor processing in retino-collicular and cortico-collicular circuits. Here we will employ large-scale electrophysiological recordings using high-density electrodes (Neuropixels probes) in head-fixed mice and computational modeling to address the following aims: To reveal the functional organization of the retino-collicular circuit we will employ a novel method that we recently established and that allows recording retinal ganglion cells and their connected targets simultaneously in vivo. Using this method, we will (1) characterize how the retinal ganglion cell afferent input is organized in the visual layers of the superior colliculus. Moreover, we will (2) study potential developmental mechanisms that give rise to the functional maps in superior colliculus using a computational model. In parallel, we will (3) investigate how saccadic eye movements modulate sensory processing in the retina in awake mice and (4) measure the causal role of the cortico-collicular pathway in generating saccadic eye movements during navigation. Thus, our major goal is to examine the mechanisms underlying visual-motor processing in retino-collicular and cortico-collicular circuits and we will thereby reveal new insights about the role of the superior colliculus in visually guided behaviors.

视觉刺激在视网膜中被编码，并在皮质和皮质下回路中进行处理，最终指导行为。上丘是视觉引导行为和视觉运动处理的中枢神经回路。上丘是中脑的一种分层结构，它接受传入的感觉输入，从皮质神经元向下传递自上而下的信息，并通过其向不同运动结构的输出投射来调节行为。例如，视觉浅层的神经元接受来自视网膜神经节细胞的输入，并被组织成视觉运动的方向偏好图，而深层的神经元整合来自运动皮质的输入，调节定向扫视眼球运动。因此，上丘是视觉处理和视觉引导行为的关键通道。然而，关于上丘功能组织的机制以及视网膜-丘脑和皮质-丘脑回路中视觉运动处理的神经基础，仍有几个问题悬而未决。在这里，我们将使用高密度电极(神经像素探针)在头部固定的小鼠上进行大规模电生理记录，并进行计算建模，以达到以下目的：为了揭示视网膜-丘脑回路的功能组织，我们将使用我们最近建立的一种新方法，该方法可以在体内同时记录视网膜神经节细胞及其连接的靶细胞。利用这种方法，我们将(1)描述视网膜神经节细胞传入信息是如何在上丘的视觉层中组织起来的。此外，我们将(2)利用计算模型研究产生上丘功能图的潜在发育机制。与此同时，我们将(3)研究眼跳运动如何调节清醒小鼠视网膜的感觉处理，以及(4)测量皮层-丘脑通路在导航过程中产生眼跳运动的因果作用。因此，我们的主要目标是研究视网膜-丘脑和皮质-丘脑回路中视觉运动加工的潜在机制，从而揭示上丘在视觉引导行为中的作用。