Corticothalamic ensembles for multimodal salience coding

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project investigates how behavioural functions are computed by putative neuronal ensembles in the sensory thalamus of mice. Building on our preliminary observations that sensory representations in the thalamus are context-dependent and multimodal, we will use electrophysiological and imaging approaches to study ensemble generation during simple yet natural behaviours, such as whisking and locomotion. In an object examination paradigm, we will test the hypothesis that thalamic ensembles represent perceptual stimulus salience. Finally, we will test the causal involvement of corticothalamic interactions in thalamic ensemble recruitment. Overall, we expect a better understanding of context-dependent sensory processing.