Organization and Function of Mouse Visual Cortical Areas

描述（由申请人提供）：视觉知觉是由视网膜、视觉皮层和皮层下脑结构中的神经元之间复杂的相互作用介导的。视觉对人类和其他灵长类动物的重要性反映在大脑皮层用于处理视觉信息的巨大比例上。因此，视觉处理的缺陷尤其使人衰弱，而且不仅是由眼睛的异常引起的，而且是由皮层回路的异常引起的。例如，儿童时期的斜视或弱视会对处理视觉信息的皮层回路产生长期影响。也有证据表明，某些形式的阅读障碍是由中枢视觉系统异常引起的。神经系统的功能依赖于由多种神经元类型组成的神经元网络之间复杂的相互作用。本研究旨在揭示小鼠视觉皮质区的组织和功能。这些研究将为视觉皮层回路的详细功能研究提供一个关键框架，这些研究使用了过去几年在神经科学前沿发展起来的新的遗传、病毒和转基因方法。由于这些工具在小鼠中最强大，并且许多皮层回路的组织和功能的基本原理从小鼠到人类都是保守的，因此小鼠系统的发展代表了未来研究的极其重要的方向。这三个目标将揭示：9个小鼠外皮层视觉区中每个神经元的视觉感受野特性；V1神经元投射到外视区的功能特性；以及层外视觉区和皮层下结构之间的联系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Visual perception is mediated by complex interactions amongst neurons in the retina, visual cortex, and subcortical brain structures. The importance of vision to humans and other primates is reflected in the enormous percentage of cerebral cortex devoted to processing visual information. Thus, deficits in visual processing are particularly debilitating and arise from abnormalities not only in the eye, but also in cortical circuitry. For example, strabismus or amblyopia during childhood can have long-lasting effects on the cortical circuits that process visual information. There is also evidence that some forms of dyslexia result from central visual system abnormalities. The function of the nervous system is dependent on complex interactions between networks of neurons composed of multiple neuron types. The proposed studies are aimed at revealing the organization and function of mouse visual cortical areas. Such studies will provide a crucial framework for detailed functional investigations of visual cortical circuits using novel genetic, viral and transgenic approaches tha have been developed at the cutting edge of neuroscience over the last several years. Because these tools are most powerful in mice and many basic principles of the organization and function of cortical circuits are conserved from mice to humans, development of the mouse system represents in extremely important direction for future studies. The 3 aims will reveal: the visual receptive field properties of neurons in each of nine mouse extrastriate visual areas; the functional properties of V1 neurons that project to extrastriate visual areas; and the connections between extrastriate visual areas and to subcortical structures. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Understanding the detailed organization and function of visual cortical areas and their underlying circuits is necessary to obtain a mechanistic understanding of visual processing and also contributes more generally to understanding circuit mechanisms across all of the cerebral cortex. Deficits in central visual processing are linked to strabismus, amblyopia and dyslexia. More generally, understanding circuit mechanisms that underlie cortical function also has important implications for diseases such as schizophrenia and autism, where impairments in the function of cortical circuits is implicated.