Functional relationships between visual cortex and thalamus

项目摘要 这项拟议中的研究将检验相关的假设，即丘脑在大脑中起着迄今被忽视的关键作用。 在皮层处理中的作用特别是，许多丘脑核团共同构成了丘脑的大部分， 体积和以前神秘的功能，我们现在建议是至关重要的参与信息 通过皮质-丘脑-皮质通路在皮质区域之间的流动和功能性动态结合。我们 本文拟以小鼠视觉系统为模型，通过体外切片研究这些通路 制剂和体内表现制剂。似乎在许多甚至所有的病例中， 通过直接通路和这些经丘脑通路连接，我们希望了解原因： 每一条通路传递的信息都不一样吗为什么一个人通过丘脑时 被封锁在那里？当两条通路都激活时， 这是否涉及区域之间的动态联系，以帮助完成各种认知任务，如注意力？到 开始开发这些问题的答案，我们建议探索这些途径的基本电路特性， 更好地理解丘脑通路在高级认知功能中的作用。

PROJECT SUMMARY The proposed research will test related hypotheses that thalamus plays a heretofore neglected and critical role in cortical processing. In particular, many thalamic nuclei, that together comprise the majority of thalamic volume and that were previously mysterious in function, we now suggest are critically involved in information flow and functional, dynamic binding between cortical areas via cortico-thalamo-cortical pathways. We propose to study these pathways using the mouse visual system as the model involving in vitro slice preparations and in vivo behaving preparations. It appears that, in many and perhaps all cases, cortical areas are connected by both direct and these transthalamic pathways, and we wish to understand why: What is different in the information passed by each pathway? Why does one pass through thalamus with the possibility of being blocked there? Is there nonlinear summation in the target cortical area when both pathways are active, and could this be involved in dynamic linking of areas to subserve various cognitive tasks, such as attention? To begin developing answers to these questions, we propose to probe basic circuit properties of these pathways to better understand the role of the transthalamic pathways in higher cognitive functioning.