Thalamocortical and corticocortical mechanisms for sleep-dependent visual learning

项目总结：将短暂的感官体验巩固为持久的记忆是一个基本的 与突触可塑性有关的大脑功能。睡眠对于促进这一过程的重要性，以及 近世纪来，人们一直在关注睡眠剥夺对睡眠的破坏性影响。但委员会仍 目前还不清楚与睡眠相关的特定脑回路活动的变化如何有助于感觉可塑性。 使用自由行为小鼠神经元活动的纵向记录组合，最近开发的 光遗传学策略，用于表征网络活动模式的新型计算工具，我们将测试 睡眠相关的丘脑皮层活动模式在巩固简单形式中的必要性和充分性 经验依赖的可塑性。我们将检验网络振荡期间的相干激发 独特的NREM睡眠在促进丘脑外侧膝状体核之间的可塑性方面起着因果作用 (LGN)和初级视觉皮层（V1）。在这里，我们将有选择地 以状态特异性方式操纵皮质、丘脑皮质和皮质丘脑神经元群。我们将 测量单个V1和LGN神经元对所呈现刺激的反应变化，以及行为变化 在视觉辨别任务的背景下对所呈现的刺激的反应。我们将测试神经元 选择性地响应视觉刺激在引导网络活动模式中起着关键作用， 随后的睡眠，作为电路可塑性的指导机制。最后，我们将测试是否遵循 视觉体验，V1和嗅周皮层之间的睡眠依赖性通信（对视觉体验至关重要）， 识别记忆）是负责任的睡眠依赖性辨别学习。

Project summary: Consolidating transient sensory experiences into long-lasting memories is a fundamental function of the brain, linked to synaptic plasticity. The importance of sleep for promoting this process, and the disruptive effect of sleep deprivation on it, have been appreciated for nearly a century. However, it remains unclear how sleep-associated changes in the activity of specific brain circuits contribute to sensory plasticity. Using a combination of longitudinal recordings of neuronal activity in freely-behaving mice, recently-developed optogenetic strategies, novel computational tools for characterizing network activity patterns, we will test the necessity and sufficiency of sleep-associated patterns of thalamocortical activity in consolidating a simple form of experience dependent plasticity. We will test the hypothesis that coherent firing during network oscillations unique NREM sleep plays a causal role in promoting plasticity between the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and the primary visual cortex (V1) following presentation of a novel visual stimulus. Here we will selectively manipulate cortical, thalamocortical and corticothalamic neuronal populations in a state specific manner. We will measure both response changes in individual V1 and LGN neurons to the presented stimulus, and behavioral responses to the presented stimulus in the context of a visual discrimination task. We will test whether neurons that are selectively responsive to the visual stimulus play a critical role in guiding network activity patterns during subsequent sleep, acting as an instructive mechanism for circuit plasticity. Finally, we will test whether following visual experience, sleep-dependent communication between V1 and the perirhinal cortex (essential for visual recognition memory) is responsible sleep-dependent discrimination learning.