Thalamocortical mechanisms producing spatial chromatic contrast in mouse V1

项目总结 将颜色和形式整合到连贯的视觉场景中的能力是我们与 环境。这种能力在许多眼科和神经精神疾病中受到损害，但神经 负责视觉特征整合的机制仍未得到充分研究。以小鼠为模型 生物体提供了对跨物种和 神经信息处理的一般原理。最近在老鼠身上的研究表明，早期的老鼠 视觉系统对颜色信息做出反应，小鼠可以使用这些信息来指导行为。 然而，尚不清楚早期的视觉系统如何整合光谱和亮度对比来表示 空间上的颜色。我自己的初步数据表明，小鼠初级视觉皮质(V1)中的神经元 可以在工作基础上以颜色相关的方式对空间亮度对比度(即形式)做出响应 丘脑外侧膝状体(LGN)对颜色对比的反应--The 视觉层次结构的前置阶段。这表明颜色和形式的结合是通过 丘脑皮质网络，尽管整合的确切机制尚不清楚。 因此，这项提议的目的是要问，在神经上，颜色和亮度的变化是如何整合的 来生成空间色度对比度？要做到这一点，我需要测量来自大量 LGN和V1神经元捕捉染色反应的广度及其相关联系 地区。利用老鼠视觉系统的相对规模和高密度电生理学，这 该项目将研究时空高度的空间色度整合的机制 决议。目标1将研究从LGN到LGN的色差和非色差信号的函数收敛 在V1中产生色度选择性。然后，目标2将检查皮质内网络是否以及如何增强 色度选择性，可为后续的视觉处理阶段优化色彩调谐。 总而言之，这一建议将扩大我们对早期视觉系统如何 在空间上集成了颜色和亮度，为进一步研究如何 颜色与特定的视觉特征相结合，例如方向、方向、运动以及最终的颜色是什么 融入复杂的自然主义场景。这项工作还将为申请人提供宝贵的培训 他未来的职业生涯是一名神经精神病学家，专注于将基础知识从计算 将神经科学转化为新的、高度精确的疗法。

PROJECT SUMMARY The ability to integrate color and form into coherent visual scenes is an important part of our interactions with the environment. This ability is impaired in many ophthalmologic and neuropsychiatric disorders, yet the neural mechanisms responsible for visual feature integration remain understudied. The use of mice as a model organism has provided deep insights into fundamental mechanisms of vison conserved across species and general principles of neural information processing. Recent work in mice has shown that the early mouse visual system is wired to respond to chromatic information and mice can use this information to guide behavior. However, it is unclear how the early visual system integrates spectral and luminance contrasts to represent color spatially. My own preliminary data has demonstrated that neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) can respond to spatial luminance contrast (i.e., form) in a color-dependent manner, building on work demonstrating responses to color contrast in in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGN) – the preceding stage of visual hierarchy. This suggests that color and form begin their integration through thalamocortical networks, though the exact mechanism of integration is unknown. Thus, the goal of this proposal is to ask how, neurally, are variations in color and luminance integrated to generate spatial chromatic contrast? To do this, I will need to measure responses from a large number of neurons in LGN and V1 to capture the breadth of chromatic responses and relevant connections between regions. Leveraging the relative scale of the mouse visual system and high-density electrophysiology, this project will examine mechanisms of spatial chromatic integration with a high degree of spatiotemporal resolution. Aim 1 will examine the functional convergence of chromatic and achromatic signals from LGN to produce chromatic selectivity in V1. Aim 2 will then examine if and how intracortical networks enhance chromatic selectivity to refine color tuning for subsequent stages of visual processing. In sum, this proposal will expand our fundamental understanding of how the early visual system integrates color and luminance spatially, providing a steppingstone to further experiments investigating how color integrates with specific visual features such as orientation, direction, motion, and ultimately how color is integrated into complex naturalistic scenes. This work will also provide the applicant with invaluable training in his future career as a neuropsychiatrist focused on translating foundational knowledge from computational neuroscience into novel, highly precise therapeutics.