Functional organization of color selective neurons in primate visual cortex

描述（由申请人提供）：先前关于色觉神经机制的研究在多个层面上取得了进展。在神经元水平上，一个新兴的观点是，颜色信息是由两类神经元在初级视觉区（V1）编码的：单对手神经元，从相对的锥体接收平衡的输入，双对手神经元，接收不平衡的锥体输入。但它们在编码颜色信息中的相对作用仍有争议。 在群体水平上，在腹侧视觉通路的沿着的许多阶段，包括人类大脑中与色盲相关的病变区域，都发现了由神经元组对颜色的空间组织表示。PI和同事们在猕猴的V1和V2区域发现了这样的表示，或色调图。不同区域的色调图在颜色信息的表示和处理中起着至关重要的作用。 解剖学和功能学证据表明，V1区的色调图可能是其他区域色调图的起源。但目前还不清楚V1中的色调图是如何形成的，以及它们在处理颜色信息的作用上与周围区域有何不同。目前的项目将通过结合功能成像和使用多电极阵列记录许多单个单元来解决这些问题。该项目旨在整合和推进关于颜色信息神经处理的神经元和群体水平的知识。这种整合将把解决这些问题所需的所有部分汇集在一起， 颜色感知是如何产生的难题。 三色视觉只存在于哺乳动物中的一些灵长类动物中。通过研究猕猴颜色选择细胞的功能组织，该项目将揭示皮层回路如何适应进化过程中外周的变化。这种见解将有助于理解参与其他功能的神经回路的起源，因为许多功能都是适应外围变化的产物。因此，拟议项目的影响不仅限于色觉。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Previous studies on the neural mechanism of color vision have made progresses at multiple levels. At the neuronal level, an emerging view is that color information is coded in primary visual area (V1) by two classes of neurons: single-opponent neurons that receive balanced inputs from opposing cones, and double-opponent neurons that receive unbalanced cone inputs. But their relative roles in coding color information are still under debate. At the population level, spatially organized representation of color by groups of neurons have been found at many stages along the ventral visual pathway, including an area in human brain where lesions were associated with achromatopsia. The PI and colleagues have discovered such representations, or the hue maps, in areas V1 and V2 of macaque. The hue maps in different areas are likely to play a critical role in representing and processing color information. Anatomical and functional evidences suggest that the hue maps in V1 are likely the origin of the hue maps in other areas. But it is unknown how the hue maps in V1 are formed and how they differ from surrounding regions in the role of processing color information. The current project will address these questions by combining functional imaging with recording of many single units using multi- electrode arrays. The project aims to integrate and advance the knowledge at neuronal and population levels about the neural processing of color information. Such integration will bring together all the pieces that are needed to solve the puzzle of how color perception is produced. The trichromatic vision is only present in some primates among mammals. By studying the functional organization of color selective cells in macaque, the proposed project will shed light on how cortical circuits adapt to a change in peripheral during evolution. Such insights will be useful for understanding the origin of neural circuits involved in other functions, because many functions are products of adaptation to peripheral changes. Therefore, the impact of the proposed project is not limited to color vision.