LOCAL CIRCUITS & DIRECTION SELECTIVITY IN VISUAL CORTEX

描述：尽管该组织的情况越来越详细 关于视觉皮层神经回路的研究，我们还远远不能理解 将这些复杂的连接模式与 单个神经元的响应特性。拟议中的实验 关注许多视觉皮层所表现出的基本属性 神经元--运动方向的选择性。方向选择性 神经元对适当定向的边缘的运动反应强烈 在一个方向上穿过他们的接受野，而且很弱，如果真的有的话， 向相反的方向移动。这笔赠款的目标是 确定模块和地形布置中的特殊性 大脑皮质内连接在形成方向上起作用 皮层神经元的选择性反应。这些实验是在 可能是通过最近系统的方向图的演示 喜好在雪貂的17区。本征光学成像 信号将用于可视化方向首选项地图 17区，以及解剖学示踪技术和体外培养的组合 将使用组织切片实验来评估空间排列 兴奋性和抑制性输入到已知的神经元群体 方向首选项。这些实验应该会提供新的见解 视觉皮质局部回路的功能组织-- 对理解视觉的神经基础至关重要的信息 感知力。

DESCRIPTION: Despite an increasingly detailed picture of the organization of neural circuits in visual cortex, we are still far from understanding the rules that relate these complex patterns of connections to the response properties of individual neurons. The proposed experiments focus on a fundamental property exhibited by many visual cortical neurons--selectivity for direction of motion. Direction selective neurons respond vigorously to movement of an appropriately oriented edge in one direction across their receptive field, and weakly, if at all, to movement in the opposite direction. The goal of this grant is to determine whether specificity in the modular and topographic arrangement of intracortical connections plays a role in shaping the direction selective responses of cortical neurons. These experiments are made possibly by the recent demonstration of a systematic map of direction preference in area 17 of the ferret. Optical imaging of intrinsic signals will be used to visualize the map of direction preference in area 17, and a combination of anatomical tracing techniques and in vitro tissue slice experiments will be used to assess the spatial arrangement of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to populations of neurons with known direction preference. These experiments should provide new insights into the functional organization of local circuits in visual cortex-- information that is crucial for understanding the neural basis of visual perception.