Minority Predoctoral Fellowship Program

描述（由申请人提供）：哺乳动物视觉系统的一个基本特征是将视觉图像分解为专门的信息流，一些专门用于处理运动，另一些专门用于处理物体形状或颜色。虽然这些通道从视网膜的起源到视觉皮层的几个区域已经被很好地定义，但对于它们最终如何重新整合以获得对视觉世界的准确解释却知之甚少。我们目前正在研究猕猴视觉皮层中的两种不同的运动处理通路（直接V1-MT通路和间接V1-V2 A/3-MT通路）如何联合收割机信息以获得对物体如何移动的准确解释。我们正在通过使用可逆失活技术（局部冷却）来沉默清醒行为猕猴中V2和V3区的神经元活动。通过记录来自运动处理区MT的神经元和记录眼行为，我们将识别当上述纹外区对运动分析没有贡献时出现的特定视觉缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A fundamental feature of the mammalian visual system is its decomposition of the visual image into specialized streams of information, some dedicated to processing motion, others to object shape or color. Although these channels have been well-defined from their origin in the retina to several regions of the visual cortex, less is known about how they are eventually re-integrated to obtain accurate interpretations of the visual world. We are currently investigating how two different motion-processing pathways in the visual cortex of the macaque (a direct V1-MT pathway and an indirect V1-V2A/3-MT pathway), combine information to obtain accurate interpretations of how objects move. We are doing this by using a reversible-inactivation technique (localized cooling) to silence neuronal activity of areas V2 and V3 in the awake behaving macaque. By recording from neurons in the motion-processing area MT and recording ocular behavior, we will identify the specific visual deficiencies that arise when the above extrastriate areas do not contribute to the analysis of motion.