Optical imaging of synaptic transmission: a transformative technology to probe the functional determinants of behaviour.

第一轮-突触传递的光学成像：一种探索行为功能决定因素的变革性技术。3D实时成像是理解神经系统控制行为等生物过程的关键，但要快速实现具有挑战性。一种方法是选择性平面照明显微镜（SPIM），它使用一张薄光片成像到高速相机上：光片和成像物镜的快速z移动允许3D中的高速观察。我们将开发一种具有改进分辨率的SPIM，该SPIM使用双光子贝塞尔光束激发来通过小活体动物（如斑马鱼幼虫或C。优雅该仪器是英国的第一台仪器，将允许学生开发一个项目，该项目基于使用荧光谷氨酸报告基因iGlUSnFR可视化神经元之间突触连接处传输的信号动态。这项变革性的技术将揭示当动物与其环境相互作用时，信息如何在大脑中流动。学生将在两种情况下探索这些过程：斑马鱼的视觉驱动行为和蠕虫的进食行为。在斑马鱼中，就像在所有脊椎动物中一样，兴奋性突触通过视网膜将视觉信号传递到下游电路，控制诸如捕获猎物和视动反应等行为。这些行为是可塑性的，我们将研究多巴胺和血清素等神经调节剂如何作用于突触来调节它们。在蠕虫C. elegans该项目及其合作将研究两个不同的谷氨酸依赖回路之间的秒到秒的相互作用，这两个回路决定了进食行为。学生将想象这个电路的动态，因为它控制喂养行为。

First rotation- Optical imaging of synaptic transmission: a transformative technology to probe the functional determinants of behaviour.3D live imaging is key to understanding biological processes such as nervous system control of behaviour, but it is challenging to achieve at speed.One approach is selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) which uses a thin sheet of light imaged onto a high-speed camera: rapid z-movement of both light-sheet and imaging objective allows high-speed iobservation in 3D. We will develop a SPIM with improved resolution that uses two-photon Bessel beam excitation to image through the brain of a small live animal such as a larval zebrafish or C. elegans. This instrument, the first in the UK, will allow the student to develop a project based around visualizing the dynamics of signals transmitted at synaptic connections between neurons using the fluorescent glutamate reporter iGlUSnFR. This transformative technology will reveal how information flows through the brain as an animal interacts with its environment.The student will explore these processes in two contexts: visually-driven behaviour in zebrafish and feeding behaviour in worms. In zebrafish, as in all vertebrates, excitatory synapses convey the visual signal through the retina to downstream circuits controlling behaviours such as prey-capture and the optomotor response. These behaviours are plastic and we will investigate how neuromodulators such as dopamine and serotonin act on synapses to adjust them. In the context of the worm C. elegans the project and its collaboration will investigate a second-to-second interaction between two distinct glutamate-dependent circuits that pivot feeding behaviour. The student will image the dynamics of this circuit as it controls feeding behaviour.