Organization and Function of Mouse Visual Cortical Areas

描述（由申请人提供）：视觉感知由视网膜、视觉皮层和皮层下脑结构中神经元之间的复杂相互作用介导。视觉对人类和其他灵长类动物的重要性反映在大脑皮层中用于处理视觉信息的巨大比例上。因此，视觉处理的缺陷特别使人衰弱，并且不仅是由于眼睛的异常，而且也是由于皮层回路的异常。例如，儿童时期的斜视或弱视会对处理视觉信息的皮层回路产生长期影响。也有证据表明，某些形式的诵读困难是由中央视觉系统异常引起的。神经系统的功能依赖于由多种神经元类型组成的神经元网络之间的复杂相互作用。本研究旨在揭示小鼠视皮层的组织结构和功能。这些研究将提供一个重要的框架，详细的功能研究的视觉皮层电路使用新的遗传，病毒和转基因的方法，已在神经科学的前沿在过去几年中开发。由于这些工具在小鼠中是最强大的，并且皮层回路的组织和功能的许多基本原理从小鼠到人类都是保守的，因此小鼠系统的开发代表了未来研究的极其重要的方向。这三个目标将揭示：9个小鼠纹外视区的神经元的视觉感受野特性;投射到纹外视区的V1神经元的功能特性;以及纹外视区与皮质下结构之间的连接。 公共卫生相关性：了解视觉皮层区域及其底层电路的详细组织和功能对于获得视觉处理的机械理解是必要的，并且也有助于更普遍地理解整个大脑皮层的电路机制。中央视觉处理的缺陷与斜视、弱视和阅读障碍有关。更一般地说，理解皮层功能的电路机制对精神分裂症和自闭症等疾病也有重要意义，这些疾病涉及皮层电路功能的损伤。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Visual perception is mediated by complex interactions amongst neurons in the retina, visual cortex, and subcortical brain structures. The importance of vision to humans and other primates is reflected in the enormous percentage of cerebral cortex devoted to processing visual information. Thus, deficits in visual processing are particularly debilitating and arise from abnormalities not only in the eye, but also in cortical circuitry. For example, strabismus or amblyopia during childhood can have long-lasting effects on the cortical circuits that process visual information. There is also evidence that some forms of dyslexia result from central visual system abnormalities. The function of the nervous system is dependent on complex interactions between networks of neurons composed of multiple neuron types. The proposed studies are aimed at revealing the organization and function of mouse visual cortical areas. Such studies will provide a crucial framework for detailed functional investigations of visual cortical circuits using novel genetic, viral and transgenic approaches tha have been developed at the cutting edge of neuroscience over the last several years. Because these tools are most powerful in mice and many basic principles of the organization and function of cortical circuits are conserved from mice to humans, development of the mouse system represents in extremely important direction for future studies. The 3 aims will reveal: the visual receptive field properties of neurons in each of nine mouse extrastriate visual areas; the functional properties of V1 neurons that project to extrastriate visual areas; and the connections between extrastriate visual areas and to subcortical structures. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Understanding the detailed organization and function of visual cortical areas and their underlying circuits is necessary to obtain a mechanistic understanding of visual processing and also contributes more generally to understanding circuit mechanisms across all of the cerebral cortex. Deficits in central visual processing are linked to strabismus, amblyopia and dyslexia. More generally, understanding circuit mechanisms that underlie cortical function also has important implications for diseases such as schizophrenia and autism, where impairments in the function of cortical circuits is implicated.