Large-scale monitoring of sensory transformations in the mammalian olfactory system

项目摘要 信息在神经回路中传播时是如何被转化的，这仍然是现代科学的一个突出问题。 神经科学对于给定的电路，要解决这个问题需要了解：1）被转换的信息，2） 突触前和突触后群体的活动，以及3）突触前和突触后群体之间的连接。的 神经回路的巨大复杂性使得这样的研究极其困难，成功仅限于小范围的研究。 局部回路或整个大脑区域。本项目的总体目标是将这些比例连接起来， 通过大规模监测的技术进步， 神经活动和高维神经表征的定量分析。该项目的第二个目标是 开发一个平台，用于监控适合应用的明确定义的电路中的信息转换 能够将电路元件与神经编码的各个方面联系起来的介入工具。为了实现这些目标， 该项目将利用神经活动的光谱分离钙指标的最新进展， 哺乳动物嗅觉系统的电路，以同时成像大的前和后感觉诱发的活动， 突触后神经群体，同时选择性地操纵特定的中间神经元类。生成的数据集将 使高维神经表征的多个探索性分析以及假设驱动的分析成为可能。 嗅觉系统如何转换信息，包括研究嗅觉系统的组织和神经编码作用。 神经元间网络因此，该项目将通过探索大脑功能的基本新见解， 信息通过一个大型神经回路进行转换，并将进一步在系统领域产生关键进展。 神经科学和嗅觉。

PROJECT SUMMARY How information is transformed as it propagates through a neural circuit remains an outstanding question of modern neuroscience. Answering this question for a given circuit requires knowledge of: 1) the information being transformed, 2) activity in pre- and postsynaptic populations, and 3) connectivity between pre- and postsynaptic populations. The tremendous complexity of neural circuits has made such investigation exceedingly difficult, with success limited to small local circuits or across gross brain regions. The overall goal of this project is to bridge these scales to map the transformation of information across a large neural circuit through technological advances in large-scale monitoring of neural activity and quantitative analyses of high-dimensional neural representations. A secondary goal of this project is to develop a platform for monitoring the transformation of information in a well-defined circuit amenable to the application of interventional tools capable of causally linking circuit elements to aspects of neural coding. To accomplish these goals, this project will capitalize on recent advances in spectrally separated calcium indicators of neural activity and the unique circuitry of the mammalian olfactory system to simultaneously image sensory-evoked activity in large pre- and postsynaptic neural populations while selectively manipulating specific interneuron classes. The resulting dataset will enable multiple exploratory analyses of high-dimensional neural representations as well as hypothesis-driven analyses of how the olfactory system transforms information, including investigating the organization and neural coding roles of interneuronal networks. This project will thus provide fundamental new insight into brain function by exploring how information is transformed across a large neural circuit, and will further generate key advances in the fields of systems neuroscience and olfaction.