Functional connectivity in primary visual cortex (request for administrative supp

描述(申请人提供)：人脑需要有一个准确的视觉空间地图来解释我们看到的图像。最准确和最完整的视觉地图位于初级视皮层，所有的基本刺激属性都被认为是系统地表征的，包括空间位置、方向和相位。例如，页面中间的垂直黑条可以通过其位置(凝视点)、方向(垂直)和相位(被光包围的黑色)在初级视觉皮质中表示。虽然以前的研究已经在理解空间位置和方向如何跨初级视皮层映射方面取得了重要进展，但我们仍然不知道空间相位如何在这张图上表现出来。鉴于这一阶段在图像处理算法中的重要性，这是知识上的一个根本差距，图像处理算法经常应用于卫星图像、医学成像、可视电话和字符识别。目前的实验数据表明，空间相位随机分布在整个大脑皮层；然而，计算模型一直坚持认为，相位应该聚集在皮质地图的特定区域。我们最近的研究结果首次证明了与大脑皮层刺激方向的映射密切相关的空间相位的显著簇的存在。此外，我们还证明了暗主导的位相比光主导的位相有更好的表现。该研究项目的主要目的是利用多电极记录的最新进展和比过去使用的其他方法更好的时空分辨率来研究这些新发现的空间相图的组织。通过我们的多电极方法，我们将揭示视觉皮层地图的空间位置、方向和相位的相互关联的组织，这些地图中暗主导的地形，以及控制每100 x 100微米皮质内多个刺激维度的表示的规则。我们将使用这些测量来建立一个详细的数据库，整个视觉大脑皮层地图上的刺激特征的多维映射，并测试目前的计算模型的功能大脑皮层结构和皮质发育。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The human brain needs to have access to an accurate map of visual space to interpret the images that we see. The most accurate and complete visual map is located in primary visual cortex, where all the basic stimulus properties are thought to be systematically represented, including spatial location, orientation and phase. For example, a vertical dark bar in the middle of this page can be represented in primary visual cortex by its position (point of fixation), orientation (vertical) and phase (dark flanked by light. While previous studies have made important advances in our understanding of how spatial location and orientation are mapped across the primary visual cortex, we still do not know how spatial phase is represented in this map. This is a fundamental gap in knowledge given the importance that phase has in image processing algorithms, which are regularly applied to satellite imagery, medical imaging, videophone and character recognition. Current experimental data suggest that spatial phase is randomly distributed throughout the cortex; however, computational models keep insisting that phase should be clustered in specific regions of the cortical map. Our recent results demonstrate, for the first time, the existence of pronounced clusters for spatial phase that are closely related to the mapping of stimulus orientation in cortex. In addition, we show that dark-dominated phases are better represented than light-dominated ones. The main goal of this research project is to study the organization of these newly discovered cortical maps for spatial phase with a novel approach that takes advantage of recent advances in multielectrode recording and has considerably better spatio-temporal resolution than other methods used in the past. With our multielectrode approach, we will reveal the inter- related organization of visual cortical maps for spatial position, orientation and phase the topography of dark- dominance in these maps and the rules that govern the representation of multiple stimulus dimensions within each 100 x 100 microns of cortex. We will use these measurements to build a detailed database of the multi- dimensional mapping of stimulus features across the visual cortical map and to test current computational models of functional cortical architecture and cortical development.