Cortical mechanisms mediating visual function and behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的四十年里，麻醉动物的感觉皮层的细胞内记录对我们理解皮层处理做出了重大贡献，为我们了解形成单个皮层神经元尖峰反应的突触输入提供了一个窗口。然而，到目前为止，细胞内记录尚未应用于清醒的行为灵长类动物。通过结合我们两个实验室的独特专业知识，我们最近开发了新的技术，使我们能够在常规的基础上，可靠地，在初级视觉皮层（V1）的细胞内进行全细胞记录，清醒，行为的猴子。这是第一次，我们可以同时接触到阈下（代表输入的膜电位）和阈上（代表输出的尖峰）个体皮层神经元的反应，同时也利用了视觉刺激和神经元的精确控制

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over the past four decades, intracellular recordings from sensory cortex of anesthetized animals have made major contributions to our understanding of cortical processing, providing a window into the synaptic inputs that shape spiking responses of individual cortical neurons. To date, however, intracellular recording has not been applied in awake, behaving primates. By combining the unique expertise from our two laboratories, we have recently developed novel techniques that allow us to conduct, on a routine basis, reliable, whole-cell intracellular recordings in primary visual cortex (V1) of awake, behaving monkeys. For the first time, we have access to both subthreshold (membrane potentials representing input) and suprathreshold (spikes representing output) responses of individual cortical neurons, while also utilizing the precise control of visual stimulation and the subject's behavioral state afforded by behaving primates. Our ability to perform intracellular recordings in awake, behaving primates opens the door to addressing two fundamental questions with respect to the circuit-level mechanisms that mediate visual perception: (1) what is the relationship between sub- and supra-threshold activity of single cortical neurons and perceptual decisions, and (2) what are the underlying mechanisms of top-down attentional modulations in sensory cortex. To address these questions, we will first study the quantitative relationship between variability in sub- and suprathreshold responses of single V1 neurons and variability in perceptual decisions of monkeys performing a demanding visual detection task (Aim 1). In Aim 2, we will examine how sub- and suprathreshold responses are altered by changing the attentional state under which the stimulus is presented. We present preliminary data demonstrating that these recordings are not only technically feasible, but are also able to provide important and unique insights into the cellular and circuit-level mechanisms that mediate cortical sensory processing.