Project description
Understanding how the brain helps us navigate our space
Animals have the unique ability to integrate different sensory inputs to navigate their space, which allows them to carry out different daily tasks. Emerging evidence indicates that the hippocampus not only serves as a critical centre for memory processing but also has a critical role in encoding space. SpaceCode is an EU-funded project that aims to determine how sensory and spatial signals interact in the brain. Researchers will perform virtual navigation experiments in mice and record neuronal signals across multiple brain regions. The key objective is to understand how neurons encode space and which areas in the brain are involved in spatial navigation.
Objective
This project will investigate the distribution and origin of spatial coding by recording from large populations of neurons across the brain, using next-generation electrodes developed by the host laboratory. Spatial navigation is a goal-directed task that animals perform daily, and its signals engage a variety of brain systems beyond classical navigational centers such as the hippocampus. I have three aims: (1) to characterize the distribution of spatial signals across the mouse brain, with a focus on sensory regions; (2) to understand how spatial signals interact with sensory signals; (3) to establish whether the spatial signals originate in the hippocampus. The experiments will be performed in mice that navigate virtual environments and will involve next-generation Neuropixels 2.0 probes, capable of recording from hundreds of neurons at a time. First, I will record activity from large populations of neurons across multiple brain regions during virtual navigation and define the interaction of sensory and spatial signals in sensory cortex. Then I will test whether the hippocampus is necessary for spatial coding in visual cortex by manipulating its activity with chemogenetics in transgenic mice. These experiments will provide the first large-scale view of spatial coding across the mouse brain, characterizing the distribution of spatial signals, their computational role, and their causal origin.
I will perform these experiments in the Cortical Processing Laboratory at University College London, led by Professors Matteo Carandini and Kenneth Harris. I am confident I can further develop my skills as an independent researcher while answering exciting scientific questions. Professors Carandini and Harris are experts in conducting large-scale neuronal recordings in mice performing complex behavioral tasks as well as analytical techniques to process large data sets. I am experienced in systems neuroscience techniques and studying goal-directed behavior in mice.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
WC1E 6BT London
United Kingdom