Description du projet
Une étude se penche sur la spécialisation des sens
De récentes études ont montré que l’activité spontanée guidait la formation correcte des circuits neuronaux dans le cerveau immature. Le projet SPONTSENSE, financé par l’UE, étudiera comment les modèles d’activité spontanée affectent la spécification des cortex sensoriels et la plasticité à long terme. Le projet étudiera les interactions entre les modèles uniques d’activité spontanée et les programmes transcriptionnels dans différentes zones sensorielles en vue de spécifier leur fonction sensorielle, au cours du développement normal et dans des conditions de privation. SPONTSENSE permettra de mieux comprendre le développement des circuits sensoriels et de jeter un nouvel éclairage sur la plasticité cérébrale consécutive à des déficiences sensorielles. Les résultats du projet ouvriront la voie à de nouvelles thérapies pour lutter contre les troubles résultant d’un affaiblissement des influx sensoriels.
Objectif
It is commonly held that spontaneous activity in the immature brain prepares the neural circuits to process sensory information at the onset of experience. The best studied patterns of such activity are those observed postnatally in rodents, during stages that resemble the last months of gestation in humans. However, the features and functions of spontaneous activity at earlier stages, when the brain’s foundations are laid down and cortical areal identities are acquired, remain largely unknown. Here, I propose to develop an extensive and creative research program aimed at understanding the role of the patterns of spontaneous activity in the specification of sensory cortices and long-term plasticity. This novel line of research is founded on strong preliminary results and pursues the hypothesis that different cortical sensory territories exhibit unique patterns of spontaneous activity that interact with emerging area-specific transcriptional programs to specify sensory areas functionally. We will first extract the earliest patterns of spontaneous activity from cortical and subcortical territories in embryonic and perinatal mice in vivo and study their concurrent spatiotemporal genetic signatures by single-cell transcriptomics. Next, we will perturb these early activity patterns within a specific sensory modality to reveal if such perturbation modifies the genetic landscape and affects sensory identity. Finally, we will evaluate the behavioural consequences of functional cortical re-specification in adult mice. SPONTSENSE will set the stage to understand the principles of sensory circuit development and shed new light on the brain plasticity following sensory defects. I envisage that this information will pave the way to devise strategies that may serve to direct these programs of plasticity in clinical situations as when sensory input has been compromised.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitution d’accueil
28006 Madrid
Espagne