Final Report Summary - CODING_IN_V1 (How visual information is represented by neuronal networks in the primary visual cortex)
Research in my lab is part of an increasing worldwide effort to understand the wiring of brain circuits. This work may uncover how the brain perceives. Specialised brain regions compute different kinds of information (images, sounds, touch, movement), each containing millions of brain cells (neurons) making trillions of connections (synapses) between them. One way to make sense of this humbling complexity is to discover the rules by which neurons with different roles in the brain interact with each other — but this has proved a major technical challenge.
We have developed a powerful new method for measuring synaptic connections between neurons with known functional roles in the network. We will use this method to study the mechanisms of vision. By discovering how neurons which are sensitive to different visual features (e.g. edges in images) connect to each other and how these connections give rise to the function of the cells, we have uncovered some of the basic principles of how images are built up in the brain. In the future, our new method can be used to reveal the wiring of other brain regions, and help to understand how wiring is altered in devastating diseases such as Schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy.
We have developed a powerful new method for measuring synaptic connections between neurons with known functional roles in the network. We will use this method to study the mechanisms of vision. By discovering how neurons which are sensitive to different visual features (e.g. edges in images) connect to each other and how these connections give rise to the function of the cells, we have uncovered some of the basic principles of how images are built up in the brain. In the future, our new method can be used to reveal the wiring of other brain regions, and help to understand how wiring is altered in devastating diseases such as Schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy.