Obiettivo When we see an object, hear a sound or smell an odor, precise spatial and temporal patterns of electrical activity are generated within neuronal networks located in specialized brain areas. This electrical representation of the external stimulus mediates perception and sensory experience. However, this process is highly variable, and repetition of the very same sensory experience results in distinct network activity patterns. What does this variability mean for perception? Do distinct activity patterns carry different information about the stimulus? Or rather, does the brain code the same information coming from the outside world in multiple and equivalent ways? Answering these questions and determining how patterns of activity in neuronal populations are used for behavior has not been possible because of the inability to change the activity of neurons with single cell precision over large networks in an intact mammalian brain. In this ambitious proposal we will take a multidisciplinary approach to causally address these questions and decipher the computational principles of brain networks. To achieve this goal we will develop innovative optical technologies for manipulating and monitoring brain circuits with single cell resolution in the intact mouse brain. We will combine these new techniques with novel genetic manipulations and psychophysical behavioral methods that allow precise quantification of animals’ perceptual performance. Using this unique set of tools, we will unravel how the spatial (across neurons) and temporal (across time) aspects of neuronal electrical activity patterns encode information that guides behavior. In achieving our goals we will produce a new technology for stimulating and monitoring neurons in the brains of behaving animals with single-cell specificity that can be adapted to explore cellular dynamics in highly scattering biological media. Campo scientifico medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologygenetic engineering Programma(i) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Argomento(i) ERC-CoG-2014 - ERC Consolidator Grant Invito a presentare proposte ERC-2014-CoG Vedi altri progetti per questo bando Meccanismo di finanziamento ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Istituzione ospitante FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 637 500,00 Indirizzo VIA MOREGO 30 16163 Genova Italia Mostra sulla mappa Regione Nord-Ovest Liguria Genova Tipo di attività Research Organisations Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 1 637 500,00 Beneficiari (2) Classifica in ordine alfabetico Classifica per Contributo netto dell'UE Espandi tutto Riduci tutto FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA Italia Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 637 500,00 Indirizzo VIA MOREGO 30 16163 Genova Mostra sulla mappa Regione Nord-Ovest Liguria Genova Tipo di attività Research Organisations Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 1 637 500,00 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Stati Uniti Contribution nette de l'UE € 336 500,00 Indirizzo S ELLIS AVE 5801 ROOM 503 60637 Chicago Illinois Mostra sulla mappa Tipo di attività Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 336 500,00