A two-photon survey of the plasticity of the neocortical microcircuit: searching for plasticity hotspots

Objective

The cortex has been described to display synaptic plasticity, which is determinant for the function of cortical microcircuits. Although there is a large literature on neocortical plasticity, most of the experiments addressed the connections of pyramidal cells located in particular cortical layers, so the majority of intracortical connections are yet unexplored with respect to their plasticity. Moreover, these studies are contradictory in that apparently synaptic plasticity rules like spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) could be different in different neurons. Therefore, to understand the cortical microcircuit it appears necessary to characterize the different types of plasticity that these circuits are implementing and examine precisely how work the cell-specificity of the synaptic plasticity. The aim of this project is to characterize the plastic rules present among different subtypes of cortical neurons involved in a same microcircuit. I will focus on cortical microcircuit of pyramidal layer 5 cells which are the output cells of the cortex. Using calcium imaging coupled with two-photon photostimulation, I will identify connected cells and determine the extent of a cortical microcircuit that controls layer 5 cells. When connected cells will be identified, electrophysiological recordings and morphological reconstruction will allow me to characterize the cells involved in this microcircuit. I will characterize the plasticity forms which can occur between different connected cells using STDP protocols. The induced plasticity will be correlated with the nature and morphology of the considered connected cells to characterize the cellspecificity of the plasticity in a cortical microcircuit and to describe for the first time the rules of plasticity of cortical microcircuits. Furthermore, the return phase of the project will allow me to use these techniques developed by Pr Yuste to explore the dynamics of basal ganglia neural networks in my return host laboratory.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
• natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computational intelligence

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Neurobiology
• Neurophysiology

Programme(s)

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• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF)

Coordinator