Neuroscience Seminar Series :
Matteo Carandini (University College, London)
Title: From Vision to Decision and Navigation in Mouse Cortex
Video sur MédiasDAs signals progress along the early visual system, they undergo a remarkable transformation.
Before reaching the primary visual cortex (V1) responses are still highly repeatable, and they
can be predicted by simple model of image processing. In V1, instead, responses become hugely
affected by activity that originates within the brain, which varies from trial to trial, and is closely
related to behavior. For instance, a major factor that controls responses of neurons in the mouse
visual cortex is locomotion. In mouse V1, locomotion changes the nature of spatial integration,
reducing the strength of lateral interactions. Moreover, locomotion interacts with vision to affect
responses during navigation, perhaps to help the animal estimate is own movement. In the parietal
visual areas that follow V1, the visual signals are transformed to encode variables relevant to
navigation. We study this transformation by training mice to make visual decisions while they
navigate in a virtual reality environment. Preliminary results indicate that these neurons code for
combinations of the animal’s heading and position in the room. The activity of neurons in parietal
cortex of the mouse thus reflects the interactions of vision, decision, and navigation.
There is a free lunch for students and postdocs following the seminar. All are welcome and strongly encouraged to take advantage of this great opportunity. Please sign up here. If you have questions please contact Cécile Issard (cecile.issard [at] etu.parisdescartes.fr).
(Friday, June 24th. 2016 at 11:30 am, Salle des Conférences (R229), Centre Universitaire des Saints-Pères, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris)