Grant: Project Grant

Synapses among specific neurons form the neural circuits essential for our mental abilities and, all too often, disabilities. Yet, the rules and mechanisms that direct this specific connectivity and define circuitry are not entirely clear. To learn more, we will study the assembly of circuits in the mouse early visual system that extract and consolidate specific features of the visual scene into the information channels (e.g., motion, form, etc.) required for sight. Our working model is that specific connectivity in these circuits is built according to a genetically defined connectivity code that directs individual neurons to synapse with their targets. Using a multidisciplinary approach that includes optogenetic circuit mapping, molecular-genetic tools, and in vivo imaging from awake mice, we will define the mechanisms of this code, determine its contribution to visual circuit assembly, and link its function to the assembly of visual channels that flow from eye into brain. What we learn will offer immense potential to unveil the connectivity codes for higher brain areas and to understand how these links could become corrupted and result in disease.