The proposed research consists of two complementary approaches to further the understanding of how visual information is represented and processed in visual cortex, particularly primary visual cortex.
Aims I will focus on the temporal structure of the neural discharge.
These aims will determine (a) the extent to which the temporal pattern of a neural discharge contributes to the representation of particular kinds of visual information, including elementary spatial features and color; (b) whether the temporal representation of visual information can facilitate subsequent visual processing; and (c) the relationship of temporal coding (representation of visual information within the spike train of a single neuron) to spatial coding (representation of visual information across two or more neurons). Standard visual stimuli (bars, gratings, and compound gratings) will be used. The usual analytical approaches of histogram, Fourier, and cross-correlation analysis will be augmented by a family of new methods recently developed in this laboratory, based on the embedding of neural responses into a metric space.
Aim II will focus on the generation of response dynamics by subregions of the receptive field. The main strategy will be an adaptation of the m-sequence technique to allow analysis of the temporal structure of the response. Through comparison of receptive field maps generated by all spikes, by bursts, and by """"""""reliable"""""""" spikes, we will determine to what extent these temporal structures participate in the signaling and extraction of features. The m-sequence analysis will show the extent to which these temporal structures arise from an overall modulation of response properties, specific receptive field subregions, or specific interactions over an extended region of space. The goals of these quantitative experiments are new qualitative insights into how the visual cortex represents and processes information, on phenomenological (Aims I) and mechanistic (Aim II) levels. This will serve as a basis for a better understanding of brain function in health and disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01EY009314-11
Application #
6518474
Study Section
Visual Sciences B Study Section (VISB)
Program Officer
Oberdorfer, Michael
Project Start
1991-07-01
Project End
2004-06-30
Budget Start
2002-07-01
Budget End
2004-06-30
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$389,145
Indirect Cost
Name
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Department
Neurology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
201373169
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10065
Joukes, Jeroen; Yu, Yunguo; Victor, Jonathan D et al. (2017) Recurrent Network Dynamics; a Link between Form and Motion. Front Syst Neurosci 11:12
Hu, Qin; Victor, Jonathan D (2016) Two-Dimensional Hermite Filters Simplify the Description of High-Order Statistics of Natural Images. Symmetry (Basel) 8:
Yu, Yunguo; Schmid, Anita M; Victor, Jonathan D (2015) Visual processing of informative multipoint correlations arises primarily in V2. Elife 4:e06604
Rucci, Michele; Victor, Jonathan D (2015) The unsteady eye: an information-processing stage, not a bug. Trends Neurosci 38:195-206
Schmid, Anita M; Victor, Jonathan D (2014) Possible functions of contextual modulations and receptive field nonlinearities: pop-out and texture segmentation. Vision Res 104:57-67
Frey, Hans-Peter; Schmid, Anita M; Murphy, Jeremy W et al. (2014) Modulation of early cortical processing during divided attention to non-contiguous locations. Eur J Neurosci 39:1499-507
Schmid, Anita M; Purpura, Keith P; Victor, Jonathan D (2014) Responses to orientation discontinuities in V1 and V2: physiological dissociations and functional implications. J Neurosci 34:3559-78
Menda, Gil; Shamble, Paul S; Nitzany, Eyal I et al. (2014) Visual perception in the brain of a jumping spider. Curr Biol 24:2580-5
Ohiorhenuan, Ifije E; Mechler, Ferenc; Purpura, Keith P et al. (2014) Cannabinoid neuromodulation in the adult early visual cortex. PLoS One 9:e87362
Schiff, N D; Shah, S A; Hudson, A E et al. (2013) Gating of attentional effort through the central thalamus. J Neurophysiol 109:1152-63

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