CNI Speaker Series: Matteo Carandini

Matteo Carandini
Cortical Processing Laboratory
University College London

From Vision to Decisions and Navigation in Mouse Cortex

As signals progress along the early visual system, they undergo a remarkable transformation. One synapse away from the eye, in Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN), responses are still highly repeatable, and they can be predicted fairly well by simple model of image processing. One more synapse away, in Primary Visual Cortex (V1), responses are shaped by more elaborate visual properties and are hugely affected by activity that originates within the brain, which varies from trial to trial, and can be 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 to better estimate self-movement. In the parietal visual areas that follow V1 a further factor affecting responses is decision. The activity of neurons in those areas thus reflects the interactions of vision, decision, and navigation. Current efforts in our laboratory are aimed at studying these interactions.