Event Details:
Multiscale imaging of spontaneous activity in the developing nervous system
Michael Crair, PhD
Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Deputy Dean for Scientific Affairs (Basic Science Departments) at Yale School of Medicine
Host: Whitney Heavner (McConnell Lab)
Abstract
The developing mammalian brain exhibits complex spatiotemporal patterns of spontaneous and sensory-evoked activity that are necessary for the formation, refinement and function of neural circuits. Disruption of these patterns has been implicated in numerous developmental disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. Identifying the cellular mechanisms underlying this activity and its role in neural circuit formation is therefore critical for understanding both normal and pathological brain development and function. Technical challenges have generally precluded establishing conceptual links between the function of networks of individual neurons and brain-wide circuit dynamics. To solve this problem, we developed multiscale imaging technologies that allow simultaneous cellular-resolution (two-photon) calcium imaging of a local microcircuit and mesoscopic (one-photon) calcium imaging of the entire cortical surface, and simultaneous wide scale calcium imaging and whole brain fMRI imaging in awake, behaving mice. We will describe these new technologies and their application to the examination of the development of functional connectivity in the developing mouse visual system. We will also describe how the connectivity of individual neurons is refined during juvenile development, how it changes with arousal state, and how it relates to developmental changes in the propagation of evoked activity across the cortical surface. We will further examine the similarities and differences of functional connectivity networks using fMRI and wide field calcium imaging in mice. This work directly links single neuron spiking to widespread signaling across the cortical mantle top whole brain network activity during development.
Regated papers
[1] Timothy Burbridge, Hong-PingXu, James Ackman, Xinxin Ge, Yueyi Zhang, Mei-Jun Ye, Z. Jimmy Zhou,JianXu, Anis Contractor, Michael Crair. Visual Circuit Development Requires Patterned Activity Mediated by Retinal Acetylcholine Receptors. Neuron, Volume 84, Issue 5, 3 December 2014, Pages 1049-1064. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.10.051
[2] James B. Ackman, Timothy J. Burbridge, Michael C. Crair. Retinal waves coordinate patterned activity throughout the developing visual system. Nature volume 490, pages 219–225 (11 October 2012) doi:10.1038/nature11529