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SUMMARY:Neural circuits for visually-guided decision making in mice. - Dr 
 Jasper Poort\, Selective Vision Lab\, Department of Psychology\, Universit
 y of Cambridge
DTSTART:20190510T110000Z
DTEND:20190510T123000Z
UID:TALK121180@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Louise White
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Our brain needs to selectively process that sensory 
 information that is most relevant for decision-making\, given the constant
  bombardment of data on our senses and the limited capacity of the brain. 
 However\, the neural mechanisms that underlie this selection are not well 
 understood. This talk will discuss how the mouse can be used as a model to
  study the selection of visual information for decision-making. Mice can l
 earn within a few days a visual discrimination task\, enabling us to study
  responses to the same visual features in neural circuits before and after
  learning. Mice also learn to flexibly switch between  visual and olfactor
 y discrimination tasks (while viewing the same visual features) within sec
 onds\, enabling us to compare neural responses when mice attend or ignore 
 visual features. Long-term 2‐photon calcium imaging in mice during learn
 ing and attention reveals that already in the primary visual cortex (V1)\,
  neural responses become increasingly selective for relevant visual featur
 es after learning\, and that responses are more selective when animals att
 end visual features compared to when they ignore visual features. The effe
 cts of learning and attentional switching on the response selectivity of t
 he same cells are largely independent\, and lead to a distinct profile of 
 changes in the selectivity and co‐activation patterns across multiple ce
 ll classes\, including both excitatory and inhibitory interneurons. These 
 experimental results\, and computational modelling of these effects\, indi
 cate there are separate mechanisms underlying the increased discriminabili
 ty of relevant sensory stimuli across longer and shorter time scales to he
 lp improve visually-guided decisions. \n\n\nBio: Jasper Poort is a Wellcom
 e Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellow and group leader in the Selective Vision Lab
  (www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/svl/) at the Department of Psychology in Cambridge
 \, where he works on understanding the cortical mechanisms of visual learn
 ing and attention.  \n\n
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of Psychology
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