Functional pathways in primate retina. When light enters the eye, specialised nerve cells called photoreceptors transform the light signal into nerve signals. These signals are processed in the retina by two groups of neurones, bipolar and ganglion cells before being sent to higher brain centres. Bipolar and ganglion cells can be subdivided into several types. We will measure which types communicate with each other and which proteins (neurotransmitter receptors) are involved at the site of commu ....Functional pathways in primate retina. When light enters the eye, specialised nerve cells called photoreceptors transform the light signal into nerve signals. These signals are processed in the retina by two groups of neurones, bipolar and ganglion cells before being sent to higher brain centres. Bipolar and ganglion cells can be subdivided into several types. We will measure which types communicate with each other and which proteins (neurotransmitter receptors) are involved at the site of communication between these nerve cells. This study will improve our knowledge of the basis of functional subspecialisation at the earliest stages of the visual process.Read moreRead less
Functional imaging of colour pathways in the living eye. In order to repair or regenerate a diseased eye, we require knowledge of the normal pattern or nerve cell connections, and knowing how biology solves the problem of colour vision can be used to improve the design of artificial vision systems. The adaptive optics machine we will build in this project can be used to image nerve cells, fine blood vessels, and nerve fibre bundles in the normal and diseased eye. This will improve Australia's re ....Functional imaging of colour pathways in the living eye. In order to repair or regenerate a diseased eye, we require knowledge of the normal pattern or nerve cell connections, and knowing how biology solves the problem of colour vision can be used to improve the design of artificial vision systems. The adaptive optics machine we will build in this project can be used to image nerve cells, fine blood vessels, and nerve fibre bundles in the normal and diseased eye. This will improve Australia's research and development capacity in this new area of medical diagnostics. Our machine will be made available to other Australian laboratories and will improve the national capacity for making further scientific discoveries about how the visual system works.Read moreRead less
Relationship of the functional architecture of the mammalian brain to its microcircuitry. The project seeks to understand a very fundamental issue in neuroscience: how the connectivity and architecture of the cortex are related to the functions of neurones in that area? This will be investigated by imaging the surface of the visual cortex of anaesthetised cats and monkeys as special visual patterns are shown to the eye/s. The overall picture gained of the active and inactive cortical areas will ....Relationship of the functional architecture of the mammalian brain to its microcircuitry. The project seeks to understand a very fundamental issue in neuroscience: how the connectivity and architecture of the cortex are related to the functions of neurones in that area? This will be investigated by imaging the surface of the visual cortex of anaesthetised cats and monkeys as special visual patterns are shown to the eye/s. The overall picture gained of the active and inactive cortical areas will be related to the properties of neurones in those areas and to those of individual input and output fibres. An optical imaging equipment will be acquired in 2004 using a recently awarded LIEF grant to the CI.Read moreRead less
Chromatic Inputs to Cortical Receptive Fields in Primates. The human eye contains three kinds of receptors for daytime vision, named blue, green and red cones for their sensitivity to different regions of the visible spectrum. It is known that blue cones contribute to brain pathways for colour vision, but recent data suggest there is also 'cross-talk' of blue cone signals to pathways for motion and high-acuity vision. This project comprises precise measurement of blue cone signals, and anatomica ....Chromatic Inputs to Cortical Receptive Fields in Primates. The human eye contains three kinds of receptors for daytime vision, named blue, green and red cones for their sensitivity to different regions of the visible spectrum. It is known that blue cones contribute to brain pathways for colour vision, but recent data suggest there is also 'cross-talk' of blue cone signals to pathways for motion and high-acuity vision. This project comprises precise measurement of blue cone signals, and anatomical tracing of blue cone pathways, in a primate model for human vision. The data will improve our basic knowledge of how the brain processes sensory signals.Read moreRead less
Synaptic and network properties underlying neural coding in the mammalian visual cortex. This study will:
(1) Increase our basic understanding of visual function that can help to explain many clinical perceptual disturbances. (2) Help in providing a detailed picture of intracortical neuronal networks that can form the basis for a prosthesis for the blind. (3) Discover the principles of neural organization underlying functions such as figure-ground segregation and perceptual learning which can i ....Synaptic and network properties underlying neural coding in the mammalian visual cortex. This study will:
(1) Increase our basic understanding of visual function that can help to explain many clinical perceptual disturbances. (2) Help in providing a detailed picture of intracortical neuronal networks that can form the basis for a prosthesis for the blind. (3) Discover the principles of neural organization underlying functions such as figure-ground segregation and perceptual learning which can inspire practical algorithms for robotic vision. (4) Train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in state of the art techniques in a stimulating intellectual environment.Read moreRead less
Thalamo-cortical organisation in visual information processing. This study will: (1) Increase our basic understanding of visual function that can help to explain many clinical perceptual disturbances. (2) Help in providing a detailed picture of intracortical neuronal networks that can form the basis for a prosthesis for the blind. (3) Discover the principles of neural organization underlying functions such as figure-ground segregation and perceptual learning which can inspire practical algorithm ....Thalamo-cortical organisation in visual information processing. This study will: (1) Increase our basic understanding of visual function that can help to explain many clinical perceptual disturbances. (2) Help in providing a detailed picture of intracortical neuronal networks that can form the basis for a prosthesis for the blind. (3) Discover the principles of neural organization underlying functions such as figure-ground segregation and perceptual learning which can inspire practical algorithms for robotic vision. (4) Train graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in state of the art techniques in a stimulating intellectual environmentRead moreRead less
Organisation of the cerebral cortex- what, if anything, is a cortical area? Currently, much effort is being directed towards elucidating the roles of different regions of the cerebral cortex. "Maps" of cortical areas have become essential points of reference, exerting a powerful influence on the way we think about the brain. However, is it really appropriate to model the cortex as a mosaic of well-defined areas? This project will challenge the assumptions underlying current brain mapping efforts ....Organisation of the cerebral cortex- what, if anything, is a cortical area? Currently, much effort is being directed towards elucidating the roles of different regions of the cerebral cortex. "Maps" of cortical areas have become essential points of reference, exerting a powerful influence on the way we think about the brain. However, is it really appropriate to model the cortex as a mosaic of well-defined areas? This project will challenge the assumptions underlying current brain mapping efforts. Its main benefits will be the refinement of strategies for brain mapping, including potential for better
application/interpretation of available medical technology, and unique insights on the mechanisms of development and evolution of the nervous system.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0452971
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,900.00
Summary
Optical imaging of brain activity: Studies of the neural basis of sensory perception, plasticity and behaviour. Basic to the understanding of the brain is to know how the overall architecture of the nervous system relates to its function. We propose to study this by directly visualising the regions that are functionally active in the living brains of animals, down to resolution limits of less than 100 micrometres. Such "optical imaging" will be done by recording light reflected from the surfac ....Optical imaging of brain activity: Studies of the neural basis of sensory perception, plasticity and behaviour. Basic to the understanding of the brain is to know how the overall architecture of the nervous system relates to its function. We propose to study this by directly visualising the regions that are functionally active in the living brains of animals, down to resolution limits of less than 100 micrometres. Such "optical imaging" will be done by recording light reflected from the surface of the brain, which in turn depends upon activity-dependent intrinsic signals (eg. degree of oxygenation of haemoglobin). These signals will be recorded by a special camera and amplified using the requested system.Read moreRead less
Phenotypic differences in behaviour, brain function and structure of genetically dissimilar forms of intellectual disability. How is the brain of someone with intellectual disability different from that of a normal person? Are behavioural phenotypes such as intellectual disability more related to similarities in brain structure and function than to the genotypic anomaly? This project will use neuroscience techniques of psychophysics, electrophysiology and fMRI to probe these questions. The ben ....Phenotypic differences in behaviour, brain function and structure of genetically dissimilar forms of intellectual disability. How is the brain of someone with intellectual disability different from that of a normal person? Are behavioural phenotypes such as intellectual disability more related to similarities in brain structure and function than to the genotypic anomaly? This project will use neuroscience techniques of psychophysics, electrophysiology and fMRI to probe these questions. The benefit of this project is that cortical flattening fMRI techniques together with new and efficient stimulus paradigms will result in a functional landmark mapping tool capable of application to many other brain genotype-phenotype questions. Also, the functional brain basis of intellectual disability will be further revealed.Read moreRead less
Behaviour of large networks of neurons in a functioning organ: a realistic computer-based model of the enteric nervous system. The organisation of the gut nervous system is well understood, but how nerve cells cooperate to control gut movements and secretions are matters of conjecture. We will test these conjectures by simulating the behaviour of the gut nervous system using an anatomically and physiologically realistic computer model to predict the way the gut responds to specific stimuli and t ....Behaviour of large networks of neurons in a functioning organ: a realistic computer-based model of the enteric nervous system. The organisation of the gut nervous system is well understood, but how nerve cells cooperate to control gut movements and secretions are matters of conjecture. We will test these conjectures by simulating the behaviour of the gut nervous system using an anatomically and physiologically realistic computer model to predict the way the gut responds to specific stimuli and test these predictions using novel methods for recording gut movements and nervous activity. This will provide the first complete description of how a mammalian nervous system generates complex behaviours and will provide substantial pointers to how other nervous systems achieve similar tasks.Read moreRead less