Skip to main content
Duke University Libraries
DukeSpace Scholarship by Duke Authors
  • Login
  • Ask
  • Menu
  • Login
  • Ask a Librarian
  • Search & Find
  • Using the Library
  • Research Support
  • Course Support
  • Libraries
  • About
View Item 
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers
  • View Item
  •   DukeSpace
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Investigating the Anatomical Basis for Streams in the Mouse Visual Cortex

Thumbnail
View / Download
5.5 Mb
Date
2017-05-04
Author
Hoffman, Gary
Advisor
Glickfeld, Lindsey
Repository Usage Stats
206
views
312
downloads
Abstract
Examining the organization of the visual cortex can help show how visual processing is accomplished. For instance, a major organizational property of the primate visual cortex is the division of the higher visual areas (HVAs) into separate streams with high connectivity and similar functional properties. These streams allow for parallel processing of functionally distinct visual phenomena, with the ventral stream focusing on object recognition and the dorsal stream on localization and movement coordination. While some mechanisms for the segregation of streams from primary visual cortex (V1) to the HVAs are known, such as the clustering of neurons feeding into separate streams within specialized layers, the architecture at the level of single cells is not known. Understanding this anatomical organization is important for predicting how information is distributed, and shared, among the HVAs. In the mouse, studies examining the reciprocal connectivity between visual areas, especially Burkhalter (Wang, Sporns, & Burkhalter, 2012), have suggested a stream organization similar to that seen in primates. Modern genetic techniques in the mouse present an opportunity to study the anatomical organization and functional specializations that contribute to parallel processing in streams. Towards this goal, we set out to understand which neuronal populations in mouse V1 might participate in each stream and their degree of anatomical segregation. Here we tested the hypothesis that there is anatomical specificity, at the level of both laminar populations and individual neurons, in the makeup of streams originating in V1. Anatomical specificity was assessed by quantifying the number of neurons in each V1 lamina projecting to each HVA and by finding the probability that V1 neurons project to multiple HVAs. Although laminar specificity did not differ among the HVAs, there was a trend of V1 neurons with multiple projection targets synapsing onto HVAs in a preferred stream. Though these findings do not reveal the anatomical basis for streams seen in the primate cortex, they reveal a mechanism for sharing information among streams that could be crucial to understanding these modules’ role in visual processing. Future studies could investigate the functional properties of neurons with multiple projections to HVAs in a certain visual stream and determine physiological aspects that could contribute to sharing of information among streams with different response properties. These studies will ultimately reveal how the visual system distributes information into streams made up of highly interconnected HVAs, and how these networks are used to guide behavior.
Type
Honors thesis
Department
Biology
Subject
visual streams
mouse
neurobiology
brain connectivity
anatomical organization
perception
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14251
Citation
Hoffman, Gary (2017). Investigating the Anatomical Basis for Streams in the Mouse Visual Cortex. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14251.
Collections
  • Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers
More Info
Show full item record
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Rights for Collection: Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers


Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info

Make Your Work Available Here

How to Deposit

Browse

All of DukeSpaceCommunities & CollectionsAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit DateThis CollectionAuthorsTitlesTypesBy Issue DateDepartmentsAffiliations of Duke Author(s)SubjectsBy Submit Date

My Account

LoginRegister

Statistics

View Usage Statistics
Duke University Libraries

Contact Us

411 Chapel Drive
Durham, NC 27708
(919) 660-5870
Perkins Library Service Desk

Digital Repositories at Duke

  • Report a problem with the repositories
  • About digital repositories at Duke
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Deaccession and DMCA Takedown Policy

TwitterFacebookYouTubeFlickrInstagramBlogs

Sign Up for Our Newsletter
  • Re-use & Attribution / Privacy
  • Harmful Language Statement
  • Support the Libraries
Duke University