Project Reference: TRG27-PDN-JP1

Project title: Cortical Mechanisms of Reward-guided Visual Learning and Decision-Making

Project outline

Decision-making requires animals to learn which sensory features are associated with rewarding outcomes. However, the mechanisms by which rewards modify early and higher-level sensory circuits are not well understood. This project investigates the role of different neuronal cell types in primary visual cortex (V1) and posterior parietal association cortex (PPC), and neuronal projections from brain regions encoding information about rewards to visual cortex, including dopaminergic and cholinergic projections from the ventral tegmental area and basal forebrain. We train mice, including pharmacological and genetic mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders,  to perform reward-guided visual decision-making tasks.  We measure activity in V1 and PPC, using 2-photon imaging and electrophysiology, and use optogenetics in transgenic mouse lines to activate or inactivate specific cell populations and neuronal projections. We use advanced computational modelling to build neuronal circuit models of visual learning and decision-making. 

This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Poort, Paulsen, and Lengyel labs. The Poort lab studies neuronal activity and optogenetic perturbations in V1 and PPC during visual decision-making, the Paulsen lab investigates the role of dopaminergic and cholinergic projections using optogenetics, and the Lengyel lab develops computational models to understand these processes. See https://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/svl for more information and background references and please contact Jasper Poort (jp816@cam.ac.uk) for informal enquires and further discussion.

Principal Supervisor

Dr Jasper Poort

Email address: jp816@cam.ac.uk

Department / Partner Institute: Physiology, Development and Neuroscience (PDN)

Website: https://www.pdn.cam.ac.uk/svl/

BBSRC strategic theme

Understanding the rules of life