第1011回生物科学セミナー
Spatial-Temporal-Spatial transformation in visual map plasticity:Plastic change as a platform to study neural coding rules
平本 正輝（スクリプス研究所）
2014年11月20日(木) 16:40-18:10 理学部2号館 講堂
The interpretation of sensory inputs reflects features of the natural world. Sensory circuits not only process inputs to extract current information but also modify their connections to incorporate the sensory experience for the interpretation of future inputs. The connections of afferents to the higher order neurons are one of the primary factors that influence the interpretation of the sensory inputs. Natural environment is composed of characteristic informational features that evoke distinctive patterns of neuronal activities throughout the sensory systems, known as neural coding. Despite extensive studies on neural coding in perception, how the information required for the construction of the circuitry architecture is encoded by the pattern of neuronal activity remains elusive.
I analyzed the neuronal encoding of spatial information in Xenopus retinal-tectal system using plastic changes of circuit structure as a readout. I will present evidence on how the characteristic features of the natural environment are incorporated into the coding rule and how time and space are linked in the retino-tectal circuit.
