Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Single-Photon Calcium Imaging For Interrogating The Circuitry Of The Frontoparietal Cognitive Control Network, Brainscan , Western University, Stefan Everling, Ravi Menon, Liya Ma

Project Summaries

We will use miniscopes to detect activities in the frontal eye field, a brain region responsible for voluntary eye movements and perception and awareness in the field of vision. The detection of neuronal activity with calcium imaging can then be compared with the visual stimuli and eye movements expected. If successful, this project will show the feasibility of calcium imaging using miniscopes in this way and open the door for future work to expand our understanding of frontoparietal cortical circuits.

Development Of Fmri Compatible Reversible Deactivation To Examine Cerebral Networks, Brainscan , Western University, Stephen Lomber, Blake Butler, Stefan Everling, Blaine Chronik

Project Summaries

This study will permit us, for the first time, to examine the effects of deactivation of one cortical site on large-scale neural networks. It will permit neural networks to be functionally disassembled and the consequences of 'reversible' lesions, strokes or tumors to be assessed and modeled before they occur.

The Role Of Astrocytes In Memory: Focus On Pattern Separation, Brainscan , Western University, Timothy Bussey, Vania Prado, Ceci Kramar, Marco Prado, Lisa Saksida

Project Summaries

It has recently been shown that astrocytes play a leading role in a particular aspect of memory known as 'pattern separation' - differentiating between similar experiences or episodes in memory (say, recalling where you parked your car today compared to where you parked it yesterday). Pattern separation is disrupted in a wide variety of diseases of the brain so it is of considerable interest to memory researchers.

We have already shown in a small pilot study that we can improve pattern separation with selective manipulation of astrocytes in a specific brain region. In this project, we will attempt to demonstrate …

Growing New Dendritic Spines To Correct Cognitive Deficits Of Schizophrenia, Brainscan , Western University, Nagalingam Rajakumar, Brian Allman, Wataru Inoue

Project Summaries

In this project, we will attempt to re-grow functional dendritic spines in an animal model of schizophrenia for the first time. By re-growing dendritic spines, we intend to restore glutamatergic neurotransmission and improve cognition.

Communicating With Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness By Translating Thoughts Into Light, Brainscan , Western University, Keith St. Lawrence, Adrian Owen, Derek Debicki, Teneille Gofton, Daniel Milej

Project Summaries

we intend to show, for the first time, that fNIRS can be used to reliably communicate with disorders of consciousness patients. There are many practical challenges to resolve (which are common to both fNIRS and EEG) such as involuntary movements by the patient, variability in consciousness itself, physical distortion in the head (such as from trauma) and a person's limited ability to perform repetitive mental tasks.

We will focus on patients who have already demonstrated by fMRI that they can perform motor imagery activation and plan to study up to 20 such patients over the course of a year.

Development Of Virtual Gaming Environments For Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Brainscan, Western University, Jody Culham, Ingrid Johnsrude, Julio Martinez-Trujillo

Project Summaries

The goal of this project is to develop, validate and test three aspects of a 3D video game environment for neuroscience.

Dissecting The Architecture Of Prefrontal Cortical Circuits, Brainscan, Western University, Stephan Everling, Susheel Vijayraghaven, Kevin Johnston, Wataru Inoue

Project Summaries

In this project, we will develop a technique for recording and simultaneously manipulating this input activity with drugs in awake subjects engaged in cognitive tasks. Recording and modifying this input activity with neurochemicals is a difficult technical challenge.

Developing Optogenetics/Electrophysiology Applications For Studying Cognitive Impairment During Stress, Brainscan, Western University, Wataru Inoue, Brian Allman, Julio Martinez-Trujillo

Project Summaries

We will develop cutting-edge techniques to:

• precisely measure and artificially manipulate the activity of CRH neurons in the PFC, and
• measure small and local releases of CRH by these neurons.

The success of our project will open the door to understand the neural mechanisms for how stress impairs cognitive functions and how it may contribute to mental disorders.

Somatosensory Microcircuits For Real-World Hand Function, Brainscan, Western University, Andrew Pruszynski, Julio Martinez-Trujillo, Stefan Everling, Brian Corneil, Vaishnavi Sukumar, Adam Hantman

Project Summaries

Two-photon calcium imaging is already well-established in flies, fish and rodents, and is providing truly revolutionary insight into the neural basis of animal behaviour. Our critical foundational milestone is applying two-photon microscopy to NHP subjects while performing hand function tasks, given their higher brain complexity and translation potential to the human brain.