Topic: chemogenetic tools

Sensory anomaly in autism is thought to arise from atypical Bayesian inference processes in the brain. It remains elusive, though, which neuronal circuits are involved. Here we focused on the superior colliculus and performed in vivo two-photon calcium imaging while the mice were engaged in an implicit visual learning task. Following the Bayesian learning principles, wild-type mice showed contextual modulation of the visual responses in the superior colliculus and pupil dynamics, but not in the retinal signals. In contrast, Scn2a-haploinsufficient autism model mice exhibited anomalous modulati

The visual system consists of a hierarchy of distinct brain areas, each responsible for processing different aspects of visual features. To better understand how signals from an upstream area contribute to visual processing in the downstream area, this project will focus on a specific type of computation broadly found in the visual system: i.e., selectivity to motion direction. Many neurons in the mouse superior colliculus, a direct target of the retina, preferentially respond to stimuli moving in one direction, but not the opposite, with diverse direction preferences across populations. Such

Designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) are chemogenetic tools that enable the selective activation or silencing of neurons in a given brain area. According to classical findings on the role of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) in hunger, we hypothesized that selective silencing of the LHA may decrease food intake.We bilaterally injected adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors carrying the gene of a modified M4 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor into the LHA of rats. Later, rats were treated with DREADD actuator agents and food intake was measured in a 30 min time-win

How is the retinal visual processing affected by the behavior and internal states of an animal? The structure and function of the vertebrate retina have been extensively studied ex vivo across species. Recent studies, however, demonstrated that the retina operates differently in vivo, especially in an awake condition. Using in vivo recording methods in mice together with chemogenetic tools, here we identified the effects of the histaminergic system on retinal visual responses in the context of the circadian rhythm. Specifically, we found histaminergic modulation of the retinal response kinetic