Simon R. Schultz (Imperial College London) | Optical tools for decoding neural population activity

Abstract

Recent developments in optical microscopy techniques have revolutionized our ability to record, and more recently perturb, functional signals from identified elements in mammalian cortical circuits. We hope that, in the near future, we will be able to make use of these tools to not only uncover the basic operating principles of the cortical circuit – which underlie how we perceive, move and think - but also to aid in the development of therapeutic strategies for dysfunctioning cortical circuits – for instance following neurodegenerative disorders. In this talk, I will describe work in my laboratory on the development of enabling technology for reverse-engineering cortical circuit function, including high fidelity action potential detection from calcium signals, novel galvanometric scanning algorithms, and novel decoding algorithms. The key principle behind these developments is to improve the scaling behavior of optical tools for monitoring neural circuits, with the aim of making high fidelity recordings from thousands of identified cells possible in vivo.