# Viral strategies for bi-directional optogenetic control of specific cell types in neocortex of non-transgenic animals

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2020 · $431,750

## Abstract

Project Summary
Here we propose to develop a novel rabies virus based strategy to express two channelrhodopsin proteins
independent manipulation of excitatory and inhibitory transmembrane potentials in the same population of
neurons. Combined with the use of cell-type specific promoters in helper viruses and rabies pseudotyping, the
new suite of viruses will enable full control of excitation and inhibition over specific neural network subtypes of
non-transgenic animals. We will apply the new technique here to determine cell type specific contributions of
feedforward cortical integration on the emergence of complex visual feature selectivity using highly visual
animal models. While our goal is primarily to develop this novel method to study structure-function organization
of visual cortex, this technique will be readily applicable to study any brain region.
 Our proposed technique combines recently available channelrhodopsin cation and anion channel with
our recently our developed viral strategies for accessing specific cell types and specific circuits in non-
transgenic species (Liu et al., 2013, Curr Biol) opening the door for unprecedented fine scale study of
structure-function relationships in highly visual mammals. For this proposal we will apply these new strategies
to enable optogenetic manipulation of specific cell types involved in higher order visual cortex receptive field
formation. These studies will represent the most direct in vivo assessment of inhibitory neurons and underlying
intra- and inter-laminar circuitry of a large, highly visual mammal, advancing our understanding of how basic
visual processes arise and depend on complex cortical structure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10057749
- **Project number:** 1R21NS113264-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** David C Lyon
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $431,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10057749

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10057749, Viral strategies for bi-directional optogenetic control of specific cell types in neocortex of non-transgenic animals (1R21NS113264-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10057749. Licensed CC0.

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