# Functional Connectomics of Primate V1

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALLEN INSTITUTE · 2022 · $538,073

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Primary visual cortex (V1) is the best studied part of the brain in multiple different mammalian species. Macaque
V1 has been particularly intensively studied because of the close homologies between the visual systems of
macaques and humans. We understand a great deal about the visual response properties of V1 neurons but,
aside from some rough ideas about parallel pathways, we have limited understanding of how the cortical circuit
transforms the visual information it receives. The rough outline of the cortical network is known, such as the
axonal pathways that distribute information between the layers, but little is known of the network structure of
connections between individual neurons. In particular, almost nothing is known about how visual response
properties of neurons relate to their interconnections, even for pairs of neurons let alone over the entire network.
Over the past decade, we have developed a new approach to studying cortical circuits—functional
connectomics—that promises to address this question. Microscale connectomics has been developed by
multiple groups with the goal of densely or completely mapping individual synaptic connections in the neural
circuits with serial-section electron microscopy. Functional connectomics seeks to relate network structure with
the physiological properties of individual neurons within a circuit.
So far, virtually all research in microscale connectomics has been performed on mice or non-mammalian species.
With recent advances in the scale of volumetric EM reconstructions and machine segmentation, it is time to
perform cortical connectomics in species whose physiology is far better understood. In the macaque, we will use
two-photon calcium imaging to record the visual responses of tens of thousands of neurons in a single circuit.
This same circuit will then be reconstructed with EM connectomics, yielding a data set with rich information about
visual response properties, neuronal type (as classified through morphology), and connectivity. This data set will
be used to explore competing models of information in the macaque visual system. The close homology between
macaque and human V1 offers a unique opportunity to compare their detailed network structure, while the
structure/function relationships learned for the macaque will build a bridge for understanding the human network
in a functional context.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10372072
- **Project number:** 5R01EY010115-26
- **Recipient organization:** ALLEN INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** R Clay Reid
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $538,073
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1993-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10372072

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10372072, Functional Connectomics of Primate V1 (5R01EY010115-26). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10372072. Licensed CC0.

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