# Functional circuitry and computation of the visual thalamus

> **NIH NIH R01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $402,550

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the thalamus routes visual signals from the eye to the visual
cortex and provides critical support for conscious visual sensation. Rather than being a simple relay station, a
growing body of evidence is revealing that the mouse dLGN plays an active role in shaping visual information
flow to the cortex by selectively converging and integrating diverse streams of inputs. Studies of retinal inputs to
the dLGN have provided rich knowledge about the organization and development of neural circuits for
mammalian species. However, much less is known about the non-retinal inputs although they contribute to ~90%
of total inputs to the dLGN. How the visual and behavioral state information conveyed by non-retinal inputs
combines with information from the retina to impact thalamic visual processing remains a topic of great
experimental and theoretical interest. Direct functional characterization of inputs to the dLGN in awake behaving
animals has been hindered by the difficulty in performing high-resolution recording of subcortical brain regions.
To address this challenge, we established a chronic, high-resolution, deep-brain two-photon calcium imaging
platform to simultaneously measure visual responses in hundreds of retinal axonal boutons. Here, we have
further expanded our imaging capacity to simultaneously record signals from calcium indicators of two different
colors that are expressed in retinal and non-retinal inputs respectively. With these innovations, we will determine
how the diverse inputs from the midbrain superior colliculus coordinate with retinal inputs at multiple levels to
reinforce or broaden channels of visual information in the dLGN. The highly conserved colliculogeniculate axons
possess several synaptic properties that resemble those of retinogeniculate axons, including comingling axonal
boutons on the proximal dendrites of dLGN neurons and providing strong synaptic inputs that can elicit neural
firing in target neurons. However, it remains unclear how the collicular inputs combine with retinal inputs and
contribute to visual responses of dLGN neurons. In Aim 1, we will determine the functional and spatial
relationships between retinal and collicular inputs to the dLGN. In Aim 2, we will reveal the modulation of
colliculogeniculate inputs by behavioral states. In Aim 3, we will determine the contribution of collicular inputs to
visual responses of dLGN neurons. These experiments will reveal rules for functional convergence between
retinal and collicular inputs and demonstrate how they act in concert or in competition to sculpt thalamic visual
computation. Our findings will also contribute to the understanding of how afferent visual signals are transformed
into visual feature selectivity in the dLGN and how behavioral states impact this process, providing the foundation
for the understanding and treatment of neurological disorders involving improper neural circuit co...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10577537
- **Project number:** 1R01EY034697-01
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Liang Liang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $402,550
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-03-01 → 2028-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10577537

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10577537, Functional circuitry and computation of the visual thalamus (1R01EY034697-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10577537. Licensed CC0.

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