# Visual representations across cortical areas

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA · 2024 · $388,750

## Abstract

Project summary
Visual stimuli drive activity across a range of brain areas, including primary visual cortex (V1) and higher visual
areas (HVAs). These HVAs vary in their downstream connectivity to support a range of visually guided behaviors.
Similarly, these HVAs can vary in how they represent visual stimuli. Our recent results have revealed how a
subset of HVAs in the mouse can vary in representations of motion and texture. However, we do not yet have
a complete picture of how HVAs vary in their representations of visual stimuli during visually guided behavior.
Moreover, it remains unclear how neural circuitry can support HVA-specific representations of components of
visual stimuli. In this project, we will provide a definitive account of how components of complex visual stimuli
are represented across cortical areas in behaving mice. Moreover, we will use novel measurements of statistical
dependencies of neuronal activity across cortical areas to infer principles of population activity coding and circuit
organization. This work will take advantage of several technologies our lab has helped to develop: large field-
of-view two-photon calcium imaging, open-world naturalistic virtual reality for mice, and advanced analysis tools
based on both classic approaches and modern statistical analysis. The results from this work will reveal insights
into how HVAs parse complex visual stimuli into representations that can guide adaptive behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10908663
- **Project number:** 5R01EY035378-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA
- **Principal Investigator:** SPENCER LAVERE SMITH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $388,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10908663

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10908663, Visual representations across cortical areas (5R01EY035378-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10908663. Licensed CC0.

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