# Functional neural circuitry for decision making in the superior colliculus

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $334,663

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (ABSTRACT)
The long-term goal of the proposed research is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the control of
motor output under normal and pathological conditions. We examine here how functional circuitry in the
superior colliculus (SC), a bilateral midbrain structure known to be important for orienting behaviors,
contributes to decisions about movements. The central hypothesis is that competition between spatial targets
represented in the two SCs is mediated by commissural SC neurons that engage local inhibition. We test this
hypothesis by recording and manipulating the activity of specific classes of neurons in freely-moving transgenic
mice performing olfactory-cued spatial choice tasks. Aim 1 will examine how the activity within one SC of
excitatory and inhibitory SC neurons, examined in separate sets of mice, underlies spatial choice. Aim 2 will
examine how this activity, and the influence of inhibition on excitatory SC activity within the same SC, is
modulated by competition between spatial targets represented by the two SCs. Aim 3 will examine the role of
commissural SC neurons in mediating this competition between spatial targets. If successful, the overall impact
of our proposal will be the elucidation of how excitatory and inhibitory SC neurons interact – within one SC and
between the two SCs – to mediate spatial choice, an important form of decision making. In addition to testing
the specific hypotheses proposed here, the model we develop will make possible future research into how
other genetically-defined networks of neurons contribute to decisions about movements. Ultimately,
understanding normal motor control can contribute to improving therapies for movement disorders, such as
Parkinson's disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9828608
- **Project number:** 5R01NS079518-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** GIDON S FELSEN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $334,663
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-09-20 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9828608

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9828608, Functional neural circuitry for decision making in the superior colliculus (5R01NS079518-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9828608. Licensed CC0.

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