Notes & Projects
Proposal: Mapping Cerebellar Modules at Single-Cell Resolution with Barcoded Neuroanatomy
I wrote this proposal as a project for Randy Buckner’s course on Modern Neuroanatomy. The proposed experiments would map connectivity between the inferior olive, cerebellar cortex, and deep cerebellar nuclei using new barcoded viral tracing technologies which allow for single-cell resolution. I’d love to see an experimental group attempt some of these experiments!
Review: Organization of Orientation-Selectivity in Cat Primary Visual Cortex: The Winding Path to Pinwheels
This brief course project reviews the history of experiments mapping the organization orientation-selectivity in primary visual cortex (V1), which culminated in the discovery of “pinwheels” of orientation-selective columns. Interestingly, previous experiments had claimed to rule out this possiblity. I I discuss why those experiments missed the pinwheel structure, and how a slight modification of their methods might have revealed the pinwheels four years earlier than they were observed.