2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Higher visual areas responsible for shape recognition in mice
| Project/Area Number |
16H01892
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Brain biometrics
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Niigata University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
|
| Keywords | 高次視覚野 / 図形認知 / マウス / 皮質盲 / 視覚的意識 |
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
We investigated the responses in the higher visual cortex of conscious mice. The posterior-ventral cortical areas adjacent to the auditory cortex responded to moving object stimuli. Visual object recognition can be performed in wide cortical regions including these areas. Analysis of associative auditory responses to visual stimuli revealed that the associative responses were observed in diffuse auditory areas including the anterior auditory field. The formation of associative memory required stimulus complexity, which may be essential for characterizing stimuli. Visual object recognition is related to visual consciousness. Damages to the primary visual cortex (V1) impair visual consciousness. We investigated a male patient with the damaged V1. Repeated presentation of dynamic visual stimuli to him resulted in long-term potentiation in the probability of detection of visual stimuli, and after this potentiation, he could read hiragana letters presented in the impaired visual field.
|
| Free Research Field |
脳生理学
|
| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
我々は覚醒マウスの高次視覚野応答を解析し、高次視覚野が聴覚野の腹側まで広がっているという新知見を得た。またその部位の性質は一次視覚野の性質と大きく異なることが判った。これらの成果は、図形認知機能の分子機構解明に有用である。図形認知機能は、視覚的意識にかかわるが、視覚的意識を調べるためには、言語による報告が可能な人間を解析対象とする必要がある。我々は一次視覚野が脳梗塞によって障害された被検者の文字を読む図形認知機能について解析し、これらが動的視覚刺激の繰り返し提示によって回復することを示した。本研究の成果は、皮質盲の診断や治療といった臨床医学的観点からも有用であると考えられる。
|
