Visualization of the functionala neural circuits for visual cognition

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25290009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Institute of Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Muto Akira 国立遺伝学研究所, 個体遺伝研究系, 助教 (00525991)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): Kawakami Koichi 国立遺伝学研究所, 個体遺伝研究系, 教授 (70195048)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 捕獲行動 / 視覚系 / ゼブラフィッシュ / カルシウムイメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We aimed to identify a neuronal population that has a specific role in visual prey detection. For this goal, first we established a genetic system in which we can introduce a genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP into any cell types of our interes, using the Gal4-UAS system. We examined the neuronal activity in the zebrafish larval brain to identify neurons that responded to the prey. We successfully identified a subpopulation of neurons in the pretectal area that showed specific response to paramecia in the proximity of the larva.Furthermore we demonstrated that the prey capture behavior was abolished when these neurons were ablated by either expression of a neurotoxin or two photon laser. Thus we propose that these neurons act as "prey detector" in the zebrafish.

Free Research Field

神経科学