The developmental and adult plasticity of thalamocortical connectivity during active learning

During development, brains grow rapidly as behaviors develop. Impairment in early brain development often leads to neurodevelopmental conditions, including a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. From early postnatal period throughout adulthood, learning leads to important and dynamic changes in brain circuitry, and in an animals’ behaviors to adapt and sense the environment. The hierarchical yet reciprocal interaction between thalamus and cortex is one of the key brain circuits that are involved in learning-related changes from early development to adulthood.

To investigate the development of thalamocortical connection in the context of sensory learning, this project aims to understand 1) the specificity and plasticity in the interaction between thalamus and cortex during both early development and later life, and 2) how the impairment in this functional connection during early development results in long lasting effects on the capacity for learning in the adult brain. Specifically, we will study how different neuronal types and neuromodulators play a role in the developmental and adult plasticity of thalamocortical connectivity.

To address these questions, we will use the rodent whisker-related sensory-motor system because it is ecologically relevant and critical to the animal’s abilities to navigate and engage in goal-directed behavior. We will apply a multidisciplinary approach that combines molecular and genetic techniques with in vivo intracellular and extracellular electrophysiology, in vivo longitudinal calcium imaging, viral tracing, optogenetic and pharmacogenetic methods, and quantitative behavior and anatomical analyses.

Lee’s lab at NIH will focus on early developmental studies and Bruno’s lab at Oxford will focus on adult plasticity. The two labs will use complementary approaches. A student working with Drs. Lee and Bruno will have a unique opportunity to learn conceptual perspectives from both labs, as well as a wide range of experimental and analytical methodologies in the field of system neuroscience.