Functional organization of posterior parietal cortex during multimodal sensory based decisions in the freely moving animal (D05*)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 227953431

The central focus of this project is the posterior parietal cortex, a brain area that receives afferent projections from primary somatosensory and visual cortices. It is thought to be involved in decision making based on visual information, but also in tasks involving spatial navigation. The project will use two-photon Ca2+ imaging with head-mounted miniaturized multiphoton microscope in rats to assess the activity of neuronal populations in the PPC, as they are performing a variety of behavioral tasks designed to test the different functions of the PPC. The project will reveal some of the central principles of organization of the neuronal circuits underlying the function of the PPC in navigational and sensory decision-making tasks.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1089: Synaptic Micronetworks in Health and Disease
• Applicant Institution: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
• Project Head: Dr. Jason Kerr