Global brain states and local cortical processing in awake behaving mice (360G-Wellcome-102264_Z_13_A)

This project will study how cortical activity is coordinated at a global level in behaving mice. The brain's activity changes dramatically when animals perform active behaviors. In the cortex, this is manifested by a change in "cortical state", which is traditionally studied by recordings of the electroencephalogram. This project wil l use new experimental approaches to understand the neuronal activity patterns that underlie these state changes. Using a combination of wide-field optical imaging to study large-scale waves of activity propagating across the cortical surface, and electrophysiology to focus in on the activity of local neuronal populations, we will study how changes in cortical state affect global and local processing in the cortex. This will be achieved in mice performing a behavioral task involving two sensory modalities, auditory and visuaL Specifically, we will test whether using a given modality causes the steady activity in a given area that characterizes a "de synchronized state."