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SUMMARY:LCN Seminar: Understanding the building blocks of neural computati
 on: Insights from connectomics and theory
DTSTART:20131129T110000
DTSTAMP:20260428T004631Z
UID:5a1e694dee89062f9e6785e1ae1758f92e038582f645027a496d0bc7
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dmitri "Mitya" CHKLOVSKII\, Janelia Farm\, HHMI\nAnimal behavi
 or arises from computations in neuronal circuits\, but our understanding o
 f these computations has been frustrated by the lack of detailed synaptic 
 connection maps\, or connectomes. For example\, despite intensive investig
 ations over half a century\, the neuronal implementation of local motion d
 etection in the insect visual system remains elusive. We developed a semi-
 automated pipeline using electron microscopy to reconstruct a connectome\,
  containing 379 neurons and 8\,637 chemical synaptic contacts\, within the
  Drosophila optic medulla. By matching reconstructed neurons to examples f
 rom light microscopy\, we assigned neurons to cell types and assembled a c
 onnectome of the repeating module of the medulla. Within this module\, we 
 identified cell types constituting a motion detection circuit\, and showed
  that the connections onto individual motion-sensitive neurons in this cir
 cuit were consistent with their direction selectivity. Our identification 
 of cell types involved in motion detection allowed targeting of extremely 
 demanding electrophysiological recordings by other labs. Preliminary resul
 ts from such recordings are consistent with a correlation-based motion det
 ector. This demonstrates that connectomes can provide key insights into ne
 uronal computations.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://plan.epfl.ch/?room=SV1717A
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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