網膜からのマルチニューロン記録と行動実験による視覚系の解明(2012年度 第2回フォーラム基礎心理学のための基礎研究-網膜,遺伝子,インタフェース-)

抄録

Neuroscientists have studied the visual system by accumulating knowledge about the structural and functional properties of single neurons. However, recent studies performing multi-unit recordings have revealed that a significant fraction of neurons exhibit temporally correlated activities. It has been suggested that correlated activities among neurons may have a functional role in visual information processing, though there is a possibility that such activities may be obtained as the byproduct. The present article reviews recent advances in retinal neuroscience using multi-unit recordings, molecular technologies, and pharmacological manipulations. The analysis of visually guided behaviors revealed the functional significance of neural codes suggested by electrophysiological data. These approaches also enabled us to clarify the neural mechanisms of the detection of image motion, which is fundamental to vision.