<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><b><br></b></font></div><br><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(32, 0, 85); "><b><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5"><u>PLEASE POST/DISTRIBUTE (A PDF is attached)</u></font></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(32, 0, 85); "><b><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-size: large; text-align: center; display: inline !important; "><span style="mso-no-proof:yes"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></b></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#ff0000" style="font-size: 21px;">UNIVERSITY of HOUSTON</font></p><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Book Antiqua'" size="5" color="#ca005a"><i>CENTER for NEURO-ENGINEERING and COGNITIVE SCIENCE</i></font></div><div style="font-weight: bold; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#ca005a"><br></font></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="5" color="#ca005a"><i>NANOSYSTEM MANUFACTURING CENTER</i></font></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); font-size: large; text-align: center; "><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:
yes">Seminar</span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 21px;">Untangling Cortico-thalamo-cortical Networks using Optogenetics</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;">Gopathy Purushothaman</span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><o:p></o:p></font></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); font-size: large; text-align: center; "><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:
yes">Department of Cell & Developmental Biology<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); font-size: large; text-align: center; "><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:
yes">Vanderbilt University</span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span style="font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:
yes"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); font-size: large; text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:yes">Signals
from the eye arrive via the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus at
a network consisting of the primary visual cortex (V1), the lateral pulvinar
nucleus (PL) of the thalamus, and the secondary visual cortex (V2). While the
response properties of neurons in this network are well known, understanding
the causal relationship between neural activity in V1, PL, and V2 remains a
challenge due to the complexity of interconnections between these areas. As a
first step towards this goal, we manipulated PL activity and assessed the net
effect on area V1. Reversibly inactivating lateral pulvinar prevented
supra-granular V1 neurons from responding to visual stimulation. Reversible,
focal excitation of lateral pulvinar receptive fields increased 4-fold the
visual responses in coincident V1 receptive fields and shifted partially
overlapping V1 receptive fields towards the center of excitation. To
investigate the microcircuitry underlying these strong effects, we used viral
vectors to express light-sensitive channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in PL neurons
projecting to V1. ChR2 expressed in the axons of PL neurons targeting V1 and
retrogradely transported to V1 neurons projecting to PL. Selective
photo-activation and assessment of neural activity at different nodes using
this method provides a novel tool for dissecting the V1-PL-V2 network.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: justify; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="'Book Antiqua'"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><b><u><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; ">Date:</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "> Monday,
July 2, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; ">Time:</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "> 1PM<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; ">Location:</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "> W122-D3
(Engineering Building 2)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); text-align: center; "><i><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">For info, contact: H. Ogmen (<a href="mailto:ogmen@uh.edu">ogmen@uh.edu</a>)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(32, 0, 85); font-size: large; text-align: center; "><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";mso-no-proof:
yes"></span></i></p></div></div></blockquote></div></body></html>