Neural circuits underlying visually-guided decision-making in mice

Certain visual stimuli can innately induce certain behavioural responses in mice. How a mouse's nervous system decides which behavioural response to employ on the basis of the pattern of light hitting its retina is a form of risk-assessment. This simple decision, which also takes into account experience and information from the other senses, is likely to be implemented in evolutionarily-conserved subcortical brain structures that are important in risk assessment, but the neural circuits are not known. In my project I aim to engage with these questions by revealing the connectivity of the neurons we hypothesise to be involved, and by manipulating and recording their activity. The outcome will be knowledge of the pathways required to make a simple visually-guided decision, and the activity in these pathways that supports that decision. Because this is a simple and conserved behavioural decision, the knowledge gained may help understanding of how risk assessment is performed in humans, which is impaired in many mental health disorders.