Dissecting visual selective attention: from brain-wide networks to collicular cell-types.

At any given time, we attend to only a small fraction of the available sensory information. This process, known as selective attention, allows us to effectively interact with behaviorally relevant features of our environment. Selective attention can be driven by both goal-directed “top-down” and sensory-driven “bottom-up” processes. Although their interaction instructs what we attend to, a global perspective of the pathways and mechanisms involved in their coordination is still largely unknown. Here, I will determine the neural dynamics associated with the weighting of bottom-up and top-down attention to guide behavior. To do this, I will first unbiasedly define the set of brain areas activated during a task that requires top-down visual selective attention using functional ultrasound imaging of the entire brain. Second, I will assess the impact of presenting innately salient stimuli during the same task. Third, I will manipulate a subset of the identified circuits to test their causal role. Finally, to gain insights into the mechanisms underlying the observed brain-wide changes, I will determine, using multi-photon imaging, how different cell-types integrate attentional information. Here, I will focus on the superior colliculus, a midbrain area known to be a central piece of the puzzle. Together, these experiments will provide fundamental insights into how the brain coordinates internal and external drivers of attention that guide behavior.