Dissecting the lines of communication connecting the eye with behavior

Many of the computations performed by the nervous system can be interpreted as answers to particular challenges posed by the live histories of an animal. However, it remains unknown how neural circuits are organized to carry out the computations that link specific sensory inputs with the activation of the appropriate behavior.

To address these questions, we work with mice and Peromyscus to dissect the neural circuits that link the earliest stages of visual processing in the retina with the initiation of suitable behaviors. We combine trans‐synaptic viral tracing techniques with large scale brain recordings and optogenetic approaches to unravel the connectivity between targeted cell types, brain regions and behavior.