He, Yiran;
(2025)
Neural representation of depth from motion parallax in the mouse visual cortex.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
To understand the three-dimensional structure of the world and guide behaviour, the brain must infer depth from two-dimensional retinal images. Motion parallax is an important visual cue for depth perception, relying on visual motion generated by movement of the observer. However, the neural mechanisms underlying depth perception from motion parallax remain poorly understood. Using mice as the model organism, I first established the visual cliff as a robust behavioural assay to study depth perception in mice. Using the visual cliff, I found that depth perception in mice does not depend on prior visual experience. Next, I investigated the neural mechanisms underlying depth perception from motion parallax in the mouse primary visual cortex (V1). As V1 neurons are broadly modulated by locomotion, I hypothesized that the integration of visual and locomotionrelated signals in V1 neurons enables depth estimation from motion parallax. Using two-photon calcium imaging in mice navigating a three-dimensional virtual reality environment, I identified a large fraction of V1 neurons tuned to virtual depth from motion parallax. These depth-selective responses arose from conjunctive coding of visual motion and self-motion speeds. Moreover, many of these neurons responded selectively to visual stimuli presented at a specific retinotopic location and virtual depth, demonstrating that V1 neuronal responses could be characterised by three-dimensional receptive fields during active locomotion. These results demonstrate that V1 neurons create a depth map of the three dimensional visual space by representing a wide range of virtual depths across retinotopic locations.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Neural representation of depth from motion parallax in the mouse visual cortex |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212853 |
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