Spontaneous waves are ubiquitous across many brain regions during early development. Activity from waves occurring in the retina are propagated to downstream areas and hypothesized to drive the development of receptive fields (RFs). However, the mechanisms underlying the influence of each retinal wave on RF refinement are not well understood. In this work, we build a biologically-constrained mathematical model describing the development of the feed-forward RF of neurons in the primary visual cortex. Using this model, we propose a possible mechanism that underlies a pruning process leading to different RF spatial structures. In particular, we quantify how key characteristics of the retinal wave, such as wave speed, width and presentation angle, affect the simulated pruning result and shape of the receptive field. We further elucidate potential mechanisms of learning through analysis of a reduced rate model. In particular, we find mechanisms for the formation of a periodic RF, which may help to understand related periodic RF development in other brain areas such as grid cells under spontaneous waves in the entorhinal cortex.

About the speaker

Jen Crodelle is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Middlebury College in VT. She earned her B.S. in applied mathematics from Marist College, a small liberal arts school in her hometown, before earning her PhD in mathematics at Rensselaer under the advisement of Gregor Kovacic. Her thesis focused on using mathematical modeling to understand the role of electrical synapses between pyramidal cells in the cortex. After leaving RPI, Jen secured an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to study the role of electrical synapses in developing visual cortex at the Courant Institute at NYU with David McLaughlin. In general, Jen is interested in using models and simulation to uncover plausible mechanisms underlying interesting biologically-observed phenomena. Jen has worked on a variety of projects across mathematical biology ranging from pain processing in the spinal cord to waves of infection due to fear of vaccine. In her free time, Jen love to hike with her dog Gale.