UC Santa Cruz

Cortical brain regions are functionally specialized and therefore display unique cytoarchitecture. The question of how these regions develop both structurally and functionally represents the basis of important neuroscientific research. To study the development of neuronal function, calcium imaging of GCaMP6s reporter mice was performed and recorded. The recordings of functional activity patterns were analyzed for the creation of functional maps. Cytoarchitectural boundaries of regions of interest were then structurally mapped using whole-mount in situ hybridization with digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled probes to mark molecules of interest involved in early cortical organization. The regional variance of structural maps was measured to provide a framework for comparison of function data at a specified point in development to investigate the hypothesis that functional maps are predictive of underlying anatomical structure.