Research

Edward M. Callaway is a professor in the Systems Neurobiology Laboratories. Work in his laboratory is aimed at understanding how neural circuits give rise to perception and behavior. Studies focus primarily on the organization and function of neural circuits in the visual cortex. Relating neural circuits to function in the visual system, where correlations between neural activity and perception can be directly tested, provides fundamental insight into the basic mechanisms by which cortical circuits mediate perception.

"Our brain performs millions of complex computations every second. We are studying the neural circuits in the visual cortex to better understand how specific neural components contribute to the computations that give rise to visual perception and to elucidate the basic neural mechanisms that underlie cortical function."

Neuroscientists have identified dozens of types of neurons in the brain that work together in distinct networks. But the circuits are intermingled, and even neighboring neurons of the same type differ in connectivity and function. Without access to a "wiring diagram"—a map of the neuronal connections— attempting to grasp how the brain lets us understand language, recognize faces and schedule our day is akin to trying to discern how a computer works simply by looking at it.

Recently, Callaway and his team have jumped a major hurdle to preparing that diagram: mapping single connections between neurons. They successfully modified the rabies virus so that it crosses from an infected nerve cell to another neuron just once, allowing scientists to identify all the neurons to which the infected neuron connects. Viruses that naturally spread between neurons have previously been used to trace the flow of nerve cell communication, but without a way to stop them in their tracks, over time, they will light up the whole brain.

Callaway's team deleted a gene required by the virus to spread between neurons, marooning the virus inside a cell. Supplying the missing gene in that same cell, however, allowed the virus to slip into all the cells that were directly connected to it but to spread no further. To restrict the viral infection to a certain cell type or even to single cells, they covered these neurons with avian surface molecules and equipped the rabies virus with a homing device specifically for neurons "disguised" as bird cells.

While the first experiments were conducted using slices of brain, more recent studies are using genetically modified mice to target a specific class of neurons. With these tools, the wiring map can then be constructed step by step as subsequent populations of cells are visualized. Callaway's lab then takes advantage of this information about each cell type's connections to match it with the functional visual responses of the same types of neurons under different conditions. This leads to ideas about how each cell type contributes to brain function that can be tested by selectively activating or inactivating cell types and observing the consequences.

Left to right:
Ashley Juavinett, Fumitaka Osakada, Ali Cetin, Euiseok Kim
Front row, left to right:
Alfred Kaye, Maria Pacheco, Nicholas Wall, Jiwon Choi, Beatriz Virgen, Karine Von Bochmann, Ed Callaway, James Marshel, Kristina Nielsen, Hendrikje Nienborg

Salk News Releases

• Salk faculty members honored as recipients of new endowed chairs
  November 16, 2012
• Salk scientist elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  April 18, 2012
• Salk scientists map the frontiers of vision
  January 5, 2012
• Edward M. Callaway named 2010 AAAS Fellow
  January 14, 2011
• Gatsby Charitable Foundation awards $4 million to Salk-UC San Diego consortium to study brain circuitry
  March 22, 2010
• Deconstructing brain wiring, one neuron at a time
  February 28, 2007
• Two Salk researchers win McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award
  September 5, 2006
• Neuroscientists create technique to rapidly switch neurons off and on to study function
  August 16, 2006
• Salk research challenges concept that motion perception is all black and white
  April 20, 2006
• Brain Circuitry More Precise Than Suspected
  February 23, 2005

Links

Callaway Lab

Callaway technology available for licensing