Stephen Van Hooser
Associate Professor of Biology
Research Description
Development and function of cortical circuits
A fundamental mystery of brain science is to understand how networks of neurons assemble during development and function in circuits to enable perception and behavior. Unraveling this mystery requires an understanding of the relationships between the cellular-level properties of circuits -- the anatomical "wiring diagram" of connectivity on the one hand, and the functional properties of single neurons and synapses on the other -- and the systems-level properties such as sensory responses or motor outputs.
In the Neural Circuits Lab, we apply a new generation of optical and optogenetic tools to observe both fine-scale circuit features and systems-level responses at the same time, in the living brain. We combine these optical approaches with advanced physiological and anatomical techniques to address previously inaccessible questions about neural circuitry and its development in mammalian visual cortex.
Our current research is focused on 2 themes:
- The role of experience in the development and maturation of neural circuits
As a postdoc in David Fitzpatrick's lab at Duke, my colleagues and I identified a fertile model system for exploring the impact of experience on the development of neural circuits using ferret visual cortex, where motion selectivity develops in an experience-dependent manner. At the time of eye opening, cortical neurons exhibit orientation selectivity but they respond equally to stimulation in either of two opposite directions of motion. In the weeks after eye opening, most neurons develop a strong preference for motion in a single direction. We are interested in understanding whether experience merely permits the completion of developmental programs that are fully seeded prior to visual experience, or rather if experience alters the trajectory of circuit construction. In addition, we would like to understand which circuit elements are modified by experience and the learning rules that govern these changes.
- Operating principles of cortical circuits
Owing to 50 years of intense research, the field of neuroscience probably knows more about sensory response properties, functional architecture, and anatomical connections in primary visual cortex than in any other mammalian brain structure. While progress has been made towards understanding some of the circuit mechanisms underlying these receptive field properties, many fundamental circuit mechanisms have remained out of experimental reach. Do large neural circuits operate using feed forward or recurrent processing? How do cells maintain selectivity as signal strength changes? Is there a common functional plan for cortical circuits, or has evolution crafted unique circuits for each species and cortical region (see Van Hooser, 2007).
Selected Publications
- Construction and Implementation of Carbon Fiber Microelectrode Arrays for Chronic and Acute In Vivo Recordings. Reikersdorfer KN, Stacy AK, Bressler DA, Hayashi LS, Hengen KB, Van Hooser SD. J Vis Exp. 2021 Aug 5;(174). doi: 10.3791/62760.
- Experience-Dependent Development of Dendritic Arbors in Mouse Visual Cortex. Richards SEV, Moore AR, Nam AY, Saxena S, Paradis S, Van Hooser SD. J Neurosci. 2020 Aug 19;40(34):6536-6556. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2910-19.
2020. - Synaptic and intrinsic mechanisms underlying development of cortical direction selectivity. Roy A, Osik JJ, Meschede-Krasa B, Alford WT, Leman DP, Van Hooser SD. Elife. 2020 Jul 23;9:e58509. doi: 10.7554/eLife.58509.
- An early phase of instructive plasticity before the typical onset of sensory experience. Roy A, Wang S, Meschede-Krasa B, Breffle J, Van Hooser SD. Nat Commun. 2020 Jan 2;11(1):11. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13872-1.
- Autism-Associated Shank3 Is Essential for Homeostatic Compensation in Rodent V1. Tatavarty V, Torrado Pacheco A, Groves Kuhnle C, Lin H, Koundinya P, Miska NJ, Hengen KB, Wagner FF, Van Hooser SD, Turrigiano GG. Neuron. 2020 Jun 3;106(5):769-777.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.02.033.
- Neural architecture: from cells to circuits. Richards SEV, Van Hooser SD. J Neurophysiol. 2018 Aug 1;120(2):854-866. doi: 10.1152/jn.00044.2018.
- Does experience provide a permissive or instructive influence on the development of direction selectivity in visual cortex? Roy A, Christie IK, Escobar GM, Osik JJ, Popović M, Ritter NJ, Stacy AK, Wang S, Fiser J, Miller P, Van Hooser SD. Neural Dev. 2018 Jul 12;13(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s13064-018-0113-x.
- Rem2 stabilizes intrinsic excitability and spontaneous firing in visual circuits. Moore AR, Richards SE, Kenny K, Royer L, Chan U, Flavahan K, Van Hooser SD, Paradis S. Elife. 2018 May 29;7:e33092. doi: 10.7554/eLife.33092.
- Development of Cross-Orientation Suppression and Size Tuning and the Role of Experience. Popović M, Stacy AK, Kang M, Nanu R, Oettgen CE, Wise DL, Fiser J, Van Hooser SD. J Neurosci. 2018 Mar 14;38(11):2656-2670. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2886-17.
2018. - Ritter, N. J., N. M. Anderson and S. D. Van Hooser (2017). "Visual Stimulus Speed Does Not Influence the Rapid Emergence of Direction Selectivity in Ferret Visual Cortex." J Neurosci 37(6): 1557-1567.
- Hengen KB, Torrado Pacheco A, McGregor JN, Van Hooser SD and Turrigiano GG (2016). "Neuronal Firing Rate Homeostasis Is Inhibited by Sleep and Promoted by Wake." Cell 165(1): 180-191.
- O'Hare JK, Ade KK, Sukharnikova T, Van Hooser SD, Palmeri ML, Yin HH, and Calakos N (2016). "Pathway-Specific Striatal Substrates for Habitual Behavior." Neuron. 2016 Feb 3;89(3):472-9.
- Roy A, Osik JJ, Ritter NJ, Wang S, Shaw JT, Fiser J, and Van Hooser SD (2016). "Optogenetic spatial and temporal control of cortical circuits on a columnar scale." J Neurophysiol 115(2): 1043-1062.
- Van Hooser SD, Johnson EN, Li Y, Mazurek M, Culp JH, Roy A, Kasliwal R, and Flavahan K (2015). Practical Methods for In Vivo Cortical Physiology with 2-Photon Microscopy and Bulk Loading of Fluorescent Calcium Indicator Dyes. Neural Tracing Methods. B. R. Arenkiel, Springer New York: 117-141.
- Rubin DB, Van Hooser SD, and Miller KD (2015). "The Stabilized Supralinear Network: A Unifying Circuit Motif Underlying Multi-Input Integration in Sensory Cortex." Neuron 85(2): 402-417.
- Zaltsman JB, Heimel JA, and Van Hooser SD (2015). "Weak orientation and direction selectivity in lateral geniculate nucleus representing central vision in the gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis." J Neurophysiol 113(7): 2987-2997
- Smith GB, Sederberg A, Elyada YM, Van Hooser SD, Kaschube M, and Fitzpatrick D (2015). "The development of cortical circuits for motion discrimination." Nat Neurosci. 2015 Feb;18(2):252-61.
- Ghiretti AE, Moore AR, Brenner RG, Chen LF, West AE, Lau NC, Van Hooser SD and Paradis S (2014). "Rem2 is an activity-dependent negative regulator of dendritic complexity in vivo." J. Neurosci. 2014 Jan 8;34(2):392-407.
- Mazurek M, Kager M, and Van Hooser SD (2014). "Robust quantification of orientation selectivity and direction selectivity." Front Neural Circuits. 2014 Aug 6;8:92.
- Van Hooser SD, Escobar GM, Maffei A, and Miller P (2014). "Emerging feed-forward inhibition allows the robust formation of direction selectivity in the developing ferret visual cortex." J Neurophysiol. 2014 Jun 1;111(11):2355-73.
- Yu YV, Bell HW, Glauser DA, Van Hooser SD, Goodman MB, and Sengupta P (2014). "CaMKI-Dependent Regulation of Sensory Gene Expression Mediates Experience-Dependent Plasticity in the Operating Range of a Thermosensory Neuron." Neuron. 2014 Dec 3;84(5):919-26
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Van Hooser SD, Roy A, Rhodes HJ, Culp JH, Fitzpatrick D (2013)."Transformation of receptive field properties from lateral geniculate nucleus to superficial v1 in the tree shrew." J Neurosci. 2013 Jul 10;33(28):11494-505.
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Clemens JM, Ritter NJ, Roy A, Miller JM, Van Hooser SD (2012). "The laminar development of direction selectivity in ferret visual cortex." J Neurosci. 2012 Dec 12;32(50):18177-85.
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Van Hooser SD, Li Y, Christensson M, Smith GB, White LE, Fitzpatrick D (2012)."Initial neighborhood biases and the quality of motion stimulation jointly influence the rapid emergence of direction preference in visual cortex." J Neurosci. 2012 May 23;32(21):7258-66.
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Felch DL, Van Hooser SD (2012). "Molecular compartmentalization of lateral geniculate nucleus in the gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)." Front Neuroanat. 2012 Apr 10;6:12. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2012.00012.
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Johnson EN, Van Hooser SD, Fitzpatrick D (2010). "The representation of S-cone signals in primary visual cortex." J Neurosci.2010 Aug 4;30(31):10337-50.