Deciphering neuronal circuits of non-image forming vision

The human brain consists of around 86 billion neurons which cooperate in millions of neuronal circuits through synaptic connections in order to perform the immense variety of brain functions. To fully understand the brain and its diseases we have to understand how neuronal circuits are built, and how they operate. The different functional circuits, assembled from different cell types, are often intermingled and, due to the lack of proper deciphering tools, their study was strongly limited in the past. In the last decade developments in trans-synaptic viral tracing, combined with modern imaging techniques, have enabled cell-type specific studies of neuronal circuits. In my thesis I present multiple projects addressing the development of trans-synaptic viral tools and their application in the study of neuronal circuits involved in subconscious vision.