Welcome
We are a small but energetic group of investigators with the goal of uncovering the neural circuits and mechanisms that initiate the human visual process. We are pursuing this goal along two tracks. The first is centered around an in vitro preparation of the non-human primate retina where we can apply an array of physiological tools to target discrete functional components of the retinal circuitry and utilize complex visual stimuli to advance understanding of how these circuits contribute to the visual process.
Currently our efforts are focused on discovering the cell types and circuits that signal the direction of visual motion. In a second track we are using new methods of advanced electron microscopy – connectomics – to reconstruct the synaptic organization and parallel visual pathways that originate from the human fovea, the central locus for the initiation of visual processing. We hope you will explore our site to learn more about our lab, our collaborators and the research we are engaged in. Opportunities for pre- and postdoctoral fellows include training in the fundamentals of visual physiology and biophysics, synaptic pharmacology, human and non-human primate retinal structure and function.
SPOTLIGHT
S-cone circuitry in non-human primate and human retina
The short wavelength-sensitive (S) cones comprise less than 10% of the cone photoreceptors in the primate retina and investigation of their specialized role in color vision has a long history. Our first encounter with this distinctive pathway came with the discovery in the 1990's of a novel ganglion cell type that transmitted a 'blue-yellow' color signal to the brain. Since then we have continued to study many features of this neural circuit, including the physiology of the S-cone themselves, interneurons linked to the S-cone as well as other S-cone related color coding visual pathways. Currently we are using the connectomics approach to characterize new features of the S-cone circuitry in the human retina and calcium imaging of dendritic processing in the macaque retina to better understand how color opponency originates in this fascinating visual pathway.
See A RECENT PUBLICATION IN PNAS
SPOTLIGHT
The Human Foveal Connectome
Structure and function are inextricably linked in the profound complexity of the human retinal fovea. The human foveal connectome project centered in our lab is a collaborative effort designed to apply recently developed method of volume electron microscopy - connectomics - to addressing many of the outstanding questions about the structure and function of the human fovea.
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SPOTLIGHT
Retinal Mechanisms of Direction Sensitivity
Neural coding for motion direction has been studied intensively in
the visual cortex of non-human primates. Here, we establish an origin
for direction selectivity at the first step in the visual process in the retina
of the macaque monkey.