Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - IndiVISUAL (Role of individual retinal ganglion cell types in visual computation and behaviors)

Teaser

Problems assessed in current project aim to better understand vision at a single cell type resolution.Besides contributing to better understanding of the circuit mechanism of vision, this could provide significantinsight on how visual impairment affects cell types of the...

Summary

Problems assessed in current project aim to better understand vision at a single cell type resolution.
Besides contributing to better understanding of the circuit mechanism of vision, this could provide significant
insight on how visual impairment affects cell types of the retina.
Visual impairment affects approximately 26 million Europeans (WHO 2010), with significant numbers suffering from
unique cell type (Retinal ganglion cells) affecting illness like glaucoma
The overall objectives of the project aim to analyze the morphological and physiological function of individual retinal
cell types and to answer the question what is the role of an individual retinal ganglion cell type in visual computation and behaviour.
First we aim to characterize the morphological and physiological properties of Cre-labeled retinal ganglion cell types, this will provide the
tool-set needed. In the second phase aim to manipulate the activity of labeled ganglion cell types while observing central
processing and behavior, and to disseminate the findings.

Work performed

During the initial steps of the project, we are screening mouse lines for single cell type labeling, we look at cellular morphology and projections.
For the identified mouse lines experiments are currently performed for single cell type ablation. Once ablation is complete we will assess behavioral changes.

Final results

This project aims to better understand what is the physiological function of retinal ganglion cell types affected during vision loss.
By the end of the project we aim to better understand how the large diversity of retina ganglion cell types integrate different visual stimuli,
and how they contribute to behaviour. This will not only benefit the field of basic research, but could potentially prove invaluable for developing better
treatments for retinal diseases.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.yoneharalab.com/.