IndiVISUAL · Role of individual retinal ganglion cell types in visual computation and behaviors
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-09-01 → 2020-08-31
- EU contribution
- €212,195
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Role of individual retinal ganglion cell types in visual computation and behaviors
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.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The nervous system contains thousands of morphologically and physiologically different neuronal cell types, organized in distinct circuits. Information processed by the retina is streamed into more than 10 retino-recipient brain regions through approximately 20 distinct visual channels, originating in retinal ganglion cell types. One key feature of visual processing is significant convergence and divergence of retinal ganglion cell type inputs to different brain regions. The objective of this proposal is to understand the relevance of this convergence and divergence of visual pathways. Recently, we have identified several Cre transgenic mouse lines in which labeled ganglion cells show a mosaic-like distribution pattern of ganglion cell bodies in the retina and restricted axonal projections in the retino-recipient layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus, superior colliculus, and accessory optic system. Utilizing these new cell-type-labeled mouse lines, we will first characterize the morphological and physiological properties of Cre-expressing cell types. Next, we will silence or activate the synaptic release of individual cell types at a selective terminal region, such as the visual cortex and superior colliculus, using pharmacogenetic and optogenetic tools, and test their effects on light responses by in-vivo two-photon imaging. Finally, we will investigate the effects of silencing and activation of individual synaptic terminals on behaviors that it has been proposed are mediated by specific visual pathways: visual discrimination mediated by the retino-geniculate pathway; innate escape and approach behavior by the superior colliculus; and visually evoked compensatory head and eye movements by the accessory optic pathway. We aim to link, for the first time, individual pathways of ganglion cell type function with visual computation and behavior in order to gain mechanistic insights into how neuronal circuits are functionally organized in our brain.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- AARHUS UNIVERSITET · Aarhus CCoordinatorDenmark
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/748332
- https://web.archive.org/web/20200803113151/http://www.yoneharalab.com/
Data: CORDIS, © European Union