The Effect of Ocular Melanin on the Absolute Dark-Adapted Threshold in Rodents.

人们认为，黑色素可以保护组织免受阳光照射的有害影响。然而，黑色素也存在于内耳和胚胎眼中。在某些黑色素减少的基因品系中，被称为色素减退，存在听觉或视觉特性的特定缺陷，其严重程度似乎与黑色素减少的程度有关，而与特定基因的突变无关。该项目采用了解剖学、生理学、行为学和经典遗传学的多学科方法，以确定眼睛中黑色素的减少与黑暗适应视觉阈值的升高之间的关系，并确定眼睛视网膜内缺陷的位置。一个新的假设将被测试，看看黑色素是否可能作为光感受器细胞周围钙的缓冲。除了对视觉神经科学的影响外，研究结果还可能影响我们对这种无处不在的色素在其他系统和动物的环境适应中所起的基本作用的理解。

The dark pigment, melanin, is thought to provide protection of tissue from damage from harmful effects of sunlight exposure. However, melanin also is found in the inner ear, and in the embryonic eye. In certain genetic strains with reduced melanin, called hypopigmented, there are specific defects of auditory or visual properties, where the severity seems to correlate with the extent of melanin reduction and not with mutations in particular genes. This project uses a multi-disciplinary approach of anatomy, physiology, behavior and classical genetics to determine how reduced melanin in the eye is related to the elevation of dark-adapted thresholds for vision, and to determine the location of the defect within the retina of the eye. A novel hypothesis will be tested, to see whether melanin may be acting as a buffer for calcium around the photoreceptor cells. In addition to the impact on visual neuroscience, the results could have impact on our understanding the basic role that this ubiquitous pigment has in environmental adaptations in other systems and animals.