Conference: 2004 FASEB Summer Research Conference Retinal Neurobiology and Visual Processing 2004 FASEB Summer Research Conference, Saxtons River, Vermont, July 2004

该提案请求支持2004年FASE B夏季研究会议“视网膜神经生物学和视觉处理”。这次会议将是该系列中第七次专门讨论视网膜结构和功能的双年度会议。视网膜研究正在经历一个前所未有的发展和成就的时代。各种新的成像、生理学和分子方法正在被开发和利用来解决视网膜神经元如何组织成功能神经回路的问题。由于视网膜处理是我们理解视觉的关键，而视网膜又是神经回路分析的前沿，所以这次会议将对神经科学的一般研究产生深远的影响。报告将涵盖视网膜生物学的许多方面，包括：发育的细胞分子机制；神经信号的基础；视网膜处理视觉输入的各个方面的神经回路的识别；视网膜输出被传递到大脑的代码；以及由此产生的视觉行为的能力和限制。这次为期五天的会议预计将吸引来自世界各地的约180名与会者。35名国际公认的专家将在非正式会谈中介绍他们的工作，非正式会谈分为九次专题会议，由每个领域的领导人主持。此外，还强调了年轻科学家在职业生涯早期的贡献。此外，还将举行非正式研讨会，讨论与会者之前选定的主题。最后，所有参与者都被邀请在张贴过程中展示海报。会议形式旨在促进与会者之间的直接科学交流。正在努力鼓励来自代表性不足的少数群体的学生和博士后参加这次会议。会议记录不会出版，但演讲摘要和海报将收集成一本小册子，供所有与会者和提出要求的外地其他人查阅。由于这次会议吸引了大多数领域的领先研究人员，它在传播成果方面取得了极大的成功，并对视网膜研究的进程产生了重大影响。

This proposal requests support for the 2004 FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Retinal Neurobiology and Visual Processing". This meeting will be the seventh biannual conference in this series devoted specifically to the structure and function of the retina. Retinal research is undergoing an era of unprecedented growth and achievement. A variety of new imaging, physiological, and molecular methods are being developed and utilized to address the question of how retinal neurons are organized into functional neural circuits. Because retinal processing is key to our understanding of vision, and the retina is at the forefront of neural circuit analysis, this conference will have far-reaching effects on the general study of neuroscience. The presentations will cover many facets of retinal biology including: the cellular molecular mechanisms underlying development; the basis of neural signaling; the identification of neural circuits by which the retina processes various aspects of visual input; the code by which retinal output is conveyed to the brain; and the resulting abilities and limitations of visual behavior. This five-day conference expects to attract approximately 180 participants from around the world. Thirty-five internationally recognized experts will present their work in informal talks, which are organized in nine thematic sessions, chaired by leaders in each field. Furthermore, emphasis has been placed on the contributions of younger scientists in the early career stage. In addition, there will be in informal workshop on a topic selected before the meeting participants. Finally, all participants are invited to present posters during poster sessions. Conference format is designed to foster direct scientific exchange among participants. Efforts are being made to encourage students and postdocs, from underrepresented minority groups to attend this meeting. Proceedings will not be published, but abstracts of the talks and posters will be collected into a booklet which will be made available to all attendees and to others in the field who requested. Because this conference attracts most of the fields leading investigators, it has been highly successful in disseminating results, and has significantly affected the course of retinal research.