Genetic mapping of visual circuits

项目总结 光对各种生物体的生理和行为都起着极其重要的调节作用。尽管 它对影响生理和行为的重要性，光信息传递的电路 眼睛对大脑影响行为的机制还没有得到很好的了解。这项提议的中心目标是 通过关注中继神经元的连通性和影响来绘制视觉基础电路的基因图谱 视网膜的视网膜神经节细胞。我们将使用小鼠遗传学来确定特定视网膜的影响 神经节细胞亚型对行为的影响，研究这些视网膜神经节细胞对内信号的影响 视觉核团，并在细胞水平上映射大脑中视网膜神经节细胞的连接性。这些研究 将增强我们对视觉处理的理解，并有可能更好地帮助我们理解 以及治疗视觉系统功能障碍和损伤，以更好地改善人类健康。

PROJECT SUMMARY Light is a profoundly important regulator of physiology and behavior across a wide range of organisms. Despite its importance for influencing physiology and behavior, the circuits by which light information is relayed from the eye to the brain to influence behavior are not well understood. The central goal of this proposal is to genetically map the circuits underlying vision by focusing on the connectivity and influence of the relay neurons of the retina, the retinal ganglion cells. We will use mouse genetics to identify the influence of specific retinal ganglion cell subtypes on behavior, investigate the influence of these retinal ganglion cells on signaling within visual nuclei, and map the connectivity of retinal ganglion cells in the brain at the cellular level. These studies will enhance our understanding of visual processing and have the potential to better inform our understanding and treatment of dysfunction and injury of the visual system to better improve human health.