Generation of Complex Responses in Retinal Ganglion Cells

视网膜神经节细胞，其轴突构成视神经，包括许多不同类型的细胞，它们以简单或复杂的方式对视觉刺激作出反应。该项目将研究方向选择神经节细胞（DSGCs）和局部边缘检测器神经节细胞（led）的复杂反应是如何产生的。提供抑制输入给DSGCs和led的视网膜神经元似乎使用不同的神经递质，该项目将研究这如何塑造神经节细胞的反应特性。这将通过在分离的视网膜制备中记录神经节细胞的视觉诱发反应和使用双光子激光扫描显微镜对抑制DSGCs的神经元之间的神经元相互作用进行功能成像来完成。

The retinal ganglion cells, whose axons form the optic nerve, comprise numerous distinct types, which respond to visual stimuli in either a simple or complex manner. The project will investigate how the complex responses of the direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) and the local-edge-detector ganglion cells (LEDs) are generated. It appears that the retinal neurons providing inhibitory input to DSGCs and LEDs use different neurotransmitters, and the project will investigate how this shapes the response properties of the ganglion cells. This will be done both by recording the visually evoked responses of the ganglion cells in an isolated preparation of the retina and by using two-photon laser-scanning microscopy to functionally image the neuronal interactions between the neurons that inhibit the DSGCs.