# Motion Processing by Interactions of Receptive Field Center and Surround in Primate Retinal Ganglion Cells

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $40,672

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The overall goal of this proposal is to understand the role of interactions between the receptive field center
and surround in encoding motion signals in sparsely expressed retinal ganglion cells of the macaque monkey
retina. Studies of primate retinal ganglion cell physiologies have largely been limited to 5 dominantly
expressed types. This proposal will contribute to our understanding of three poorly understood and sparsely
expressed ganglion cell types: the broad thorny, the ON smooth monostratified, and the OFF smooth
monostratified. These three types will be characterized in terms of center-surround interactions that
contribute to each ganglion cell’s functional output.
The proposed research has two specific aims:
1) To determine whether surround motion facilitates spiking outputs of smooth monostratified ganglion cells.
 I will record synaptic inputs and spiking outputs of smooth monostratified ganglion cells to measure
 ganglion cell sensitivity when a motion stimulus is presented to the surround. I will test the specific
 hypothesis that despite showing a traditionally suppressive surround to stationary spots, the smooth
 monostratified cell’s spiking output is facilitated by motion in the surround.
2) To determine whether center and surround interact to create selectivity for object motion in the broad
 thorny ganglion cell. I will measure synaptic inputs and spiking outputs of the broad thorny ganglion cell to
 determine whether motion in the broad thorny surround is suppressive to all visual inputs except object
 motion. My experiments will test the specific hypothesis that surround motion makes the broad thorny
 sensitive to differential motion.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10139338
- **Project number:** 1F31EY032316-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Todd Appleby
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $40,672
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10139338

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10139338, Motion Processing by Interactions of Receptive Field Center and Surround in Primate Retinal Ganglion Cells (1F31EY032316-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10139338. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*