# Circuit specializations of developing visual networks

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $495,798

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The visual pathways of the fetal brain are highly active before birth. In the absence of high quality visual cues,
spontaneous and light-evoked activity in the fetal retina provide the primary visual input, and data from
neonatal rodents implicate this early activity in normal visual development and organization of visual pathways.
While we understand much about the specialized circuits that produce activity in the fetal retina, and the
consequences of disruption of that activity for eye and brain outcomes, we know little of the actual brain activity
that supports the earliest stages of visual development in the intact animal. Our recent experiments show that
early retinal activity is not passively transmitted to the visual cortex. Rather, it is actively amplified and
transformed by mechanisms unique to the developing brain. This proposal will use a rodent model of fetal
brain development to follow the propagation and transformation of early retinal activity at each stage of the
primary visual pathway in thalamus and visual cortex, and identify the mechanisms of its transformation. This
knowledge is critical because disruption of early retinal activity associated with preterm birth or hypoxic birth
complications can cause lasting visual impairment. Any treatment or early diagnosis (such as using EEG)
would require knowledge of the normal developmental activity patterns, which this project will provide.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10478240
- **Project number:** 5R01EY022730-10
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Todd Colonnese
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $495,798
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10478240

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10478240, Circuit specializations of developing visual networks (5R01EY022730-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10478240. Licensed CC0.

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