Mechanisms controlling retinal responses to natural stimuli

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R01 · $388,750 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Summary and expected impact The proposed experiments will provide a clearer picture of the mechanisms that shape responses to natural stimuli in the primate retina. Preliminary results suggest several important insights. Aim 1: We find that standard models fail to account for responses of On parasol cells to natural images. These are among the best-studied ganglion cells, and the inability of standard models to account for their responses is surprising. Specifically, our results suggest that the manner in which these cells integrate signals across space is highly stimulus-dependent in a manner not captured by current models. Aim 2: We find that receptive field subunits - long associated with bipolar cells - have more diverse properties than previously appreciated, likely reflecting contributions of cells other than bipolar cells. In particular, light-dependent changes in subunit size will be important to consider in evaluating the functional role of subunits. Aim 3: A tool that we recently developed reveals significant contributions of post-photoreceptor mechanisms to the kinetics of retinal ganglion cell responses.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10873303
Project number
5R01EY028542-07
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Principal Investigator
FREDERICK M RIEKE
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2024
Award amount
$388,750
Award type
5
Project period
2018-08-05 → 2028-07-31