# Functional specialization by asymmetric receptive fields in the retina

> **NIH NIH F31** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $18,814

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
My aim will be to improve our understanding of sensory information processing systems in the retina. I will
examine the role of a class of cells in the mouse retina, the F-miniON retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), in encoding
information about the visual world. Retinal ganglion cells form the output of the retina, and their axons
comprise the optic nerve. To stimulate and observe these neurons, I will use light pattern stimuli projected onto
an ex vivo mouse retina with electrophysiological recordings and computational modeling analysis. To advance
my analysis of population coding, I will implement multi-neuron recording via calcium imaging.
My project consists of three specific aims. The first aim is to investigate the previously-reported direction
selectivity of these RGCs, in comparison to other well-studied forms of direction selectivity in the visual system.
I hypothesize that an offset of input excitatory and inhibitory receptive fields underlies this mechanism. The
second aim is to investigate a role for these RGCs in the detection of visual contours. I hypothesize that
contour detection first takes place in the retina, and will compare the mechanisms to those identified in visual
cortex, the canonical site of contour and object detection. The third aim is to expand my study of these RGCs
by incorporating multiple neuron recording. I will use dual cell electrophysiology and calcium activity imaging to
study the connectivity and correlations between these RGCs, in order to determine if they use correlated
activity to signal object position information to the brain.
Next generation efforts to restore sight using retinal prosthetics will require a description of the behavior of all
retinal ganglion cells in order to provide the sensory fidelity necessary for a normal lifestyle. My work goes
beyond current generalized descriptions of RGCs to examine the fine-scale effects of spatial asymmetries in
receptive field organization, which I believe is necessary for accurate signal replication. The results of this
project will inform our understanding of networks of neurons, and their mechanisms for sensory feature
extraction and population coding. This work is fundamental to our understanding of dysfunction in disease,
both in the retina and in other sensory brain areas. Understanding of retinal systems will be important in the
diagnosis and clinical research of degenerative retinal disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996709
- **Project number:** 5F31EY029593-03
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sam Cooler
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $18,814
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2021-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996709

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996709, Functional specialization by asymmetric receptive fields in the retina (5F31EY029593-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996709. Licensed CC0.

---

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