Retinal Microcircuits
Synaptic interactions in the retina: receptors, mechanisms, circuits and networks
Our lab is interested in the cellular and molecular basis of synaptic transmission and synaptic integration in the central nervous system. Our main goal is to understand the synaptic and cellular mechanisms employed by identified neurons and specific microcircuits for signal processing. The primary techniques we use are targeted patch-clamp recording of visually-identified neurons, 2-photon imaging and computational modeling.聽
Figure: Two retinal interneurons (AII amacrines)聽imaged with 2-photon microscopy.聽Copyright: Espen Hartveit
Current聽projects include:
- Multiphoton excitation imaging combined with patch-clamp recording to elucidate the mechanisms of retinal signal processing
- Quantitative morphological reconstructions of single neurons by computer-aided manual tracing of image stacks acquired with multiphoton excitation microscopy聽
- Development聽of聽compartmental models of single neurons to study passive and active properties involved in signal processing
- Simultaneous multi-electrode recordings from neurons in specific microcircuits within the inner retina聽
- Confocal and STED microscopy to localize receptors and synaptic proteins to individual neurons and circuits
Our research is supported by the Research Council of Norway, the Mohn Research Center for the Brain, , the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme聽聽ITN, and the University of Bergen.
We are partners in - In the Eye of the Observer: Visual Processing at the Heart of the Retina
switchBoard is an In Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme under the聽.