How do the eyes connect to the brAIN?
Visual circuits develop over time through a combination of nature (genetic regulation) and nurture (sensory experience).
Together, these mechanisms establish parallel circuits for conscious visual perception, light-dependent behavior, and circadian physiology.
We are interested in understanding how molecular and activity-dependent mechanisms establish visual circuits in the mammalian brain.
Our tools
We target specific cell types and circuits in the developing visual system using genetic transfection techniques, tract tracing, and transgenic models.
We use advanced molecular biology techniques to quantify developmental changes in proteins and RNA within synaptic connections from unique subtypes of retinal output neurons to central targets in the brain.
We investigate synaptic connectivity and subsynaptic protein organization using multi-color volumetric super-resolution imaging of targeted microcircuits with molecular specificity at the nanoscale.
We leverage the power of high-performance computing to mine new biological insights from big data.
Our mission
Our goal is to understand the molecular logic of visual microcircuit formation and contribute new knowledge toward treatments
for developmental disorders and blinding diseases.
