VN Modules
Faculty Member: Alexandra Kling
Module Title: Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) Recordings and Analysis of Vertebrate Retina
Students will participate in hands-on experiments recording retinal ganglion cell activity from mouse retina, and learn computational analysis techniques of the data. Students will have an opportunity to apply these methods to real datasets from macaque, human, or rat retina, aiming to understand the functional properties and classification of visual neurons.
Faculty Member: Leon Lagnado
Module Title:91ׯImaging the synaptic transfer of visual information in the retina of Zebrafish
On day 1 we will use multiphoton microscopy in live zebrafish to image the visual signal as it is transmitted through the synapses of bipolar cells using SyGCaMP a reporter of presynaptic calcium signals.91ׯ The aim will be to survey how the population of bipolar cells encode basic properties of a visual stimulus, such as contrast and temporal frequency.91ׯ On day 2 we will image the synaptic release of glutamate using iGluSnFR.91ׯ The aim will be to compare how the visual signal is transmitted from cones to bipolar cells and then from bipolar cells to the inner retina.
Faculty Member: Juan Angueyra
Module Title: Assays of visual behaviour
In this module we will use zebrafish as a model to explore design, assays, analysis and interpretation of visual behavioural assays. We will look into the equipment required to build a behavioural setup, how to design visual stimuli, how to record behavioural outputs, and we will use SLEAP as an example of semi-automated estimation of pose for analysis.
Faculy Member: Yirong Peng
Module Title: Enrichment and scRNA-seq Analysis of Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells
More info coming soon.
Faculty Member: Judit Pungor
Module Title: Calcium imaging in the visual system of the octopus
In this module we will cover the delivery, imaging, and analysis of data from a calcium indicator used to record neural activity in an organism without a genetically encoded fluorescent protein.
Faculty Member: Greg Schwartz
Module Title: Patch-clamp electrophysiology of of ganglion cells in ex vivo mouse retina
The goal of this module is for students to get hands-on experience measuring light responses and intrinsic electrical properties from RGCs and (time permitting) displaced amacrine cells. We will use both cell-attached and whole cell (current clamp and voltage clamp) recording methods. Course personnel will prepare whole-mounts of live, dark-adapted WT mouse retinas at the start of each day. The retinas will be perfused with oxygenated Ames medium on the electrophysiology rig/microscope and kept in dark conditions throughout the recording day. A custom stimulation device will be attached to the microscope through the condenser to provide patterned visual stimuli to the photoreceptors.
Faculty Member: Rich Kramer
Module Title: Multi-electrode (MEA) recordings from blind mouse retinal models of retinitis pigmentosa
Recordings will show 1) 91ׯfunctional remodeling of the retina, and 2) 91ׯrestoration of light responses after applying azobenzene photoswitches, candidate drugs for restoring vision to blind humans.
Faculty Member: Hillel Adesnik
Module Title: Two photon calcium imaging of visually evoked dynamics in the mouse neocortex
In this module, students will learn to execute visual perceptual experiments on head fixed mice. Animals will be presented with diverse visual stimuli while we monitor up to a 1,000 neurons' activity at the same time with cellular resolution.91ׯ
Faculty Member: JoAnn Buchannan
Module Title: Sample preparation and instrumentation for electron microscopy
More info coming soon.
Faculty Member: Brittany Carr
Module Title: Preparing biological samples for fluorescence imaging
In this module, you will learn how to prepare and image fixed retinal tissues. Skills may include cryosectioning retinal tissues & mounting on slides, immunofluorescence, and confocal or epifluoresecence imaging and best practices.