Saturday, July 5, 2025 7/5/2025

Mechanisms of direction selectivity in starburst amacrine cells

Award Number: R01EY030841
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2024

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Mechanisms of direction selectivity in starburst amacrine cells - For the brain to detect relevant signals about the outside world, neurons must be able to collect, manipulate and transmit information. Detecting motion is a fundamental task of the visual system, and specialized direction selective (DS) cells are present already at the retina. Due to its experimental accessibility, the DS circuit in the mammalian retina emerged as a classical model system of a sophisticated information processing in the brain. Retinal DS ganglion cells are maximally activated by motion in their preferred direction, and their output guides reflexive behavior and possibly conscious perception. It is now well established that directional tuning of the ganglion cells reflects DS input from starburst amacrine cells (SAC), where the first fundamental step of motion detection takes place. SAC dendrites transform a non-DS input from bipolar cells into DS output that is manifested as a stronger output for motion in the outward direction. A rich literature indicates that DS in individual SACs depends on an intricate combination of factors, including dendritic morphology, dynamics of the synaptic inputs and the distribution of voltage-gated channels. While a number of different mechanisms have been proposed to explain the transformation of visual information from unselective inputs into direction selective output, the relative contribution of these processes to the function of the cell remains controversial. In addition, detailed numerical simulations that incorporate the leading models of DS in SACs underestimate the experimentally recorded motion discrimination abilities in these cells, indicating the presence of additional unidentified DS mechanism(s). The goal of this proposal is to address the mechanisms that mediate DS in individual SACs. We will take an innovative approach that combines biophysically realistic modeling, electrophysiology, as well as glutamate and calcium imaging to provide a detailed description of the of the visual information representation in the DS circuit, with a particular focus on SAC dendrites. The proposed experimental and theoretical treatment will study how visual signals are transformed to synaptic inputs that innervate SACs and test a novel mechanism that depends on postsynaptic voltage-gated channels to sharpen DS signals in SAC dendrites. The proposed research will substantially advance our understanding of DS mechanisms in the visual system. It will also provide a conceptually novel role for the participation of active channels in dendritic computations.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $388,750 )
2024	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	000	5	12/5/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$388,750
														Subtotal = $388,750

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $388,750 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	000	4	12/8/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$349,875
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	001	4	3/8/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$38,875
														Subtotal = $388,750

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $366,321 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	000	3	12/1/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$339,885
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	001	3	5/4/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$26,436
														Subtotal = $366,321

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $366,320 )
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	000	2	11/19/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$339,885
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	001	2	2/18/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$26,435
														Subtotal = $366,320

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $388,750 )
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	13001 E 17TH PLACE F428	AURORA	CO	80045	ADAMS	USA	Vision Research	000	1	11/27/2019	NEW	$388,750
														Subtotal = $388,750

Grand Total All Awards = $1,898,891

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Mechanisms of direction selectivity in starburst amacrine cells

Award Number: R01EY030841

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/01/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2024

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer