Vision Laboratory - Honours projects available in 2010
An Honours project undertaken in this lab would be administered by the Discipline of Physiology.
The vision laboratory is interested in understanding how the images of the visual world are converted in neural information and how this information is represented in the brain. Vision starts in the retina, where light is converted into an electrical signal. Within the retina, a large number of neurons are interconnected in different ways giving rise to multiple networks specialised for specific functions. Each of these networks utilise specific channels and neurotransmitter receptors to shape light signals, which will carry information about particular features of the visual world to the rest of the brain. Several vision disorders, such as night blindness, have been associated with malfunction of membrane channels or with signal transmission in the retina.
We are also interested in the cellular mechanisms responsible for the adaptive changes that take place when the visual system is exposed to large changes in light intensities. The retina is able to change its activity in response to both short-term and long term changes and several different mechanisms have been proposed.
- Contrast adaptation
Supervisor + contact details:
- Dr Dario Protti
Contrast adaptation is a phenomenon by which the retina adapts to different ranges of light intensity around the mean. In this project, you will examine the neural mechanisms underlying the generation of contrast adaptation in retinal ganglion cells.
- Plasticity phenomena in the nervous system
Supervisor + contact details:
- Dr Dario Protti
Plasticity phenomena in the nervous system are mediated by several neurotransmitters and receptors. In this project, you will study the role of specific neurotransmitter systems in the modulation of synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity in the visual system.
Experiments involve the use of the following techniques:
- Recording of light-evoked responses using patch-clamp techniques in retinal slices and whole mount retina.
- Intracellular staining and morphological reconstruction.
