Stuart Trenholm1 and Gautam B. Awatramani2 1Assistant Professor, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada: stuart.trenholm@mcgill.ca 2Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada: gautam@uvic.ca Abstract Gap junctions are recognized in the electron microscope as dense starchy areas of opposed membrane between two cells. Small tracer molecules such as Neurobiotin pass through the …
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What is glaucoma? David Križaj Abstract Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness in the world, can be challenging to diagnose because symptoms often appear at late stage of the disease, and challenging to treat because of the irreversible loss of retinal neurons. The term encompasses a heterogenous group of diseases that are characterized by altered …
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Ethan D. Cohen, Ph.D., Abstract Retina prostheses try to reactivate the residual circuitry in a blind patient’s retina to produce a synthetic form of usable vision. Using an array of stimulus electrodes or light-sensitive proteins, the neurons in the degenerate retinal network are activated to elicit a series of light percepts termed “phosphenes”. If …
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The Science Behind Myopia Brittany J. Carr and William K. Stell INTRODUCTION Myopia (near-sightedness) is the most common refractive vision disorder in children. It is characterized by blurring of objects viewed at a distance, and is commonly the result of abnormal elongation of the eyeball – which causes the refractive image formed by the cornea …
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1. Introduction The ability to detect moving objects in the visual scene is fundamental to our daily survival. It originates within the sensory organ, the retina, where a significant proportion of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) responses is dedicated to detecting motion in different directions (Fig.1). The first evidence for such retinal computation …
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Geoffrey. B. Arden and David J. Ramsey 1. Introduction There is a pandemic of diabetes. More than 350 million people are affected world-wide. In the UK more than 4.2 million people (6.3% of the population) are estimated to be living with diabetes, many without even knowing it (1). In the USA 29.1 million (9.3% …
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Bryan William Jones, Robert E. Marc and Rebecca L. Pfeiffer 1. Introduction Retinal degeneration and remodeling encompasses a group of pathologies at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels that are initiated by inherited retinal diseases like retinitis pigmentosa (RP), genetic and environmental diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other insults to the eye/retina …
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How the Retina Works *[1] [1] This chapter is an update of a 2003 American Scientist review article by Helga Kolb (1). Abstract Much of the interpretation of our visual world takes place in the retina itself through the actions of specialized neural circuits. Rods and cones, whose distributions and interactions with other retinal neurons …
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1 Introduction “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” (1). Theodosius Dobzhansky’s insight is especially apposite in trying to comprehend the nature of our rod and cone photoreceptors, and the organization of our retina. Unless we understand how these cells and structures arose, through hundreds of millions of years of evolution, …
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Steve Fisher, Geoffrey P. Lewis, Kenneth A Linberg, Edward Barawid and Mark V. Verardo 1. Introduction. What is retinal detachment? The retina is firmly attached to the apical surface of the retinal pigmented epithelium, or RPE (see earlier retinal anatomy sections). When the retina is separated from its normal position apposed to the …
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