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Deciphering the computations underlying visual processing: Repurposing of retinal cells and how they are decoded by the visual thalamus

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

Objective

Visual processing begins in the retina, with ~30 types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), each encodes a specific visual modality, such as edges or motion. A major challenge for deciphering the visual code is mapping the connections between each RGC and its target neurons, such as in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and, via the LGN, the visual cortex. Recently, this challenge became even greater, as we and others revealed that the modality encoded by RGCs—traditionally considered a fixed hardwired property of each RGC type—can be altered. Direction selective RGCs reorient their directional tuning following visual adaptation, and other RGCs change their polarity preference (On/Off) as light level changes. These newly discovered dramatic changes in the core computations of RGCs depart from the known retinal adaptation which results in gain adjustments but no modality changes. We term them repurposing.
The discovery of repurposing contrasts the widely-held notion that the retina provides a stable representation of the visual scene for downstream processing. This newly exposed level of complexity in the retinal code raises a critical question for our understanding of vision: How do retinal targets interpret the dynamic retinal code and how, despite such dynamics, a consistent representation of the visual scene emerges?
We will use state-of-the-art electrophysiology and imaging techniques, and pioneer an approach for simultaneous retinal imaging and LGN recordings, to reveal how the mouse early visual system processes the changing visual information. We will elucidate the subtypes of repurposed RGCs, triggers for repurposing and their mechanisms. We will resolve, for the first time, the precise functional connectivity between subtypes of RGCs and LGN neurons, and determine how the LGN decodes retinal repurposing. Our groundbreaking research will pave the path for understanding how visual processing in a constantly changing world gives rise to a consistent perception.

Field of Science

/medical and health sciences/clinical medicine/ophthalmology

Programme(s)

H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Topic(s)

ERC-2017-STG - ERC Starting Grant

Call for proposal

ERC-2017-STG

See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

Host institution

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Address

Herzl Street 234
7610001 Rehovot

Israel

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU Contribution

€ 1 494 000

Website

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Beneficiaries (1)

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WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

EU Contribution

€ 1 494 000

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

Deliverables

Deliverables not available

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (5)

Inhomogeneous Encoding of the Visual Field in the Mouse Retina

Author(s): Rebekah A. Warwick, Nathali Kaushansky, Nimrod Sarid, Amir Golan, Michal Rivlin-Etzion

Published in: Current Biology, Issue 28/5, 2018, Page(s) 655-665.e3, ISSN 0960-9822

DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.01.016

Antagonistic Center-Surround Mechanisms for Direction Selectivity in the Retina

Author(s): Lea Ankri, Elishai Ezra-Tsur, Shir R. Maimon, Nathali Kaushansky, Michal Rivlin-Etzion

Published in: Cell Reports, Issue 31/5, 2020, Page(s) 107608, ISSN 2211-1247

DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107608

Topographic Variations in Retinal Encoding of Visual Space

Author(s): Alina Sophie Heukamp, Rebekah Anne Warwick, Michal Rivlin-Etzion

Published in: Annual Review of Vision Science, Issue 6/1, 2020, ISSN 2374-4642

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-121219-081831

Neuromorphic implementation of motion detection using oscillation interference

Author(s): Elishai Ezra Tsur, Michal Rivlin-Etzion

Published in: Neurocomputing, Issue 374, 2020, Page(s) 54-63, ISSN 0925-2312

DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2019.09.072

Flexible Neural Hardware Supports Dynamic Computations in Retina

Author(s): Michal Rivlin-Etzion, William N. Grimes, Fred Rieke

Published in: Trends in Neurosciences, Issue 41/4, 2018, Page(s) 224-237, ISSN 0166-2236

DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2018.01.009

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Israel

Project information

RetinalRepurposing

Grant agreement ID: 757732

Status

Ongoing project

Start date

1 October 2017
End date

30 September 2022

Funded under:

H2020-EU.1.1.

Overall budget:

€ 1 494 000
EU contribution

€ 1 494 000

Hosted by:

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

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Last update: 30 October 2017

Record number: 212082

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/757732/results

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