The way in which nerve cells are connected to create vision is poorly understood.
Our researchers work towards improving our understanding of how the eye and brain process visual scenes to perceive colour, form and movement.
Through our work, we gain knowledge that can be used in clinical practice and the treatment of eye disease.
It is known that nerve signals serving the sense of sight travel from the eye to the brain on the processes of retinal ganglion cells (retina output neurones).
These cells send specific information about colour, shape and movement of objects in our visual field. We study this process by analysing the fine pattern of nerve cell connections in the retina which generate these visual channels, and by identifying how the cells that contribute to each channel are distributed across the retina.
Artificial intelligence-guided image reconstruction: We have now used artificial intelligence-guided image reconstruction to classify and count all neurones and glial cells within 500 µm (0.5 mm) of the foveal centre and are now analysing the connections (synapses) between foveal cells
This project is a collaboration with Prof Marcello Rosa and Dr Nafiseh Atapour at Monash University. It is known that the retina and optic nerve can degenerate following brain damage.
In this project we found that in marmoset this process, called transynaptic degeneration, is critically dependent on the age at time of lesion, with resilience to cortical lesions rising very rapidly in the first three postnatal weeks.
Key paper: Sepehrisadr et al., ""
South Block, Sydney Eye Hospital
8 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000
