Activity-dependent refinement of neural circuits is a fundamental principle of neural development. This process has been well studied at retinogeniculate synapses—synapses that form between retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) ...

It has long been thought that the mammalian visual system is organized into parallel pathways, with incoming visual signals being parsed in the retina based on feature (e.g. color, contrast and motion) and then transmitted ...

Information about features in the visual world is parsed by circuits in the retina and is then transmitted to the brain by distinct subtypes of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Axons from RGC subtypes are stratified in ...

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease classically associated with axonal damage and loss; more recently, however, synaptic changes have been recognized as additional contributing ...

PURPOSE. Optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) is the most common cause of childhood congenital blindness in developed nations, yet the fundamental pathobiology of ONH remains unknown. The objective of this study was to employ a ...

Background: The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the mouse has been an important experimental model for understanding thalamic circuit development. The developmental remodeling of retinal projections has been ...

Background: Mouse visual thalamus has emerged as a powerful model for understanding the mechanisms underlying neural circuit formation and function. Three distinct nuclei within mouse thalamus receive retinal input, the ...

During infections with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is utilized as a carbon source for parasite metabolism and also to facilitate parasite dissemination by stimulating dendritic-cell ...

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the master pacemaker that drives circadian behaviors. SCN neurons have intrinsic, self-sustained rhythmicity that is governed by transcription-translation feedback loops. Intrinsic ...

At least three forms of signaling between pre- and postsynaptic partners are necessary during synapse formation. First, “targeting” signals instruct presynaptic axons to recognize and adhere to the correct portion of a ...