Description:

The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics presents:

Tiffany Schmidt, PhD
Martin and Patricia Koldyke Outstanding Teaching Professor, Associate Professor
Department of Neurobiology
Director, Undergraduate Neuroscience Program
Director, Neurobiology MS Program
Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences

Presentation:

"Illuminating Visual Circuits"

Abstract:

Light is an important and ever present regulator of physiology and behavior, and is involved in processes as wide ranging as daily hormonal oscillations, pattern vision, sleep, attention, and circadian photoentrainment. But how are light signals relayed to the brain to mediate these complex visual behaviors? In mammals, all light information reaches the brain via projections from the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), of which there are ~20 subtypes in the retina. We study the role of RGC subtypes in specific visual functions, like the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), which express the photopigment melanopsin, and drive a wide range of behaviors from circadian photoentrainment to contrast sensitivity for vision. 

Co-Hosts: Dr. Clara B Peek, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Medicine (Endocrinology) and Dr. Iris Titos Vivancos, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics