The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry has been awarded a $2.1 million R01 grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to explore how the brain interprets visual information when retinal signals degrade.
Led by Dr. Lawrence Sincich, the 4-year research project, titled “Elementary Cone Photoreceptor Representation in Primary Visual Cortex,” will focus on how individual neurons in the primary visual cortex respond to both normal and impaired input from cone photoreceptors.
Dr. Sincich aims to chart how single brain cells respond to visual stimuli with high precision. Using advanced adaptive optics technology, his team will observe the neural activity elicited by input from specific cone photoreceptors—the cells in the retina that are responsible for detecting color and fine detail. They’ll also investigate how neurons adapt—or fail to adapt—when information from the retina begins to break down due to conditions like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
“Each of these brain cells is tuned to certain visual patterns,” said Dr. Sincich in a press release from UAB. “We want to see exactly what those patterns look like when the image is clear, and which specific light-sensing cells in the eye are involved.”
“By measuring how these neurons react to normal vs degraded stimuli, we will learn the degree to which they are resilient to retinal degeneration,” he continued. “Knowing the answer is important for understanding why patients with eye problems often fail to notice they are missing some vision.”
In addition to advancing fundamental vision science, the grant will also support specialized optical instrument development, large-scale physiological data analysis, and training for emerging researchers—including optometrists who are pursuing research careers.
“My hope is that understanding how these neurons behave when visual signals start to disappear from the retina will let us design better vision testing for early diagnosis,” Dr. Sincich noted. “That’s really needed to help save vision in patients.”