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NEI Research News

Thanks to the work of NEI scientists and grantees, we’re constantly learning new information about the causes and treatment of vision disorders. Get the latest updates about their work — along with other news about NEI.

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Illuminated neuron projection from visual cortext

Neuroscience researchers awarded nearly $2 million by National Institutes of Health to study visual processing

Jordan Hamm, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Georgia State University, has received a five-year, $1.93 million award from the National Eye Institute.
Red, green and blue dots on screen representing RPE protein

NIH scientists discover essential step in recharging the eye’s light-sensing retina

Scientists have discovered a mechanism by which an area of a protein shape-shifts to convert vitamin A into a usable form for the eye’s light-sensing photoreceptor cells.
Top-down sectional views of 4 brain scans, showing missing hemispheres.

Word and face recognition can be adequately supported with half a brain, study finds

An unprecedented study of brain plasticity and visual perception found that people who, as children, had undergone surgery removing half of their brain correctly recognized differences between pairs of words or faces more than 80% of the time.
Long distance connections in the brain.

Haven’t I seen this before? Study offers new insights into how the brain separates perception from memory

The brain works in fundamentally different ways when remembering what we have seen compared to seeing something for the first time, a team of scientists has found.
Florescent photo of mouse rod photoreceptor, next to photoreceptor schematic showing cell body, inner and outer segments.

Scientists shine light on how eyes adapt to the dark

A basic research study from the National Eye Institute (NEI) explains how the molecule transducin moves within light-sensing rod photoreceptors in mouse retina to help the eye quickly adapt from bright to low light and back.
LCA is an inherited disorder that causes vision loss in childhood. It primarily affects the functioning of the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, as shown here. Photo credit: National Eye Institute

Eye-opening discovery about adult brain’s ability to recover vision

University of California, Irvine team demonstrates the adult brain has the potential to partially recover from inherited blindness.
A man and a dog in front of an MRI scanner

Decoding Canine Cognition

Scientists have decoded visual images from a dog’s brain, offering a first look at how the canine mind reconstructs what it sees.
Functional map of inhibitory neurons in visual cortex

Experience Required: A role for vision in the development of inhibitory networks

New research from the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience demonstrates that inhibitory and excitatory neuronal circuits of the visual system develop through different processes, even if the organization of the mature circuit is similar.
Joseph Schumacher and David Fitzpatrick

Spot the difference: Brain changes that enable fine visual discrimination learning

In a new research study from the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, scientists have now discovered the neuronal changes that occur during learning to improve discrimination of closely related visual images.
Vision and non-vision functions use different neuronal circuits in the retina.

NIH researchers decode retinal circuits for circadian rhythm, pupillary light response

The eye’s light-sensing retina taps different circuits depending on whether it is generating image-forming vision or carrying out a non-vision function such as regulating pupil size or sleep/wake cycles, according to a new mouse study.

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