Novel mechanisms for regulating the retinal vasculature. Tight control of the retinal vasculature is crucial for maintaining normal vision. Unlike most blood vessels in the body, those in the retina and brain receive no direct neural control. Rather they rely on support cells to communicate the needs of neurons. This project aims to examine the mechanisms by which resident immune cells, called microglia, regulate retinal capillaries in response to neural activity. New knowledge examining a novel ....Novel mechanisms for regulating the retinal vasculature. Tight control of the retinal vasculature is crucial for maintaining normal vision. Unlike most blood vessels in the body, those in the retina and brain receive no direct neural control. Rather they rely on support cells to communicate the needs of neurons. This project aims to examine the mechanisms by which resident immune cells, called microglia, regulate retinal capillaries in response to neural activity. New knowledge examining a novel mechanism will be generated. This information is crucial for enhancing our understanding of how blood vessels are controlled in the retina and brain and will guide the development of novel ways of examining blood vessel function.Read moreRead less
A novel role for microglia in neural maturation. This project aims to determine the role that microglia have in maturation of cells of the retina called photoreceptors. High resolution microscopy combined with molecular and functional analysis will show the extent and type of contact between photoreceptors and microglia, the molecules released by microglia and the mechanism(s) by which microglia modify photoreceptors after birth. The knowledge gained in this project will provide critical informa ....A novel role for microglia in neural maturation. This project aims to determine the role that microglia have in maturation of cells of the retina called photoreceptors. High resolution microscopy combined with molecular and functional analysis will show the extent and type of contact between photoreceptors and microglia, the molecules released by microglia and the mechanism(s) by which microglia modify photoreceptors after birth. The knowledge gained in this project will provide critical information about how we see, and will have sustained impact on our understanding of the role of immune cells in the nervous system.Read moreRead less
Target detection in three-dimensional optic flow. This project aims to understand the behavioural, neural, and computational mechanisms underlying the visualisation of moving targets. Insects have poorer eyesight and smaller brains than humans, but can chase small targets at high speed. This project will use intracellular electrophysiology, information content analysis and model development to decipher the underlying neural tuning mechanisms of hoverflies, which could suggest advanced computatio ....Target detection in three-dimensional optic flow. This project aims to understand the behavioural, neural, and computational mechanisms underlying the visualisation of moving targets. Insects have poorer eyesight and smaller brains than humans, but can chase small targets at high speed. This project will use intracellular electrophysiology, information content analysis and model development to decipher the underlying neural tuning mechanisms of hoverflies, which could suggest advanced computational optimisation and miniaturisation. The project may generate algorithms for rapid and reliable information extraction from large, noisy inputs, useful for developing unmanned vehicles and in Big Data analysis. The results could be useful in developing anti-collision control systems in vehicles using less computational power.Read moreRead less