AT A GLANCE Project Information


Title: The Retinal Signal Processing Lab


biology, a totally still eye cannot see. An element


of Knowledge of movement is these techniques


essential.” could,


Kamermans muses, be transplanted to the digital environment, and could stimulate the development of


sophisticated, high


fidelity encoding and algorithms. There are also potential benefits for


medicine here too. “If we can identify how and where information reduction occurs,” says Kamermans, “it may assist in the development of efficient retinal prosthesis, and


reactivation Processing strategies Lab is to


vision.” One potential restoration technique being earnestly studied by the Retinal Signal


Optogenetics is a novel strategy


optogenetics. that


exploits bacterial proteins. ”These proteins can be expressed by retinal cells, and are activated by light,” explains Kamermans. ”We’re considering how these could be used to reactivate the neurons of people with degenerative visual conditions, who become blind when their cells are no longer light sensitive.” Proof of


principle for this


strategy has been provided by Roska and co-workers in the EU consortium RETICIRC,


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coordinated by Kamermans. As a next step, human donor retinas, obtained post- mortem, are being used to assess


the


possibility of reactivating non-functioning photoreceptors and, ultimately, restoring vision.


Once deemed safe to trial,


Kamermans hopes that this technique will become the subject of a new, EU funded project, which will involve experimental treatments on live patients suffering from retinitis


pigmentosa, restore an inherited


degenerative eye disease. Tackling such technical and theoretical


challenges, and the sustained efforts required to conquer them are, Kamermans feels, currently undervalued by EU leaders. “There’s currently a great push towards applied and translational science,” he notes. “Policy makers forget, however, that such research can only be conducted if there is something


to translate. is needed If foundational


work is neglected, then existing materials will ultimately become exhausted. Fresh knowledge


to stimulate new


theories, which in turn may generate a wealth of potentially unforeseen benefits and lucrative commodities”.





Prof.dr. Maarten Kamermans Maarten Kamermans was trained in biology and physics. He did his PhD in the laboratory of Medical Physics of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and his postdoctoral research at the


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University of California at Berkeley with Frank Werblin. He received the prestigious KNAW-fellowship after his return to the Netherlands. This allowed him to establish the Retinal Signal Processing lab which later moved to the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) of the KNAW. He is professor of Neurophysiology specialised in Sensory Physiology at the Academic Medical Center of the UvA. His ~70 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals including Science, Neuron, PLoS


Biology and American Journal of Human Genetics have been widely cited in the field. His exploration of the visual sensory system is characterised by a highly multidisciplinary approach and often with a strong quantitative signature. This is reflected in the composition of The Retinal Signal Processing lab, which is fully staffed and equipped for this broad approach, ranging from genetics/ molecular biology, morphology to single cell electrophysiology/vital imaging information theory and behavior.


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Research Objective: Vision starts in the retina where images are transformed and coded into neuronal activity relevant for the brain. Many retinal mechanisms are present that select the relevant information from the images before the information is sent to the brain. We are studying the neuronal processing involved in these selection and adaptation processes. This knowledge is essential for understanding how the visual system works and forms the basis for research dedicated to restoring vision in blind people.


Project Funding:  Netherlands Institute for Neurosci- ence (NIN)


 Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) through its division Earth and Life Sci- ences (ALW) and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMW)


 Two Dutch patient foundations supporting retinal research: ODAS and LSBS


 FP7 project RETICIRC


Project Partners: G. Zoidl; U. Bienhold-Janssen; R. Gregg; M. McCall; H. Simonsz; A. Bergen; B. Roska; S. Picaud; R. Smith


Contact: Tel: +31 20 566 5180 Email: m.kamermans@nin.knaw.nl Web: www.nin.knaw.nl/research_ groups/kamermans_group


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