Investigators have discovered a new subtype of interneurons in the retina that allows the eye to see and identify objects better in both the light and in the dark, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Communications.
The findings dismantle previous notions about the inner workings of the eye and also have broader implications for informing future neuroscience research, according to Yongling Zhu, Ph.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology, of Neuroscience and senior author of the study.
In a mammalian eye, the retina converts light into electrical signals that the optic nerve then sends to the brain, enabling vision. Before being transmitted to the brain, the electrical signals are processed in a dense, synaptic layer within the retina, which is divided into two halves.
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