Neuroscience Graduate Program

Jordan Renna and David Berson will soon publish an article in Nature Neuroscience demonstrating how non-image forming photoreceptors in the retina assist in determining the organization of central visual pathways.  Retinal ganglion cells that contain photo-sensitive pigment appear to mediate these effects before young animals open their eyes.

Carlos Aizenman, along with co-workers Heng Xu, Arseny Khakhalin, and Arto Nurmikko, all at Brown, published an article in the  Journal of Neuroscience documenting the importance of network activity and glutamate receptors to establish normal visual development.

Please visit this URL for Brown’s press release describing the two new papers:

http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/06/eyes

Congratulations to Diane Lipscombe, who has now received the Notice of Grant Award from NIH to fund eight first and second year predoctoral students for the next five years.  Diane’s proposal received a perfect score of 10, the first ever such score for this neuroscience training program.  Thank Diane by sending her a congratulatory E-mail note.