"Melanopsin Signaling in the Eye"游景威 博士-2012.10.30

時間：2012年10月30日 10:00

地點：腦功能研究所一樓會議室

報告題目：Melanopsin Signaling in the Eye

報告人：游景威 博士

報告人簡介：1975獲得哈佛大學神經生物學博士學位，1975-1986年先后在斯坦福大學、劍橋大學、UTMB Galveston工作；1986-2004年為Howard Hughes醫學研究所研究員，1986年至今任約翰霍普金斯大學神經科學系教授，主要從事視覺和觸覺的神經機制研究，發表了150余篇學術論文，其中48篇發表在Nature、Science、Neuron 等頂級學術雜志；獲得多個學術獎項。2010年，以其杰出的研究水平和成果，當選為美國科學院院士。

報告簡介：Rods and cones not only absorb light for initiating image vision, but also contribute to non-image vision, including circadian photoentrainment, pupillary light reflex, etc. A recent surprising discovery is that ganglion cells, which convey rod/cone signals to the brain, are themselves photosensitive by expressing a visual pigment, melanopsin. These cells, similar to rods, have high signaling efficiency capable of single-photon detection. However, they have an extremely low pigment density (compared to rods and cones). We are studying the phototransduction mechanism in these fascinating, newly-discovered photoreceptors, which does not appear to involve cGMP as in rods and cones