The vertebrate eye transduces visual information into a series of electrical impulses which are transmitted by nerve cells to higher brain centers. Therefore, it is important to understand how the retina of the eye takes images and converts them, through a series of nerve networks, into signals which the brain can process. This is a problem both of physiology and mathematics. This project will study the input-output relationships of the vertebrate retina, that is, light to nerve cell and nerve to nerve cell. This is the first stage of visual transduction and integration. The project will focus on the mathematical analysis of the input-output system in order to develop models of how light is transformed into nerve impulses. The mathematical and computer-modeling aspects will be done in conjunction with ongoing studies of retinal physiology. These studies will contribute to our understanding of light and image transduction and how retinal neural networks initially process visual information. The results should provide valuable information about the normal function of the eye and, possibly, what factors are involved in visual defects.
