Research teams and research areas

The Institut de la Vision brings together nearly 300 researchers in 18 research units specialized in ophthalmological pathologies. At the forefront of scientific innovation, these units conduct translational research aimed at developing cutting-edge technological solutions and therapeutic innovations for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these pathologies. Organized around five strategic research axes, the teams of the Institut de la Vision cover a wide range of topics, from the molecular physiology of vision to innovative therapeutic approaches.

VISUAL PROCESSING3 RESEARCH TEAMSUnderstanding and evaluating visual information processing by the retina and brain: neurotransmission and pharmacotoxicology.

Visual information processing

Our group studies retinal information processing in normal and pathological conditions and investigates how pathological conditions can be prevented. We also develop and test new therapeutic vision restoration strategies.

Olivier Marre
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Presentation

Research in the past decade has shown that the retina performs many complex computations, and we still have to understand how the light impinging the photoreceptors is transformed by the retinal network into a set of spike trains that are sent decoded by the brain. This retinal circuit bears some similarities to the sensory areas of the brain, thus, studying the retina can provide a window onto the brain function. Recent clinical trials indicate that the retinal circuit is capable of transferring useful visual information to the brain even in blind patients who have lost their photoreceptors.

Measuring retinal function in normal and pathological conditions provides clues for intervening in degenerative processes and restoring visual information processing. Genetic tools such as those used in optogenetic therapy enable us to record and manipulate neuronal activity, but they might also be used as a therapeutic alternative to retinal prostheses.

Our past and current work has investigated cell and animal models of different retinal diseases with either photoreceptor degeneration (retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome) or neuronal loss (diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma). We have investigated different neuroprotective mechanisms including light filters, calcium channel blockers, taurine, VEGF, etc, and assessed new techniques for visual restoration such as optogenetic therapy targeting different cellular levels or prostheses using innovative structures and materials like diamond and graphene.

Research areas

  • Retinal encoding of visual information
  • Light toxicity on photoreceptors and retinal neurons
  • Neuroproction on photoreceptors and retinal neurons
  • New concepts of neuroprostheses for vision restoration
  • Functional validation of optogenetic therapy for visual restoration

Team members

Olivier Marre
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Serge Picaud
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Matthew Chalk
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Ulisse Ferrari
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Grégory Gauvain
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Matias Goldin
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Scientific publications

Below you will find the latest scientific publications in this field: Visual information processing.

Temporal pattern recognition in retinal ganglion cells is mediated by dynamical inhibitory synapses

Simone Ebert; Thomas Buffet; B.Semihcan Sermet; Olivier Marre; Bruno Cessac
2023-01-13 | Preprint DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.12.523643

Context-dependent selectivity to natural images in the retina

Matías A. Goldin; Baptiste Lefebvre; Samuele Virgili; Mathieu Kim Pham Van Cang; Alexander Ecker; Thierry Mora; Ulisse Ferrari; Olivier Marre
Nature Communications - 2022-09-22 | Journal article - DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33242-8

All-optical inter-layers functional connectivity investigation in the mouse retina

Giulia Lia Beatrice Spampinato; Emiliano Ronzitti; Valeria Zampini; Ulisse Ferrari; Francesco Trapani; Hanen Khabou; Anurag Agraval; Deniz Dalkara; Serge Picaud; Eirini Papagiakoumou et al.
Cell Reports Methods - 2022-08 | Journal article - DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2022.100268

Ectopic expression of a mechanosensitive channel confers spatiotemporal resolution to ultrasound stimulations of neurons for visual restoration

Sara Cadoni; Charlie Demené; Ignacio Alcala; Matthieu Provansal; Diep Nguyen; Dasha Nelidova; Guillaume Labernède; Jules Lubetzki; Ruben Goulet; Emma Burban et al.
Nature Nanotechnology - 2023-04-03 | Journal article - DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01359-6 - Part of ISSN: 1748-3387

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