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Robert
G. Smith, Ph.D.
Research Assoc. Professor, Dept of Neuroscience
122F Anatomy/Chemistry Building/6058
(215) 573-3211 FAX: 215-573-8093
email: rob@retina.anatomy.upenn.edu
More information on Dr. Smith
Click here for selected publications since Dr. Smith's arrival at Penn
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Understanding how the structure and biophysical properties of a neuron influence
the signal processing function of the surrounding neural circuit RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
Intracellular and extracellular recording from retinal neurons, computer simulation of signal and noise properties, analysis of the role of biophysical and system properties in real cell and model through ideal observer analysis.RESEARCH SUMMARY
Currently we are studying how neural circuits in the retina process visual signals transmitted to the brain. We record signal and noise properties of retinal neurons, in a contrast discrimination task. We construct a biophysically-based model of the same neuron, and run the same experiment on it. We analyze the neuron's performance (i.e. signal and noise properties) with an ideal observer, testing how well the model performs compared with the real neuron. We then change the model to identify which properties are necessary for good performance in the discrimination task. This allows us to suggest a functional interpretation for biophysical features such as dendritic branching, density of voltage-gated channels, and specific location and strength of synaptic inputs. We are currently focussing on 2 circuits: 1) how the ganglion cell spike generator processes its synaptic inputs, 2) the pathway from rod photoreceptors to ganglion cells used during dark adaptation.KEY WORDS:
computer simulation; neural circuitry; retina; noise; synapse
