How to Create and Use Binocular Rivalry

JoVE 2030 11/10/2010

David Carmel^1,2, Michael Arcaro^3,4, Sabine Kastner^3,4, Uri Hasson^3,4

¹Department of Psychology, New York University, ²Centre for Neural Science, New York University, ³Department of Psychology, Princeton University, ⁴Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University

Binocular rivalry occurs when the eyes are presented with different images at the same location: one image dominates while the other is suppressed, and dominance alternates periodically. Rivalry is useful for investigating perceptual selection and visual awareness. Here we describe several easy methods for creating and using binocular rivalry stimuli.

Lens Transplantation in Zebrafish and its Application in the Analysis of Eye Mutants

JoVE 1258 6/01/2009

Yan Zhang^1,2, Kyle McCulloch², Jarema Malicki²

¹The Second Teaching Hospital of Jilin University, ²Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

Lens development involves interactions with other tissues. Several zebrafish eye mutants are characterized by an abnormally small lens size. Here we demonstrate a lens transplantation experiment to determine whether this phenotype is due to intrinsic causes or defective interactions with tissues that surround the lens.

A Video Demonstration of Preserved Piloting by Scent Tracking but Impaired Dead Reckoning After Fimbria-Fornix Lesions in the Rat

JoVE 1193 4/24/2009

Ian Q. Whishaw, Boguslaw P. Gorny

Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge

In a piloting scent tracking task, the ability of the rats to return to a refuge with food using visual an odor trail or using dead reckoning in infrared light, the integrated record of previous movements, demonstrates that the hippocampus is necessary for dead reckoning.

April 2012: This Month in JoVE

JoVE 4421 4/01/2012

Aaron Kolski-Andreaco

Transretinal ERG Recordings from Mouse Retina: Rod and Cone Photoresponses

JoVE 3424 3/14/2012

Alexander V. Kolesnikov, Vladimir J. Kefalov

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine

We describe a relatively simple method of transretinal electroretinogram (ERG) recordings for obtaining rod and cone photoresponses from intact mouse retina. This approach takes advantage of the block of synaptic transmission from photoreceptors to isolate their light responses and record them using field electrodes placed across the isolated flat-mounted retina.

Mouse Eye Enucleation for Remote High-throughput Phenotyping

JoVE 3184 11/19/2011

Vinit B. Mahajan^1,2, Jessica M. Skeie^1,2, Amir H. Assefnia^2,3, MaryAnn Mahajan^1,2, Stephen H. Tsang^2,4

¹Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Iowa, ²Omics Laboratory, University of Iowa, ³School of Dentistry, UCLA, ⁴Bernard and Shirlee Brown Glaucoma Laboratory, Department of Ophthalmology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

The dissection technique illustrates enucleation of the mouse eye for tissue fixation to perform phenotyping in high-throughput screens.

Electrophysiological Characterization of GFP-Expressing Cell Populations in the Intact Retina

JoVE 3457 11/14/2011

Mark Pottek, Gabriel C. Knop, Reto Weiler, Karin Dedek

Department of Neurobiology, University of Oldenburg

This article depicts the recording of individual cells from fluorescently tagged neuronal populations in the intact mouse retina. By using two-photon infrared excitation transgenetically labeled cells were targeted for patch-clamp recording to study their light responses, receptive field properties, and morphology.

Using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish

JoVE 1742 2/02/2010

Su-Qi Zou, Wu Yin, Ming-Jing Zhang, Chun-Rui Hu, Yu-Bin Huang, Bing Hu

Laboratory of Neurodevelopment and Repair, Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics, School of Life, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)

Optokinetic response has been widely used to assess the visual functions of larval zebrafish. Nevertheless, the standard protocol for larval fish is not yet readily applicable in adults^1-5. Here, we introduce how to measure the OKR of adult zebrafish using a new protocol which is established in our lab.

An Isolated Retinal Preparation to Record Light Response from Genetically Labeled Retinal Ganglion Cells

JoVE 2367 1/26/2011

Tiffany M Schmidt, Paulo Kofuji

Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota

This article provides a description of how to dissect and record from the isolated retinal preparation in mouse. In particular, we describe how to record light responses from a fluorescently labeled ganglion cell population and subsequently identify and analyze its morphology.

Operant Learning of Drosophila at the Torque Meter

JoVE 731 6/16/2008

Bjoern Brembs

Department of Neurobiology, Free University of Berlin

Measuring the yaw torque of tethered Drosophila with the torque meter allows the neuroscientist exquisite control of the stimulus situation of the experimental animal. Together with the unique genetic tools available in the fruit fly, this paradigm is used for a wide variety of neurobiological research.