{"id":38664,"date":"2011-07-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-28T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/07\/28\/unmc-researcher-published-in-nature-neuroscience\/"},"modified":"2022-08-22T16:17:13","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T21:17:13","slug":"unmc-researcher-published-in-nature-neuroscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2011\/07\/28\/unmc-researcher-published-in-nature-neuroscience\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC researcher published in Nature Neuroscience"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\"><div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/\">University of Nebraska Medical Center<\/a> researcher, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/eye\/thoreson.htm\">Wallace Thoreson, Ph.D.,<\/a> is one of the lead investigators in a study aimed at gaining a better understanding of how signals are transmitted in the brain. The research, which is reported in the current issue of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nature.com\/neuro\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nn.2870.html\">Nature Neuroscience<\/a>, could lay the necessary groundwork to develop new treatments for a variety of degenerative diseases of the eye and ear such as Usher&rsquo;s syndrome and rod-cone dystrophy. <\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">Dr. Thoreson, director of research and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, worked with researchers from <a href=\"http:\/\/medicine.yale.edu\/index.aspx\">Yale University School of Medicine<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stonybrook.edu\/\">Stony Brook University<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">The group studied the <\/span>sensory neurons involved in vision, balance, and hearing. They gained a better understanding of ribbons, <span style=\"color: black\">specialized structures found in sensory neurons including photoreceptor cells, retinal bipolar cells, and hair cells involved in hearing and balance.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">They examined the role of the ribbon by binding photo-sensitive molecules to the ribbon and then using a laser to produce highly localized damage to the ribbon.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">They were able to determine that the ribbon plays a key role in releasing and resupplying vesicles, <\/span>small membrane-enclosed sacks that can store or transport substances.<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">These experiments provide answers to fundamentally important<\/span> question about how signals are transmitted from sensory neurons to higher visual centers in the brain, Dr. Thoreson said.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><span style=\"color: black\">&ldquo;An understanding of how these signals are transmitted can help us better understand the causes of neurodegenerative disease,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;since many of these diseases originate with <\/span>mis-regulation of the release from neurons.<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&ldquo;We are optimistic that we will eventually learn how to repair and restore damaged neurons by using stem cells, prosthetic devices and other mechanisms. But, before we can do this, it is necessary to understand how these nerve cells work normally.&rdquo;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\"><i><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 10pt\">Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu. <\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research unlocks new details on how signals are transmitted in the brain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":38665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-research","department-press-release","department-unmc-front-page"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UNMC researcher published in Nature 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