Newfound Neurons
Could a recently unearthed group of neurons help treat strabismus?
Can you see in 3D? If so, you can thank disjunctive saccades – eye movements that result from eyes rotating mostly in the same direction by different degrees. But, despite their importance, the neural control mechanism that powers disjunctive saccades has proved elusive.
Now, however, Julie Quinet’s team at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA, has found a novel neuron population near the midbrain region: 18 saccade-vergence burst neurons, which produce a burst of activity during disjunctive saccades, but don’t fire during other types of eye movements, such as conjunctive saccades or symmetrical vergence movements. Researchers hope that the newly discovered neurons could help find modern treatments for strabismus.
- J Quinet et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 117, 29123. PMID: 33139553.
Having edited several technical publications over the last decade, I crossed paths with quite a few of Texere's current team members, and I only ever heard them sing the company's praises. When an opportunity arose to join Texere, I jumped at the chance! With a background in literature, I love the company's ethos of producing genuinely engaging content, and the fact that it is so well received by our readers makes it even more rewarding.
