Thursday, November 18, 2010

Now I See You - Technology Review

Now I See You - Technology Review: "In mammals' eyes, a set of cells in the retina detects light, and then a separate layer of cells, called ganglion cells, relays that information to the brain. Because macular degeneration and other retinal diseases cause the light-detecting cells to die but leave the ganglion cells intact, researchers have been trying for 50 years to decipher their code—the patterns by which the ganglion cells fire—so as to capitalize on the eye's natural circuitry. Nirenberg has now nailed that, or at least a close approximation. After 10 years of work, she knows the relationship between what we see and how that translates into ganglion-cell firing patterns."

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