A new optical acquisition scheme based on a pair of digital micromirror devices is developed and applied to three-dimensional tomographic imaging of turbid media. By using pairs of illumination-detection patterns with a single detector, we were able to perform high-resolution quantitative volumetric imaging of absorption heterogeneities embedded in optically thick samples. Additionally, a tomographic reconstruction algorithm was implemented on a graphical processor unit to provide optical reconstructions at a frame rate of 2 Hz. The structured illumination method proposed in this work has significant cost advantages over camera systems, as only a single detector is required. This configuration also has the potential to increase frame rate.
Thalamic nuclei have long been regarded as passive relay stations for sensory information en route to higher level processing in the cerebral cortex. Recently, physiological and theoretical studies have reassessed the role of the thalamus and it has been proposed that thalamic nuclei may actively participate with cortical areas in processing specific information. In support of this idea, we now show that a subset of neurons in an extrageniculate visual nucleus, the lateral-posterior pulvinar complex, can signal the true direction of motion of a plaid pattern, indicating that thalamic cells can integrate different motion signals into a coherent moving percept. This is the first time that these computations have been found to occur outside the higher-order cortical areas. Our findings implicate extrageniculate cortico-thalamo-cortical loops in the dynamic processing of image motion, and, more generally, as basic computational modules involved in analysing specific features of complex visual scenes.
The data indicated that CB2R is likely to be involved in shaping retinal responses to light and suggest that CB1 and CB2 receptors could have different roles in visual processing.
Cannabinoid receptors (CB1R and CB2R) are among the most abundant G protein-coupled receptors in the central nervous system. The endocannabinoid system is an attractive therapeutic target for immune system modulation and peripheral pain management. While CB1R is distributed in the nervous system, CB2R has traditionally been associated to the immune system. This dogma is currently a subject of debate since the discovery of CB2R expression in neurons using antibody-based methods. The localization of CB2R in the central nervous system (CNS) could have a significant impact on drug development because it would mean that in addition to its effects on the peripheral pain pathway, CB2R could also mediate some central effects of cannabinoids. In an attempt to clarify the debate over CB2R expression in the CNS, we tested several commercially or academically produced CB2R antibodies using Western blot and immunohistochemistry on retinal tissue obtained from wild-type mice and mice lacking CB2R (cnr2 (-/-) ). One of the antibodies tested exhibited a valuable specificity as it marked a single band near the predicted molecular weight in Western blot and produced no staining in cnr2 (-/-) mice retina sections. The other antibodies tested detected multiple bands in Western blot and labeled unidentified proteins when used with their immunizing peptide or on cnr2 (-/-) retinal sections. We conclude that many commonly used antibodies raised against CB2R are not specific for use in immunohistochemistry, at least in the context of the mouse retina. Moreover, some of them tested presented significant lot-to-lot variability. Hence, caution should be used when interpreting prior and future studies using CB2R antibodies.
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