Welcome to the Wei Lab!

Our Research

How are neural circuits assembled to perform specific computations? An excellent model system to address this question is the mammalian retina, where a diverse set of neural circuits are wired with remarkable precision and intricacy to extract ethologically relevant features such as color, contrast and motion from the visual scene. Each retinal circuit utilizes distinct sets of neuronal cell types and conveys the processed visual information to higher brain center(s) by a specific type of retinal ganglion cells.

We are interested in the synaptic and circuit basis of neural computations in the retina. Our current research is focused on understanding the developmental and adult patterns of synaptic connections underlying visual motion detection. We perform functional neural circuit analysis by leveraging the increasing repertoire of experimental and computational tools to target and manipulate the activation of specific circuit components. Our studies aim to provide insights into the neural mechanisms of sensory processing in naturalistic environments, and also to illuminate general principles of neural computations in the brain.

Latest News

Check out our recent publication on dendritic computation by starburst amacrine cells using calcium and voltage imaging: https://rdcu.be/dzRtw

Congratulations to Jenna Tijerina for acceptance into our Neurobiology Graduate Program!

Congratulations to Sharon Zixuan Deng for receiving the Pritzker Fellowship of Biological Science Division!

Cover image of J. Neuroscience showing color maps from computational modeling of the signal spread across dendritic layers of direction-selective ganglion cells. Image assembled by “Lindsay” Xiaolin Huang from original videos by our collaborator Robert G. Smith at U. Penn.

Check out our newest publication on adaptive changes in the motion detection circuit of the retina: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2022/04/26/JNEUROSCI.1391-21.2022

Multiphoton calcium imaging enables us to examine visual processing at the dendritic level

Genetic tools enable us to selectively manipulate functional circuitry

Explore signal processing within and across dendritic compartments

Motion detection by starburst amacrine cell dendrites. Multiphoton calcium imaging of starburst cell distal dendrites during motion stimulation (Chen et al, eLife 2016).