Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Professor
Department of Neuroscience
472 Sidney Frank Hall
Tel: (401) 863-2555
Email: David_Berson@Brown.edu
Go to lab web page

The visual system of the brain is highly parallel in its architecture. This is clearly evident in the outputs of the retina, which arise from neurons called ganglion cells. Work in our lab has shown that mammalian retinas contain more than a dozen distinct types of ganglion cells. Each type appears to filter the retinal image in a unique way and to relay this processed signal to a specific set of targets in the brain. My students and I are working to understand the meaning of this parallel organization through electrophysiological and anatomical studies. We record from light-responsive ganglion cells in vitro using the whole-cell patch method. This allows us to correlate directly the visual response properties, intrinsic electrical behavior, synaptic pharmacology, dendritic morphology and axonal projections of single neurons. Other methods used in the lab include neuroanatomical tracing techniques, single-unit recording and immunohistochemistry. We seek to specify the total number of ganglion cell types, the distinguishing characteristics of each type, and the intraretinal mechanisms (structural, electrical, and synaptic) that shape their stimulus selectivities. Recent work in the lab has identified a bizarre new ganglion cell type that is also a photoreceptor, capable of responding to light even when it is synaptically uncoupled from conventional (rod and cone) photoreceptors. These ganglion cells appear to play a key role in resetting the biological clock. It is just this sort of link, between a specific cell type and a well-defined behavioral or perceptual function, that we seek to establish for the full range of ganglion cell types.

Berson, D.M.  Phototransduction in ganglion-cell photoreceptors.  Pflugers Arch. 454(5):849-55, 2007. Epub 2007 Mar 10.

Wong, K.Y., Dunn, F.A., Graham, D.M., and Berson, D.M.   Synaptic influences on rat ganglion-cell photoreceptors.  J. Physiol. 582(Pt 1):279-96, 2007. Epub 2007 May 17.

Berson, D.M.  Retinal ganglion-cell types and their central projections.  In:  The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference.  R. Masland (ed.), Elsevier, Oxford, UK (in press). 

Wong, K.Y., Graham, D.M. and Berson, D.M.  The retina-attached SCN slice preparation: An in vitro mammalian circadian visual system. J. Biol. Rhythms 22(5):400-10, 2007.

Hattar, S., Kumar, M., Park, A., Tong, P., Tung, J., Yau, K.-W. and Berson, D. M..  Central projections of melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells in the mouse.  J. Comp. Neurol. 497:326-349, 2006.

Wong, K.-Y., Dunn, F.A. and Berson, D.M.  Photoreceptor adaptation in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells.  Neuron 48(6), 873-1068, 2005.

Qiu, X., Kumbalasiri, T., Carlson, S.M., Wong, K.Y., Krishna, V., Provencio, I., and Berson, D.M.  Induction of photosensitivity by heterologous expression of melanopsin.  Nature 433(7027):745-9. (Epub 2005 Jan 26) 2005.

O'Brien, B.J., Richardson, R., and Berson, D.M. Inhibitory network properties shaping the light evoked responses of cat alpha retinal ganglion cells. Visual Neurosci. 20, 351-361, 2003.

Berson, D.M. Strange vision: ganglion cells as circadian photoreceptors.  Trends in Neurosci. 26: 314-320, 2003

Rollag, M.D., Berson, D.M., Provencio, I. Melanopsin, ganglion cell photoreceptors, and mammalian entrainment.  J. Biol. Rhythms 18(3): 227-234, 2003.

Lucas, R.J., Hattar, S., Takao, M., Berson, D.M., Foster, R.G. and Yau, K.-W. Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice. Science, 299: 245-247, 2003.

Hattar, S., Liao, H.-W., Takao, M., Berson, D.M. and K.-W. Yau Melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells: architecture, projections and intrinsic photosensitivity.  Science, 295:1065-1070, 2002.

Berson, D.M., Dunn, F.A. and Takao, M. Phototransduction by retinal ganglion cells that set the circadian clock. Science, 295: 1070-1073, 2002

Isayama, T., Berson, D.M. and Pu, M. (2000) Theta ganglion cell type of cat retina. J. Comp. Neurol. 417: 32-48.

Berson, D.M., Isayama, T. and Pu, M. (1999) The eta ganglion cell type of cat retina. J. Comp. Neurol. 408: 204-219.

Berson, D.M., Pu, M., and Famiglietti, E.V. (1998) The zeta cell: a new ganglion cell type in cat retina. J. Comp. Neurol. 399: 269-288.

Stein, J.J., Johnson, S.A. and Berson, D.M. (1996) Distribution and coverage of beta cells in the cat retina. J. Comp. Neurol. 374: 597-617.