The Vision Detroit Project: Integrated Screening and Community Eye-Health Education Interventions Improve Eyecare Awareness.

Purpose: Poor eye-health knowledge and health literacy are pervasive, contributing to worse outcomes. This study aims to examine short- and long-term eye-health knowledge retention following eye-health education interventions in adults.

Methods: Vision Detroit was an outreach vision screening program that integrated a 5-Point Teaching Intervention (5PTI), at a Southwest Community Center (SW-CC) from 2015-2017.

Cholinergic feedback to bipolar cells contributes to motion detection in the mouse retina.

Retinal bipolar cells are second-order neurons that transmit basic features of the visual scene to postsynaptic partners. However, their contribution to motion detection has not been fully appreciated. Here, we demonstrate that cholinergic feedback from starburst amacrine cells (SACs) to certain presynaptic bipolar cells via alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChRs) promotes direction-selective signaling.

Utilizing Chamber Music to Teach Non-Verbal Communication to Medical Students: A Pilot Initiative.

Introduction The importance of non-verbal cues in communication between physicians and patients is well published in the medical literature. However, few medical school curricula teach non-verbal communication. Chamber musicians employ non-verbal communication to coordinate musician intention.

The Vision Detroit Project: Visual Burden, Barriers, and Access to Eye Care in an Urban Setting.

Purpose: Vision loss and blindness are among the top ten disabilities in the United States, yet access and utilization of eye care remains low. Vision Detroit aimed to address eye-care disparities via community-based screenings. By investigating burden of eye disease and barriers to eye-care utilization in an underserved urban community, we may direct efforts to improve access.

Dopaminergic Modulation of Signal Processing in a Subset of Retinal Bipolar Cells.

The retina and the olfactory bulb are the gateways to the visual and olfactory systems, respectively, similarly using neural networks to initiate sensory signal processing. Sensory receptors receive signals that are transmitted to neural networks before projecting to primary cortices. These networks filter sensory signals based on their unique features and adjust their sensitivities by gain control systems.

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision.

The visual system in the central nervous system processes diverse visual signals. Although the overall structure has been characterized from the retina through the lateral geniculate nucleus to the visual cortex, the system is complex. Cellular and molecular studies have been conducted to elucidate the mechanisms underpinning visual processing and, by extension, disease mechanisms.

Methylglyoxal triggers human aortic endothelial cell dysfunction via modulation of the K/MAPK pathway.

Endothelial dysfunction is a key risk factor in diabetes-related multiorgan damage. Methylglyoxal (MGO), a highly reactive dicarbonyl generated primarily as a by-product of glycolysis, is increased in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. MGO can rapidly bind with proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids, resulting in structural and functional changes.

Bipolar Cell Type-Specific Expression and Conductance of Alpha-7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Mouse Retina.

Purpose: Motion detection is performed by a unique neural network in the mouse retina. Starburst amacrine cells (SACs), which release acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the network, are key neurons in the motion detection pathway. Although GABA contributions to the network have been extensively studied, the role of acetylcholine is minimally understood.