Many forms of vision loss stem from a common source: impaired communication between the eye and the brain. And at the root of all eye-to-brain communication are the hundreds of proteins generated by the retina’s nerve cells.
A new study from Scripps Research, which appears this month in Cell Reports, examines these proteins in unprecedented detail–providing surprising new insights into how visual signals are distributed to different regions of the brain. The results are an important first step in understanding and eventually treating vision loss from glaucoma, multiple sclerosis or even trauma. More than 3.3 million Americans aged 40 years and older are either legally blind or have visual impairments that can’t be corrected with today’s interventions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
