Course Syllabus
In the 2023 Fall semester, “The Biology and Pathology of the Visual System” will be open to all Washington University staff and students with an interest in vision research. The course consists of about 20 faculty members presenting lectures on topics related to their research. Students can take the course for pass/fail credit, graded credit, or lectures can be attended a la carte.
Course Description:
L41 BIOL 5501 (3 Units), FLTC 205
The purpose of the course is to provide a fascinating view of vertebrate visual development, anatomy, physiology, and pathology. Topics include the molecules that control eye formation, ocular stem cells, the physiology of transparency, the hereditary of ocular diseases, diagnosis of visual pathologies, phototransduction, the neurobiology of the retina, central visual neural circuits, visual circuit development, visual computation, circadian rhythm, and age-related eye diseases. Undergraduates, graduate students, residents, and postdocs with an interest in vision are encouraged to attend.
Course Schedule:
The course will run from August 28 to December 8 with classes at 4:30PM to 6:00PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
|
Date |
Topic |
Instructor |
|
|
VISION: EVOLUTION AND USES |
|
|
8/29/2023 |
Class overview and Visual behavior – Conscious vision, non-conscious visual processes, active vision, change detection, |
Josh Morgan |
|
8/31/2023 |
Comparative visual biology |
Josh Morgan |
|
|
VERTEBRATE OPTICS |
|
|
9/5/2023 |
Cornea : Structure, physiology, transparency, renewal |
Andrew Huang |
|
9/7/2023 |
Lens: structure, cell biology. refractive errors and aging |
Steven Bassnett |
|
9/12/2023 |
Optometry: refractive correction with glasses and contact lenses, physiological optics, prism correction |
Kyle Dohrman |
|
|
SUPPORTING AN OPTICAL SYSTEM |
|
|
9/14/2023 |
Structure and function: Aqueous humor inflow and outflow |
Carla Siegfried |
|
9/19/2023 |
Anatomy surrounding the eye |
Philip Custer |
|
9/21/2023 |
Infection of anterior segment |
Todd Margolis |
|
|
RETINA NEUROBIOLOGY |
|
|
9/26/2023 |
Phototransduction |
Takeshi Yoshimatsu |
|
9/28/2023 |
Retinal Structure and function |
Phil Williams |
|
10/3/2023 |
Neurobiology of retinal development |
Daniel Kerschensteiner |
|
10/5/2023* |
Beebe Lecture – Moore Auditorium 4PM |
Kirill Martemyanov |
|
10/10/2023 |
Cell biology of retinal development |
Brian Clark |
|
10/12/2023 |
Genetic control of retinal development: the transcription factor network that controls photoreceptor cell development/differentiation |
Shiming Chen |
|
|
PATHOLOGY OF THE EYE AND RETINA |
|
|
10/17/2023 |
Infection in the eye, uvitis |
Julia Pulliam |
|
10/19/2023 |
Immune Privilege of the retina |
Thomas Ferguson |
|
|
Vasculopathies |
Rithwick Rajagopal |
|
10/26/2023 |
Glaucoma and Ganglion cell Neuropathies |
Banks Shepherd |
|
10/31/2023 |
Halloween |
|
|
11/2/2023* |
DOVS Student/Trainee-nominated lecture – 4PM Moore Auditorium |
Karthik Shekhar |
|
|
POST RETINA VISUAL NEUROBIOLOGY |
|
|
11/7/2023 |
Retinal target areas |
Josh Morgan |
|
11/09/2023* |
Enoch Lecture 4PM – Moore Auditorium |
Eliot Sohn |
|
11/14/2023 |
Society for Neuroscience annual conference |
|
|
11/16/2023 |
Circadian rhythms and the visual system |
Erik Herzog |
|
11/21/2023 |
Development, physiology, and Pathophysiology of retinal projections |
Andrew Lee |
|
11/23/2023 |
Thanksgiving Break |
|
|
11/28/2023 |
Cortical circuits |
Tom Franken |
|
11/30/2023 |
Visual computation |
Geofrey Goodhill |
|
12/05/2023 |
Central Visual Pathways - pathology |
Greg Van Stavern |
|
12/07/2023 |
Color vision |
Takeshi Yoshimatsu |
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|