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Jurgen Fohlmeister, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physiology
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My present research interests
concern the physiological activity of the retina of the eye. More specifically,
the research is focused on the information processing of the inner retina,
with special emphasis on the mechanisms by which ganglion cells generate
and maintain impulse firing in response to visual stimuli. Building on
the development of a sophisticated model based on five voltage-gated ion
channels which have been localized to these cells with whole-cell recording
and pharmacological experiments, I am at present developing the gating
kinetics of low current and threshhold ion channels found primarily in
the dendrites. The ultimate goal is to fully understand the electrophysiology
of the inner retina, and therewith the nature of the "electro-visual"
information sent on to central brain structures associated with vision.
My research is largely carried
out using the departmental computer facilities and the supercomputers
here at the University.
Significant Publications
Fohlmeister
J.F., Miller R.F. (1997) Impulse encoding mechanisms of ganglion cells
in the tiger salamander retina. J Neurophysiol 78: 1935-1947.
Fohlmeister
J.F., Miller R.F. (1997) Mechanisms by which cell geometry controls
repetitive impulse firing in retinal ganglion cells. J Neurophysiol
78: 1948-1964.
Fohlmeister,
J.F., Coleman, P.A. and Miller R.F. (1990) Modeling the repetitive
firing of retinal ganglion cells. Brain Research 510: 343-345.
Sheasby, B.W. and Fohlmeister,
J.F. (1999) Impulse encoding across the dendritic morphologies of retinal
ganglion cells. J Neurophysiol 81: 1685-1698.
Dr. Jurgen Fohlmeister can
be reached at jurgen@umn.edu
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