Duties
Faculty Advisor for GSI Affairs
Research Areas
Retinal Neurobiology and Neurophysiology
We are interested in how visual signals are encoded and transmitted by neurons in the healthy retina and how signaling is perturbed during the course of retinal degeneration. Ongoing projects in the lab are addressing the following questions:
- How do retinal neurons extract specific features such as motion and spatial detail from the visual environment?
- How do different types of neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels shape the response properties of retinal neurons?
- How do mutations in the molecular machinery of cone-photoreceptors lead to retinal degeneration?
- How does the structure and function of the inner retinal circuitry change in response to photoreceptor degeneration?
To address these questions, we use a variety of research techniques including patch-clamp electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, high-resolution imaging (confocal, super-resolution, light-sheet and two-photon microscopy) and protein biochemistry.
Teaching
Vision Science 206B. Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye and Visual System
Instructor-in-Charge
Structure and function of the tissues of the eye, ocular appendages and the central visual pathways; basic concepts of physiological, neurological, embryological, and immunological processes as they relate to the eye and vision; appreciation of the pathophysiology of various disease processes; importance of anatomy and physiology in the medical approach to ocular disease processes (continuation of VS 106A).
Vision Science 206C. Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye and Visual System (Problem-Based Learning)
Co-Instructor
Problem-based learning approach using clinical case examples
Vision Science 260C. Introduction to Visual Neuroscience
Co-Instructor
Selected Publications
Link to Pubmed Listing
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=puthussery+t+%5Bau%5D
Link to Google Scholar Listing
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=O2wgr2IAAAAJ&hl=en