A Vision Test for Fish: Optokinetic Response to Assess Functional Recovery After Optic Nerve Injury — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Thomas Carr
Katherin Hilson
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Sarah Terrill

A Vision Test for Fish: Optokinetic Response to Assess Functional Recovery After Optic Nerve Injury

Name: Ashley Hermans
Major: Neuroscience
Hometown: Neenah, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Steven Henle
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Carthage College Department of Neuroscience, the Carthage SURE Program and NIH-NEI grant R00EY027467

Name: Ashley Franklin
Major: Neuroscience, Psychology
Hometown: Franklin Park, IL
Faculty Sponsor: Steven Henle
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Carthage College Department of Neuroscience, the Carthage SURE Program and NIH-NEI grant R00EY027467

Abstract

Zebrafish, unlike humans, can regenerate their optic nerve after injury. Typical methods of accessing optic nerve regeneration have drawbacks of not assessing functional recovery and only being able to access one time point of the regeneration. Optokinetic response (OKR) assays may be useful in determining the rate of optic nerve regeneration and functional recovery. OKR is the reflexive tracking of movements across the visual field to preserve the clarity of moving objects, which is seen in both humans and zebrafish. The behavior is unconditioned and reproducible allowing it to be quantified in a vision test. The OKR Vision Test entails placing the zebrafish in a 3D printed drum with bars pulled by a motor to elicit the OKR, a significantly cheaper alternative to previous methods. Fish eye angles can be measured to create a graph depicting the OKR, effectively quantifying the zebrafish’s vision. We have determined the baseline speed at which a wild type zebrafish can first no longer see the bars prior to an optic nerve injury. Current protocols involve optic nerve crush and measuring daily OKRs. In the future, we will compare functional recovery from optic nerve injury in wild type zebrafish to those that have YAP/TAZ mutations in the hippo signaling pathway, as we hypothesize this pathway is key for retinal regeneration in zebrafish.

Submit date: April 18, 2020, 7 p.m.