{"id":10064,"date":"2017-05-31T17:06:12","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=10064"},"modified":"2024-03-25T10:00:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T09:00:56","slug":"1705-senses-see-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/","title":{"rendered":"Senses: What you see is how you feel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BY EDWARD DADSWELL AND MARGAUX PHARES<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Analogies can be useful things in science, but they can put a straitjacket on our thinking too. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.it\/research\/unit\/asari\/members\/?s_personId=CP-60022443&amp;_ga=2.160725053.18706114.1496147674-666440130.1491811375\">Hiroki Asari<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.it\/research\/unit\/asari\/index.html\">group leader<\/a> at EMBL\u2019s Monterotondo site, is keen to escape from one analogy in particular: the idea that the eye is a camera. It\u2019s something we all learn at school. Light passes through the lens of the eye and falls on the layer of light-sensitive cells known as the retina. We\u2019re taught that the retina is like a roll of film or a digital sensor \u2013 it captures the pattern of light, which is then entirely processed in the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Retinal reality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The reality is a little different. \u201cThe retina performs a lot of computations,\u201d explains Asari. \u201cThey\u2019re usually simple, like detecting motion or processing colours, while more complex computations \u2013 like face depiction or object recognition \u2013 happen in the brain. But I think the retina plays an important role in identifying certain elements of what we see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>The retina plays an important role in identifying certain elements of what we see<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This idea is not new, but Asari takes it a step further. \u201cI believe these computations in the retina are affected by the internal states of our body. For example, when you see a cookie and you\u2019re feeling hungry, it looks attractive. But when you\u2019re full, it\u2019s less attractive. People assume that this kind of processing is happening in the brain. My hypothesis is that it\u2019s happening right at the very first stages of visual system processing \u2013 in other words, in the retina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-10107\"><figure class=\"vf-figure  | vf-figure--align vf-figure--align-centered \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"380\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/190531-Asari_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10107\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/190531-Asari_1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/190531-Asari_1-300x184.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">Hiroki Asari. PHOTO: EMBL\/Alessandro Ciccarelli<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to look<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Asari aims to investigate this theory in mice. He measures the activity of the retina and optic nerve to see how the retina responds to the same visual stimulus under different states, such as when the mouse is hungry or fed; running or standing still. This is done using a range of experimental neuroscience techniques. One is electrophysiology, in which very fine electrodes are inserted into nerve cells and used to measure the nerve impulses. Another is calcium imaging, in which microscopy equipment is used in combination with special dyes that fluoresce in the presence of calcium ions. These ions play an important role in the transmission of nerve signals, so Asari can use the technique to monitor the activity of individual nerve cells in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>Finding a few equations that can explain everything in neural systems is my big goal<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>His work at EMBL is only just starting, but Asari is clear about what he wants to achieve. He\u2019d like to uncover common principles that can be applied to any neural system \u2013 starting with the retina \u2013 and create mathematical models to describe them. \u201cIt\u2019s like in physics, there are a few equations that can explain everything,\u201d he says. \u201cFinding the same kind of equations in neural systems is the big goal of my research.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EMBL\u2019s Hiroki Asari investigates how our internal state can change the way our eyes work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17591],"tags":[510,79,74,67,514,513],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-10064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-science-technology","tag-asari","tag-microscopy","tag-monterotondo","tag-neurobiology","tag-rome","tag-sense"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>EMBL\u2019s Hiroki Asari investigates how our internal state can change the way our eyes work<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Welcome: Hiroki Asari","link_url":"https:\/\/news.embl.de\/science\/1604-hiroki-asari\/"}],"article_sources":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":false,"color":"#007B53"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senses: What you see is how you feel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EMBL\u2019s Hiroki Asari investigates how our internal state can change the way our eyes work\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senses: What you see is how you feel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EMBL\u2019s Hiroki Asari investigates how our internal state can change the way our eyes work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-31T15:06:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-25T09:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/iStock-167589827.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author(s)\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Guest author(s)\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b4d9366b2ebe691c4015c64c3619205b\"},\"headline\":\"Senses: What you see is how you feel\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-31T15:06:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-25T09:00:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/1705-senses-see-feel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/iStock-167589827.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"asari\",\"microscopy\",\"monterotondo\",\"neurobiology\",\"rome\",\"sense\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\",\"Science &amp; 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