Welcome to Biomed Bites, a weekly feature that introduces readers to some of Stanford's most innovative researchers.
Initially, Stephen Baccus, PhD, wanted to understand how computers work. It didn't take him very long to discover that the snazziest computer around is the human brain. Now an associate professor of neurobiology, Baccus needed a simple way to study neural circuits. He picked the retina, a component that is relatively well understood.
As Baccus explains in the video above:
In choosing the retina, I wanted to choose a set of experiments we could do where we could control the brain very accurately in order to study it, and I found that the retina was one of the places that we could most accurately control what the input to the nervous system is doing.
It's a simple enough part of the brain that we can really hope to understand how it works.
Although Baccus and his team are interested in the general principles of neural function that can be observed using the retina, they're also eager to discover clinical applications of their research such as electronic retinal prostheses.
"From our basic studies on how the retina performs computations, this information can be and actually has been used in the design of prostheses that we believe can actually restore sight," Baccus says.
Learn more about Stanford Medicine's Biomedical Innovation Initiative and about other faculty leaders who are driving biomedical innovation here.
Previously: New retinal implant could restore sight, All data -- big and small -- informs large-scale neuroscience project and Stanford expert responds to questions about brain repair and the future of neuroscience
