Education and Training

B. S  2002  University of Melbourne, Austrilia 

Ph. D   2003-2008   Cold SpringHarbor Laboratory, New York 

Postdoc 2008-2011 University of California , Berkeley 

Accolades

2003 George A. And Marjorie H. Anderson Fellowship, The Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA

2004-2008 Leslie C. Quick Fellowship, The Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

2012 Brinson Foundation Award

2012 Whitehall Foundation Grant

2013 Sloan Research Fellowship

2013 E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation Grant

2014 Karl Kirchgessner Foundation Grant

2014 National Eye Institute Research Project Grant (R01)

2014 - Karl Kirchgessner Foundation Grant

2016 - McKnight Scholar Award

Research Interests

How are neural circuits assembled during development to perform specific computations? An excellent model system to address this question is the retina, where a diverse set of neural circuits are wired with remarkable precision and intricacy to extract salient features such as color, contrast and motion from the visual scene. Each retinal circuit utilizes distinct neuronal types and conveys the processed visual information to higher brain by a specific type of retinal ganglion cells.

 

We are interested in the synaptic basis of neural computation in the retina. Our current research is focused on understanding the developmental and adult patterns of synaptic connections underlying the retinal circuits, and determining how the specific wiring patterns impact visual processing. We leverage the increasing repertoire of genetic tools that label specific retinal neuron types to target the synapses of interest, and characterize the maturation and function of these synapses using a combination of techniques including multiphoton microscopy, optogenetics, visual stimulation, electrophysiology calcium imaging and molecular biology. These studies will provide insight into the neural mechanisms of visual processing in the retina, and also have broader implications in the fundamental questions of synapse development and organization in the CNS.

Selected publications

Fang Y, Prominski A, Rotenberg MY, Meng L, Acarón Ledesma H, Lv Y, Yue J, Schaumann E, Jeong J, Yamamoto N, Jiang Y, Elbaz B, Wei W, Tian B. Micelle-enabled self-assembly of porous and monolithic carbon membranes for bioelectronic interfaces. Nat Nanotechnol. 2020 Dec 07. 

Chen Q, Smith RG, Huang X, Wei W. Preserving inhibition with a disinhibitory microcircuit in the retina. Elife. 2020 12 03; 9. 

Liao H, Wei W, Tanager KS, Miele F, Upadhyay GA, Beaser AD, Aziz Z, Nayak HM, Ozcan C, Nishimura T, Jiang R, Shatz D, Husain AN, Tung R. Left ventricular summit arrhythmias with an abrupt V3 transition: Anatomy of the aortic interleaflet triangle vantage point. Heart Rhythm. 2021 Jan; 18(1):10-19. 

Ding J, Wei W. Dampening light sensitivity. Science. 2020 05 01; 368(6490):471-472. View in: PubMed

Wei W. Decreasing Influence of Retinal Inputs on the Developing Visual Cortex. Neuron. 2019 11 20; 104(4):629-631. 

Acarón Ledesma H, Li X, Carvalho-de-Souza JL, Wei W, Bezanilla F, Tian B. An atlas of nano-enabled neural interfaces. Nat Nanotechnol. 2019 07; 14(7):645-657. 

Huang X, Rangel M, Briggman KL, Wei W. Neural mechanisms of contextual modulation in the retinal direction selective circuit. Nat Commun. 2019 06 03; 10(1):2431. 

Wei W. Neural Mechanisms of Motion Processing in the Mammalian Retina. Annu Rev Vis Sci. 2018 09 15; 4:165-192. 

Chen Q, Wei W. Stimulus-dependent engagement of neural mechanisms for reliable motion detection in the mouse retina. J Neurophysiol. 2018 09 01; 120(3):1153-1161. 

Wei W. Compartmentalized dendritic signaling in a multitasking retinal interneuron. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 10 24; 114(43):11268-11270. 

Koren D, Grove JCR, Wei W. Cross-compartmental Modulation of Dendritic Signals for Retinal Direction Selectivity. Neuron. 2017 Aug 16; 95(4):914-927.e4.

Shi X, Barchini J, Ledesma HA, Koren D, Jin Y, Liu X, Wei W, Cang J. Retinal origin of direction selectivity in the superior colliculus. Nat Neurosci. 2017 Apr; 20(4):550-558. 

Chen Q, Pei Z, Koren D, Wei W. Stimulus-dependent recruitment of lateral inhibition underlies retinal direction selectivity. Elife. 2016 12 08; 5. 

Pei Z, Chen Q, Koren D, Giammarinaro B, Acaron Ledesma H, Wei W. Conditional Knock-Out of Vesicular GABA Transporter Gene from Starburst Amacrine Cells Reveals the Contributions of Multiple Synaptic Mechanisms Underlying Direction Selectivity in the Retina. J Neurosci. 2015 Sep 23; 35(38):13219-32. 

Triplett JW, Wei W, Gonzalez C, Sweeney NT, Huberman AD, Feller MB, Feldheim DA. Dendritic and axonal targeting patterns of a genetically-specified class of retinal ganglion cells that participate in image-forming circuits. Neural Dev. 2014 Feb 05; 9:2. 

Wei W, Feller MB. Organization and development of direction-selective circuits in the retina. Trends Neurosci. 2011 Dec; 34(12):638-45. 

Rivlin-Etzion M, Zhou K, Wei W, Elstrott J, Nguyen PL, Barres BA, Huberman AD, Feller MB. Transgenic mice reveal unexpected diversity of on-off direction-selective retinal ganglion cell subtypes and brain structures involved in motion processing. J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 15; 31(24):8760-9. 

Wei W, Hamby AM, Zhou K, Feller MB. Development of asymmetric inhibition underlying direction selectivity in the retina. Nature. 2011 Jan 20; 469(7330):402-6. 

Wei W, Elstrott J, Feller MB. Two-photon targeted recording of GFP-expressing neurons for light responses and live-cell imaging in the mouse retina. Nat Protoc. 2010 Jul; 5(7):1347-52. 

Wei W, Nguyen LN, Kessels HW, Hagiwara H, Sisodia S, Malinow R. Amyloid beta from axons and dendrites reduces local spine number and plasticity. Nat Neurosci. 2010 Feb; 13(2):190-6. 

Huberman AD, Wei W, Elstrott J, Stafford BK, Feller MB, Barres BA. Genetic identification of an On-Off direction-selective retinal ganglion cell subtype reveals a layer-specific subcortical map of posterior motion. Neuron. 2009 May 14; 62(3):327-34. 

Kopec CD, Li B, Wei W, Boehm J, Malinow R. Glutamate receptor exocytosis and spine enlargement during chemically induced long-term potentiation. J Neurosci. 2006 Feb 15; 26(7):2000-9. 

BPHYS Student

Héctor Acarón Ledesma, PhD