I just published a chapter with Carl Watt and Robert Marc in a newly released book, Visual Prosthetics edited by Gislin Dagnelie. Our chapter was concerned with retinal remodeling and the issues that visual prosthetic devices and approaches have to deal with.
Abstract: Retinal degenerative disease induces a cascade of events that ultimately result in phased revision of neuronal populations and circuitry of the retina. These changes reveal plasticity in the retina that mimics that seen during development and in instances of neural deafferentation in other Central Nervous System (CNS) systems, involving neuronal as well as glial cell populations. These retinal remodeling changes occur across the spectrum of retinal degenerative disease and are observed in defects of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), rhodopsin packaging and transport defects as well as other non-retinitis pigmentosa (RP) related diseases with the final result being fundamental revision of neuronal populations and circuitry. These revisions impact potential biological and bionic rescues of visual function and must be overcome before vision restoration strategies can be viable.
UPDATE 03/28/11: The physical book is here. I love digital media and the ability to communicate, search and disseminate information quickly and easily. But there is always something gratifying about seeing and holding something substantial that represents work.
Thanks for contributing a great chapter to the book, Bryan!
Any time Gislin. Thank you for your hard work in editing all of the chapters and coordinating the book.