How do ultrafast morphodynamic synaptic adaptations enhance visual information flow?

We will study how the fruit fly (Drosophila) photoreceptor synapses adapt to light stimulation. In the classic view, neurones are immobile, and their information transfer quantal, with neurotransmitters released from similarly-sized vesicles. Our new results are now changing this view by showing that synaptic communication is morphodynamic: when adapting to light changes, their structures move and are reshaped dynamically. Using Drosophila as our model, we aim to understand how X-ray stimulation, which activates photoreceptors like visible light, adapts synaptic transmission. Employing high-speed X-ray imaging and electroretinograms, ERGs, we will analyse photoreceptor terminal activity with Drosophila's consistent eye layout aiding synapse identification. Extending our prior work on photoreceptors, we will capture real-time axon terminal movements, synaptic vesicle changes, and ERGs under X-ray and visible light. Our objective is to discern how synaptic morphodynamics enhance vision.