ABSTRACT
As essential components of gene expression networks, transcription factors regulate neural circuit assembly. The homeobox transcription factor encoding gene, gs homeobox 1 (gsx1), is expressed in the developing visual system; however, no studies have examined its role in visual system formation. In zebrafish, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons that transmit visual information to the brain terminate in ten arborization fields (AFs) in the optic tectum (TeO), pretectum (Pr), and thalamus. Pretectal AFs (AF1-AF9) mediate distinct visual behaviors, yet we understand less about their development compared to AF10 in the TeO. Using gsx1 zebrafish mutants, immunohistochemistry, and transgenic lines, we observed that gsx1 is required for vesicular glutamate transporter, Tg(slc17a6b:DsRed), expression in the Pr, but not overall neuron number. gsx1 mutants have normal eye morphology, yet they exhibit impaired visual ability during prey capture. RGC axon volume in the gsx1 mutant Pr and TeO is reduced, and AF7 that is active during feeding is missing which is consistent with reduced hunting performance. Timed laser ablation of Tg(slc17a6b:DsRed)-positive cells reveals that they are necessary for AF7 formation. This work is the first to implicate gsx1 in establishing cell identity and functional neural circuits in the visual system.
Subject(s)
Animals, Genetically Modified , Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental , Homeodomain Proteins , Retinal Ganglion Cells , Zebrafish Proteins , Zebrafish , Animals , Axons/metabolism , Axons/physiology , Homeodomain Proteins/genetics , Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism , Mutation , Retinal Ganglion Cells/metabolism , Superior Colliculi/metabolism , Superior Colliculi/growth & development , Transcription Factors/genetics , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Visual Pathways/growth & development , Visual Pathways/metabolism , Zebrafish/genetics , Zebrafish Proteins/genetics , Zebrafish Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
In response to sustained concerns about the capability of the mental health workforce, federal groups have urged educators to adopt a competency-based system for training students in core mental health skills. A particular emphasis is training students to work in integrated systems, intervene with evidence-based practice, and employ culturally relevant therapies. Creating such a program, particularly one delivered online, requires structures that engage students in their own learning and tools for tracking competencies. We report on our competency-based graduate psychiatric mental health nursing program and the unique methods used to track student skill development and clinical reasoning.
Subject(s)
Mental Health Services , Psychiatric Nursing , Clinical Competence , Curriculum , Education, Nursing/organization & administration , Educational Measurement , Humans , Patient Care Team , Psychiatric Nursing/education , Students, Nursing , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
TOPIC: Increasingly, students from various professional backgrounds are enrolling in Psychiatric Mental Health (PMH) Nursing graduate programs, especially at the post-master's level. Faculty must educate these students to provide increasingly complex care while socializing them as PMH advanced practitioners. PURPOSE: To present how one online program is addressing these issues by reasserting the centrality of the relationship and by assuring it has at least equal footing with the application of a burgeoning knowledge base of neurobiology of mental illness. SOURCES: Published literature from nursing and psychology. CONCLUSIONS: The PMH graduate faculty believes that they have developed strategies to meet this challenge and to help build a PMH workforce that will maintain the centrality of the relationship in PMH practice.
