涩里番

Supported by the generosity of the Killam Trusts, The Neuro's Killam Seminar Series invites outstanding guest speakers whose research is of interest to the scientific community at The Neuro and 涩里番.

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Host: Dan Guitton

The Low Road to Higher Visual Functions

Abstract: Vision feels effortless. Within a fraction of a second, we detect faces, recognize objects, and decide where to look. These abilities are usually credited to the primate visual cortex. But听emerging evidence shows that听an evolutionarily ancient pathway through the midbrain听provides听a crucial foundation for these higher visual functions.听In this talk, I听will听present evidence that the superior colliculus 鈥� a structure classically associated with eye movements 鈥� carries rapid and behaviorally meaningful object information, including an early bias for faces.听I will argue that this so-called 鈥渓ow road鈥� does more than trigger reflexive orienting. Instead, it acts as a functional scaffold: early in life, helping guide the development of cortical visual systems, and in adulthood, continuing to prioritize and shape higher-level visual processing. Understanding vision, therefore, requires recognizing how ancient midbrain circuits support and constrain the operations of the modern visual brain.

Richard Krauzlis

Senior Investigator & Lab Chief, Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, USA

Rich Krauzlis is听a听Senior Investigator in the National Eye Institute where听he听also servesas Chief of the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, a group of听independent labs within the intramural research program at NEI.听Research in Rich鈥檚 lab is focused on the brain circuits that accomplish higher-order visual functions, including attention, perception, and object recognition.

Rich听trained听as an undergraduate听in biology at Princeton, and听as a graduate student听in neuroscience at听the听University of California San Francisco where听he听first began studying eye movements听and visual processing.听After a post-doc at the听National Eye Institute, Rich started his own lab at听the Salk, where he launched a research programinvestigating听eye movements, attention,听and visual听perception听in humans and non-human animals. He moved his laboratory to the Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research in 2011.听He has听a听joint听appointment in the National Institute of Drug Abuse听and retains听an听adjunct听Professor听position听at the Salk Institute.听

Rich鈥檚听science uses a range of techniques听including psychophysics, electrophysiology, fMRI, pharmacologic manipulations, optogenetics and photometry. He is probably best known for听his work on听the听brain听circuits for smooth pursuit eye movements, saccades and microsaccades, and for the series of experiments revealing the crucial role of subcortical brain regions in the control of visual听selective听attention. His听more听recent work has shown how evolutionarily ancient brain structures play key roles in higher visual functions, including the processing of faces and visual objects.

Rich has served on the Editorial Boards for听Journal of Vision,听Vision Research听and听Annual Review of Vision Science, and has authored听numerous听review articles on eye movements and visual attention, including the chapter 鈥楨ye Movements鈥櫶齣n the graduate textbook听Fundamental Neuroscience.听He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is currently President-elect of the Vision Sciences Society.