My laboratory is interested
in the role of various brain structures in visual perception
and visual learning. Much of our research involves monkeys.
Inferior temporal cortex. We have
been studying how this area codes and stores information about
objects. One approach involves recording the activity of single
inferior temporal neurons as a function of the visual stimulus
and the behavioral task, such as short term memory. A second
is analyzing the anatomical organization of inferior temporal
cortex and its connections in both infants and adults. A third
approach is studying the behavioral effects of removal of inferior
temporal cortex.
Blindsight and Development.
After lesions of striate cortex there is considerable residual
visual function. Since these functions are not conscious,
this residual vision has been called "blindsight".
We have been studying this phenomenon with emphasis on comparing
the effects of striate lesions made in infant and adult monkeys.
Recent experiments concern stimulus localization and movement
discrimination in animals with striate lesions, properties
of extra-striate cortex neurons in the long-term absence of
striate cortex and anatomical changes after striate cortex
lesions made in infancy and adulthood.
The Representation of Space in the
Brain. How is space coded in the brain so that we know
where things are, even as we move our eyes, head and bodies
about? We are studying the roles of neurons in a system of
areas, including the putamen, premotor cortex and parietal
cortex, which represent near extra-personal space. We have
discovered neurons that that have visual fields that are organized
in body-part coordinates rather than retinal ones and we believe
they play a role in visuomotor control.
Adult Neurogenesis. I have
been collaborating with Professor Elizabeth Gould on adult-generated
neurons in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of monkeys.
History of Neuroscience. I
also write on the history of neuroscience, and its social
context.
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