About
Dr Sam Solomon-
Dr Sam Solomon is recognized internationally for his work on the brain mechanisms that provide sight; in particular his group has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of colour and form vision. .
Neural mechanisms that limit visual sensitivity
Summary
This research is concerned with how the brain analyses, and makes decisions about, the sensory information it receives. To understand this we study the visual system, the primary sense organ in primates, and the one that we know most about.
Supervisor(s)
Research Location
Program Type
Masters/PHD
Synopsis
In physiological experiments we characterise at the level of nerve cells the work done by the eye and visual cortex. In perceptual experiments we explore performance, and compare these observations with the physiological ones through quantitative analysis.
In 2009 the lab is focusing on two important aspects of visual processing: the building blocks of human perception, particularly the appearance of form and colour. For example, we have shown that orientation perception in complex, nearly-natural, scenes may be understood in the framework of simple models, which may gives us a powerful method for predicting human perception in arbitrary situations.
The signals of nerve cells early in the visual pathway, particularly the responses of individual nerve cells, and the information carried by groups of nerve cells, by
1. measuring the responses of neurons in the middle temporal area (MT) to simple patterns and textures, to determine how these neurons provide signals for motion perception and eye movements
2. measuring the intracellular responses of neurons in the visual thalamus, to investigate the role of excitation and inhibition in determining how these neurons pass retinal signals to visual cortex.
Additional Information
Techniques used:Multi-channel in vivo electrophysiology, in vitro physiology (patch-clamping), psychophysics, human behaviour, computational modelling
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Keywords
Glaucoma, diabetes, Eye disease, Neurological disorders, Vision, Sensory Systems, cognition, Parallel Pathways, Brain & nervous system disorders, Hearing & vision problems, Neuroscience & psychology, The senses
Opportunity ID
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 218