Martin Usrey
Professor
wmusrey@ucdavis.edu
Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
Center for Neuroscience
Neurology - Medicine
Office
1544 Newton Court, Davis, CA 95618
Degrees:
1994
PhD
Duke University
Neurobiology
1989
MS
San Diego State University
Physiology
1987
BA
University of California, San Diego
Animal Physiology; Anthropology
Research Interests:
Our laboratory uses anatomical and physiological tools to study the functional organization of the mammalian visual system. In particular, we are interested in how visual information is processed and transmitted from one level of the visual pathway to the next.
Along the visual pathway, from retina to extrastriate cortex, neurons become increasingly selective to the patterns of light - the visual stimulus - that are excitatory. The goal of our laboratory is to understand the neural circuitry responsible for generating these selective responses. In addition, we are also investigating the dynamics of these neural circuits to determine what role activity patterns play in influencing neuronal responses.
Traditionally, systems neuroscience has relied on single electrodes to characterize the activity of individual neurons in the brain. For researchers studying the visual system, the activity of individual neurons is recorded while animals are presented with various visual stimuli. By correlating neural responses with visual stimuli, one can ascertain the optimal visual stimulus for any given neuron. While this approach has proven extremely successful over the years and has provided the foundation for our understanding of the neural mechanisms of vision, the single- electrode approach is limited in the extent that we can only infer how populations of neurons behave together in a neural network. With recent progress in multielectrode technology, visual neuroscience is now primed and ready for the next major conceptual advancement: discovering how populations of neurons interact to code and communicate information. In particular, we need to determine the patterns of synaptic activity that convey information within each brain region as well as from one region to the next.
In an ongoing study, we are investigating the relationship between ascending and descending connections made between the thalamus and visual cortex. In an effort to determine the functional role(s) of these connections, we are using multielectrode arrays to record the responses of neurons that are synaptically connected. By recording simultaneously the responses of synaptically connected neurons, in vivo, we can relate neural connection to neural function. In other words, we can discover the rules that govern the connections from one level to the next, and how these connections determine new visual response properties.
Our research is funded by the N.I.H, the McKnight Foundation, the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, and the UC Davis Alzheimerâ??s Research Center.
Awards:
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Klingenstein Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship Award
Charles Judson Herrick Award, American Association of Anatomists
McKnight Scholar Award
Department and Center Affiliations:
Center for Neuroscience
CBS Graduate Group Affiliations:
Neuroscience
Publications:
Last updated 5/21/2010
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. (2007) Temporal properties of feedforward and feedback pathways between the thalamus and visual cortex. Thalamus and Related Systems 3:133-139.
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. (2007) A fast, reciprocal pathway between the lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 27:5431-5436.
Rathbun DL, Alitto HJ, Weyand TG, and Usrey WM. (2007) Interspike interval analysis of retinal ganglion cell receptive fields. Journal of Neurophysiology 98:911-919.
Briggs F and Usrey W (2007) Cortical activity influences geniculocortical spike efficacy. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 1:1-5.
Alitto HJ, and Usrey WM. (2008) Origin and dynamics of extraclassical suppression in the lateral geniculate nucleus. Neuron 57:135-146.
Reid RC, and Usrey WM. (2008) Vision. In: Fundamental Neuroscience, 3rd Edition. Eds, Squire LR, Roberts JL, Spitzer NC, Zigmond MJ, McConnell SK, Bloom FE. Academic Press. San Diego.
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. Emerging views of corticothalamic function. (2008) Current Opinion in Neurobiology 18:403-407.
Rathbun DL, and Usrey WM. (2008) The geniculo-striate pathway. In: Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Eds, Binder MD, Hirokawa N, Windhorst U, and Hirsch MC. Springer-Verlag. Heidelberg, Germany.
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. (2009) Corticothalamic Connections: Structure and Function. In: Squire LR (ed.) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, volume 3, pp. 215-219. Oxford: Academic Press.
Koepsell K, Wang X, Vaingankar V, Wei Y, Wang Q, Rathbun DL, Usrey WM, Hirsch J, and Sommer FT (2009) Retinal oscillations carry visual information to cortex. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, doi:10.3389/neuro.06.004.2009.
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. (2009) Parallel processing in the corticogeniculate pathway. Neuron 62:135-146.
McAllister AK, Usrey WM, Noctor SC, and Rayport S. (2009) Cellular and molecular biology of the neuron. In: The American Psychiatric Publishing Board Review Guide for Psychiatry. J Bourgeois, J Young, RE Hales, and SC Yudofsky (Eds.) pp.51-57. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Arlington, VA.
Briggs F, and Usrey WM. (2009) Modulation of gamma-band activity across local cortical circuits. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 3:15. doi:10.3389/neuro.07.015.2009.
Laboratory Personnel:
Usrey Lab
Farran Briggs, Bart Moore, Andre Bastos, Caitlin Kiley, Benjamin Lankow, Corey Ziemba, Katie Neverkovec, Dan Sperka
Teaching Interests:
Systems Neuroscience, Neurobiology of Vision,
Neuroanatomy, Human Physiology.
Courses:
NSC
222
Systems Neuroscience
Winter
NPB
101
Human Physiology
Winter
NSC
201
Neuroanatomy
Fall
NSC
261B
Visual Neuroscience
Winter