1985 — 2007 |
Newsome, William T |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. R37Activity Code Description: To provide long-term grant support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are highly likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. Investigators may not apply for a MERIT award. Program staff and/or members of the cognizant National Advisory Council/Board will identify candidates for the MERIT award during the course of review of competing research grant applications prepared and submitted in accordance with regular PHS requirements. |
Cortical Processing of Visual Motion
The long-term goal of our research is to understand the neuronal processes that mediate visual perception and visually guided behavior. To this end we are conducting parallel behavioral and physiological experiments in animals that are trained to perform selected perceptual or eye movement tasks. By recording the activity of cortical neurons during performance of such tasks, we gain initial insights into the relationship of neuronal activity to the animal's behavioral capacities. Hypotheses concerning this relationship are tested by modifying neural activity within local cortical circuits to determine whether behavior is effected in a predictable manner. Computer modelling techniques are then used to develop more refined hypotheses concerning the relationship of brain to behavior that are both rigorous and testable. This combination of behavioral, electrophysiological and computational techniques provides a realistic basis for neurophysiological investigation of cognitive functions such as perception, memory and motor planning.
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1995 |
Newsome, William T |
F06Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Neural Activity Underlying Changes in Perceptual State |
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2000 — 2002 |
Newsome, William T |
T32Activity Code Description: To enable institutions to make National Research Service Awards to individuals selected by them for predoctoral and postdoctoral research training in specified shortage areas. |
Neurosciences Research Training
The goal of the Neurosciences Ph.D. Program is to train predoctoral Ph.D. students to become leaders in neuroscience who will help us understand how the nervous system functions, from molecules to systems, from embryo to adult, and in normal and diseased states. The training program has been designed to be broadly based during the first two years, prior to full-time thesis work. It includes courses in a set of core areas to make students fluent in the multidisciplinary language and approaches of the neurosciences. Rotations in three to four labs allow them to experience the intellectual atmosphere of several lab groups, to become familiar with invaluable experimental approaches, and enable them to make a more informed choice of thesis mentor and research area. These program elements provide students with a foundation for understanding the molecular, cellular, and systems/behavioral elements that enable the nervous system to function in an integrative manner. The program also includes a retreat seminar and invited lecturers. Support is requested for 11 trainees, 7 to be shifted from the existing NIMH (5) and NIGMS (2) training grants. There are 56 students in the program, including the incoming group that will matriculate in the fall. All students will be enrolled in Stanford University's interdepartmental Neurosciences Ph.D. Program, the only academic body at Stanford that awards a Ph.D. in neurosciences. The faculty is composed of 47 members from 12 departments in the School of Medicine and in the School of Humanities and Sciences. The faculty is highly interactive, well supported and diverse. Their research interests cover nearly every aspect of the structure and function of the nervous system including organization of pathways, sensorimotor integration, synaptic transmission and membrane excitability, structure and function of receptors and ion channels, neurohormones, gene expression, neural development, plasticity and regeneration. The Program Committee which reflects the broad interests of the program faculty will select trainees and monitor their progress. Selection is on the basis of scholastic achievements, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and interviews. The positions will be advertised nationally and applications will be solicited in accord with, and in the spirit of, affirmative action. Past trainees of the Program have been extremely successful in pursuing research careers.
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2003 — 2004 |
Newsome, William T |
T32Activity Code Description: To enable institutions to make National Research Service Awards to individuals selected by them for predoctoral and postdoctoral research training in specified shortage areas. |
Neuroscience Research Training
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of the Neurosciences Graduate Program at Stanford University is to develop predoctoral PhD students as leaders in neuroscience research and teaching. We propose an integrated educational program that involves each student in the study of all levels of nervous system function from molecules to behavior. Teaching students how to identify, approach and solve specific research problems will promote their professional development as independent scientists and will contribute new knowledge to the fight against neurological and psychiatric disease. To this end the Program will provide students with the opportunity to conduct state-of-the-art neurobiological research in any of a broad range of disciplines including molecular and cell biology, genetics, biophysics, electrophysiology, anatomy, computational modeling, neuroimaging of the human brain, and the quantitative study of behavior. Formal course work will require students to examine how the nervous system functions at the molecular and cellular level, during development from embryo to adult, and in normal and diseased states. The Program incorporates added depth and breadth via a suite of activities including retreats, seminar series, summer courses, and invited lecturers. There are currently 46 students in the Program. All students will be enrolled in the Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience, the only academic body at Stanford that awards a PhD in the neurosciences. The faculty is composed of 67 members from 14 Departments in 3 Schools. The faculty is highly interactive, intellectually diverse, and their research efforts are well funded. Their research covers nearly every aspect of neuroscience. Trainees are encouraged to rotate through three labs before committing to a preceptor. Course requirements must be fulfilled with courses taught by different academic departments, and the members of the examination and thesis committees must be from more than one department. The Program Committee, which is the governing body, is composed of Program faculty from 7 departments. This Committee has overall responsibility for setting academic policy, selecting students and monitoring their progress after matriculation. Admitted students are among the most outstanding candidates in the nation. Past trainees of the Neurosciences Program have been extremely successful in pursuing academic research careers.
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