The purpose of this course is to bring together students and faculty for in-depth and high level discussions of modern approaches for probing how specific cell types and circuits give rise to defined categories of perception and action. It is also designed to address novel strategies aimed at overcoming diseases that compromise sensory function.

The visual system is the most widely studied sensory modality. Recently, three major shifts have occurred in the field of neuroscience. First, owing to the large array of genetic techniques available in mice and the relative ease of imaging and recording from the cortex of small rodents, the mouse visual system has become a premiere venue for attacking the fundamental unresolved question of how specific cells and circuits relate to visual performance at the receptive field and whole-animal level. Second, genetic and viral methods have evolved to the point where neurophysiologists can directly probe the role of defined circuits in species such as macaque monkeys, thus bridging the mechanism-cognition gap. Third, the field of visual neuroscience is rapidly paving the way for widespread clinical application of stem cell, gene therapy and prosthetic devices to restore sensory function in humans.

The time is ripe to build on the classic paradigms and discoveries of visual system structure, function and disease, in order to achieve a deep, mechanistic understanding of how receptive fields are organized and filter sensory information, how that information is handled at progressively higher levels of neural processing, and how different circuits can induce defined categories of percepts and behaviors in the healthy and diseased brain.

The course will be held at the Laboratory’s Banbury Conference Center located on the north shore of Long Island. All participants stay within walking distance of the Center, close to tennis court, pool and private beach.

Support & Stipends

Major support provided by the National Eye Institute  , Helmsley Charitable Trust and Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Stipends are available to offset tuition costs as follows:

Domestic applicants (National Eye Institute)
Interdisciplinary Fellowships (transitioning from outside biology)  & Scholarships (transitioning from other biological disciplines) (Helmsley Charitable Trust)
International applicants (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)

Scientists from developing countries accepted into this course may be eligible for scholarships provided by the International Brain Research Organization.

Please indicate your eligibility for funding in your stipend request submitted when you apply to the course. Stipend requests do not affect selection decisions made by the  instructors.