Exploring Vision, Perception and Behavior: W. Martin Usrey Named Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology
Amblyopia, or reduced vision from one eye, affects approximately two to three of every 100 children, according to the National Eye Institute. Today the disability is correctable, but it wasn’t until the 20th century that scientists realized the eye wasn’t responsible for the condition. Its origin was in how the eye and brain worked together.
“Back in the day, no one realized that there was a ‘critical period’ in childhood, where this could be corrected,” said Professor W. Martin Usrey, chair of the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. “Through basic science, that was discovered.”
In 1981, David H. Hubel and Torsten N. Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning the visual system. They and others revealed that visual information travels through a complex network of brain cells, where its component pieces are broken apart and sent to different areas of the brain for processing, eventually forming an image.
Through experiments, the researchers found that columns of brain cells developed for each eye in the visual cortex, with critical development of these columns and their interactions occurring during childhood. The realization that the brain played just as large a role in vision as the eye led to development of the medical interventions used today to correct amblyopia.
“Basic science research is exploration,” said Usrey, who was mentored by Wiesel early in his career. “It’s going out into the unknown and figuring out how things work. And it’s only by knowing how things work and making that discovery that you can then say, ‘How can that discovery be used?’”
Supporting physiology research
Recently, the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences named Usrey, a neurobiologist interested in the physiology of vision, to the Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology. Usrey will hold the appointment for five years, with the endowment supporting his research, teaching and service activities. Distinguished Professor Emerita Horwitz and Professor Emeritus Horowitz created the endowed chair in 2004.