FOR RELEASE: January 21, 1998
CONTACT: Jamie Lawson Reeves
PHONE: (615) 322-2706
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Vanderbilt psychologist recognized for research on how the brain "sees"
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Just as a photographer moves a camera to focus on a specific image, the human brain directs the eyes to focus on an image. Although the images we see are often quite complex-- an array of colors, textures and shapes -- seeing them begins with a process that originates in single brain cells.
Vanderbilt psychologist Jeffrey D. Schall has spent the past 10 years studying how the brain guides the eyes. For his research, he has been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences. The associate professor of psychology will be presented a 1998 Troland Research Award at a ceremony April 27 in Washington, D.C.
Humans make 150,000 eye movements a day and the process that takes place
in single cells in the brain before each of these movements is the focus of Schall's work. By studying the few hundred milliseconds it takes for the eye to focus on an object in an image, scientists can further unravel the inner workings of the human brain. Schall's work in the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center has focused on two areas: how the brain selects a target for an eye movement and how the brain controls when to shift gaze. "Our most basic interest is understanding how the brain gives rise to perceptual experience and action," he said. Reactions to a stimulus can vary randomly over a half of a second or more. A good example is a sprinter's reaction time. British sprinter Linford Christie was disqualified from the 1996 Summer Olympics for starting too soon after the gun. Sprinters are at the mercy of randomly varying reaction times.
The problem of reaction time is one of the fundamental problems of psychology that goes back 140 years, Schall said. "Many originally thought that brain processes were infinitely fast. It is fast - but it is measurable." Schall and his colleagues are testing this variability. Although research has already determined the general idea of variation, Schall's work provides the first insight into what's happening in individual neurons to produce the effect.
A contributing factor to the variability is evidence that the brain "procrastinates." Schall said one of the more interesting theories regarding this innate procrastination is that it is a basic survival instinct that has evolved in humans and other mammals. For example, a few milliseconds hesitation may mean the difference between avoiding a dangerous situation in one's environment or not. "If we were very robotic we would expose ourselves to more dangerous stimuli," Schall said.
Schall and other researchers in the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center have trained macaque monkeys to examine a video display and look at a target object that differs from several distractor objects. By using electrodes, they can literally "listen" to a brain cell's activity in a part of the brain called the frontal eye field, which controls eye movements. Clinical applications for this research include providing insight into numerous brain disorders such as schizophrenia, AIDS,
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases that cause an impaired ability to voluntarily guide eye movements.
Although he is focusing on vision, Schall says that the research will apply to other brain systems. "Evidence indicates that the applications in one part of the brain apply to another." The Troland Awards are given to further empirical research in psychology that involves the relationships of consciousness and the physical world.
Schall is among a dozen university scientists who were recognized. College of Arts and Science Department of Psychology Chair Timothy P. McNamara nominated Schall for the award. The awards carry cash awards ranging from $6,000 to $35,000. Schall is receiving one of the two largest awards of $35,000.
Schall was a recipient of a 1997 McKnight Investigator Award. As a recipient of a McKnight Investigator Award, Schall receives a $150,000 grant payable in three installments of $50,000 annually. The purpose of the awards is to encourage researchers to develop new approaches to understanding the basic mechanisms of memory and disorders affecting memory.
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