Michael Paradiso
Sidney A. and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Professor of Neuroscience:
Department of Neuroscience
Phone: +1 401 863 1159
Michael_Paradiso@Brown.EDU
Humans are highly visual animals and the processing of visual information appears to involve a significant fraction of the brain. Vision involves interactions between neurons spread widely across the brain and it dynamically adapts to the needs of ongoing behavior. The aims of Dr. Paradiso's research are to elucidate the encoding of visual information in cerebral cortex, the computations performed by interacting neurons, and the adaptive use of neural circuitry, with the goal of understanding the mechanisms underlying human visual perception.
Biography
After earning a PhD in physics at Brown, Prof. Paradiso was a Miller Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and an associate scientist at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. He joined the Brown faculty in 1990 and is Director of Brown's Center for Vision Research. His research investigates brain mechanisms underlying vision. He is the Chairman of the National Eye Institute's Central Visual Processing Study Section which reviews federal grant submissions for vision research. He is Principal Investigator of a Training Grant from the National Eye Institute that supports graduate training in vision research. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Vision and Vision Research and for many years sat on the executive committee of the Vision Sciences Society. He is coauthor, with Drs. Mark Bear and Barry Connors of a leading introductory neuroscience textbook, which has been translated into 6 languages. He is presently course director of NEUR 0010 (Introduction to the Brain), which is one of the most popular courses at Brown. He has won the Elizabeth H. LeDuc Award for Teaching Excellence in the Life Sciences and the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Interests
Despite its seeming simplicity, visual perception involves neural computations in numerous cortical areas throughout the brain. Through the combined use of brain recordings and perception experiments, we investigate the computations performed by areas of cerebral cortex involved in vision. Of particular interest are the encoding of information ultimately leading to visual recognition and the dynamic use of visual areas of the brain to serve ongoing behavior.
Degrees
Ph.D., Brown University
Awards
1984-1986 Miller Research Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley
1987-1989 Rachel C. Atkinson Fellowship for Eye Research
2002 Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Fifth Annual Japanese-American Frontiers of Science Symposium
2006-2008 Elizabeth H. LeDuc Award for Teaching Excellence in the Life Sciences
2006- Sidney A. and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual
Sciences
2007 Undergraduate Council of Students Award for Excellence in Teaching
Affiliations
Society for Neuroscience
Vision Sciences Society
2002 – 2007 Vision Sciences Society Executive Committee
2004 - Vision Resarch, Editorial Board
2006 - Journal of Vision, Editorial Board
2007 - 2009 NIH/NEI Central Visual Processing study section, regular member
2009 - NIH/NEI Central Visual Processing study Chairman
Teaching
Course Director
NEUR 0010 Introduction to the Brain
NEUR 1930 From Neurons to Perception
Lecturer
BIOL 3650 Integrated Medical Curriculum
NEUR 2050 Systems Neuroscience
Funded Research
Active Grants
Neural Mechanisms Underlying Visual Perception. National Institutes of Health–National Eye Institute (NEI). PI: Michael A. Paradiso. 12/1/06 – 11/31/10, $1,500,000.
Vision Research Training Grant, PI: Michael A. Paradiso
Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Neuroscience Training Grant.. PI: D. Lipscombe.
Representation and Computation in Natural Vision. National Science Foundation. PI: Stuart Geman. 9/04 - 8/08, $1,500,000.
Completed Grants
Cortical mechanisms underlying brightness perception. Whitehall Foundation. PI: Michael A. Paradiso. 10/1/91 – 9/31/94, $360,000.
Physiological Mechanisms of Brightness Perception and Filling-In. National Institutes of Health (NEI). PI: Michael A. Paradiso. 4/1/93 – 3/31/1996.
Physiological Mechanisms of Brightness Perception and Filling-In. National Institutes of Health (NEI). PI: Michael A. Paradiso. 4/1/96 – 3/31/2002.
Physiological Mechanisms of Brightness Perception and Filling-In. National Institutes of Health (NEI). PI: Michael A. Paradiso. 4/1/2002 – 3/31/2006.
Computational Cluster. NIH Biomedical Research Support Shared Instrument Grant. PI: J. Sanes. 1997, $399,153.
Adaptive cortical computation in the visual domain: Integrated approach using multi-unit recording, network theory, and experiments in object recognition. National Science Foundation (Learning and Intelligent Systems Program). Co-PIs: James A. Anderson, Gerald S. Guralnik, Michael A. Paradiso, and Michael Tarr. 9/1/97 - 8/31/2001, $864,941.
The Brain Science Program. W.M. Keck Foundation. PI: J. Donoghue. 1/1/00 - 12/2003, Annual Funding $1,000,000.
Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Neuroscience Training Grant (Pre-doctoral Funding). PI: J. Fallon. 07/01/1999 - 06/30/2000, Annual Funding $188,006.
