W. Martin Usrey, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and Professor of Neurology at UC Davis. His research is focused on understanding the functional properties of neural circuits that serve vision and the relationship between circuit activity, behavior, and perception. He has authored over 70 publications and directed several international courses and conferences on sensory processing and thalamocortical relations. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The Usrey laboratory is home to Brainmaps.org, an interactive, high-resolution digital brain atlas and virtual microscope for students, educators, and researchers. He is also editor of sensory systems for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. S. Murray Sherman, Ph.D., is Maurice Goldblatt Professor and Chairman in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago. His books include Exploring the Thalamus, Exploring the Thalamus and its Role in Cortical Function, Functional Connections of Cortical Areas: A New View from the Thalamus, and Exploring Thalamocortical Interactions: Circuitry for Sensation, Action, and Cognition. Dr. Sherman is the author of more than 250 scientific papers, has served on the committees of several scientific organizations and on the editorial boards of multiple journals, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. He has held visiting academic positions at universities in the UK and China. The main focus of Dr. Sherman's research is directed towards understanding thalamic functional organization through a variety of interdisciplinary techniques.
