BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20260415T020854EDT-36969h0rGN@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20260415T060854Z DESCRIPTION:\nSupported by the generosity of the Killam Trusts\, The Neuro' s Killam Seminar Series invites outstanding guest speakers whose research is of interest to the scientific community at The Neuro and McGill Univers ity.\n\n\nRegister Now\n\nTo watch online\, click here\n\nHost: Dan Guitto n\n\n\nThe Low Road to Higher Visual Functions\n\nAbstract: Vision feels e ffortless. Within a fraction of a second\, we detect faces\, recognize obj ects\, and decide where to look. These abilities are usually credited to t he primate visual cortex. But emerging evidence shows that an evolutionari ly ancient pathway through the midbrain provides a crucial foundation for these higher visual functions. In this talk\, I will present evidence that the superior colliculus — a structure classically associated with eye mov ements — carries rapid and behaviorally meaningful object information\, in cluding an early bias for faces. I will argue that this so-called “low roa d” does more than trigger reflexive orienting. Instead\, it acts as a func tional scaffold: early in life\, helping guide the development of cortical visual systems\, and in adulthood\, continuing to prioritize and shape hi gher-level visual processing. Understanding vision\, therefore\, requires recognizing how ancient midbrain circuits support and constrain the operat ions of the modern visual brain.\n\nRichard Krauzlis\n\nSenior Investigato r & Lab Chief\, Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research\, National Eye Institu te\, NIH\, USA\n\nRich Krauzlis is a Senior Investigator in the National E ye Institute where he also servesas Chief of the Laboratory of Sensorimoto r Research\, a group of independent labs within the intramural research pr ogram at NEI. Research in Rich’s lab is focused on the brain circuits that accomplish higher-order visual functions\, including attention\, percepti on\, and object recognition.\n\nRich trained as an undergraduate in biolog y at Princeton\, and as a graduate student in neuroscience at the Universi ty of California San Francisco where he first began studying eye movements  and visual processing. After a post-doc at the National Eye Institute\, R ich started his own lab at the Salk\, where he launched a research program investigating eye movements\, attention\, and visual perception in humans and non-human animals. He moved his laboratory to the Laboratory of Sensor imotor Research in 2011. He has a joint appointment in the National Instit ute of Drug Abuse and retains an adjunct Professor position at the Salk In stitute. \n\nRich’s science uses a range of techniques including psychophy sics\, electrophysiology\, fMRI\, pharmacologic manipulations\, optogeneti cs and photometry. He is probably best known for his work on the brain cir cuits for smooth pursuit eye movements\, saccades and microsaccades\, and for the series of experiments revealing the crucial role of subcortical br ain regions in the control of visual selective attention. His more recent work has shown how evolutionarily ancient brain structures play key roles in higher visual functions\, including the processing of faces and visual objects.\n\nRich has served on the Editorial Boards for Journal of Vision\ , Vision Research and Annual Review of Vision Science\, and has authored n umerous review articles on eye movements and visual attention\, including the chapter ‘Eye Movements’ in the graduate textbook Fundamental Neuroscie nce. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advanceme nt of Science and is currently President-elect of the Vision Sciences Soci ety.\n DTSTART:20260310T200000Z DTEND:20260310T210000Z LOCATION:de Grandpre Communications Centre\, The Neuro SUMMARY:Killam Seminar Series: The Low Road to Higher Visual Functions URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/neuro/channels/event/killam-seminar-series-low-ro ad-higher-visual-functions-371553 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR