SIGMA XI - NJIT CHAPTER

Invasive single-cell studies on animals are conducted routinely to explore the neurophysiological basis of vision. These methods are not appropriate for use in investigations on humans. The activity of the brain elicited by visual stimulation may be measured noninvasively in the form of electrical potentials recorded at the scalp. These neural responses are referred to as visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and they are obtained easily in infants, children, and adults. In combination with a systems analysis approach, VEPs may be used to determine the dynamics of distinct populations of neurons that form parallel channels of information flow in the human brain. Clinical applications of VEP techniques yield measures of neural development in infants and reveal select neural deficits associated with a variety of disease processes.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Zemon attended Clarkson College of Technology (presently Clarkson University) where he received a BS degree in physics (1973). After working as a research scientist at Neuro Communication Research Laboratories in Danbury, CT, he entered graduate school in experimental psychology at Northeastern University, where he received MA (1976) and Ph.D. (1979) degrees in physiological psychology. Following graduate school, Dr. Zemon joined the Ratliff-Hartline Laboratory of Biophysics at The Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he remained to take positions as research associate and assistant professor. In 1992, he joined the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine Campus, where he is currently Associate Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Visual Neuroscience. Dr. Zemon has held visiting scientist and adjunct faculty appointments at Columbia University, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Hunter College of the City University of New York, The New School for Social Research, The Lighthouse Inc., and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Presently, he is a member of the Adjunct Faculty of The Rockefeller University and on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Zemon has published numerous articles in the field of visual neuroscience, with a specialization in the areas of evoked brain potentials and visual psychophysics.

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This seminar is sponsored in part by the Cullimore Lecture Series.