Advances in Understanding the Mammalian Visual Cortex
This meeting was organised at the Australian National University, Canberra
on 8th and 9th February 1999 with a view to bring together physiologists,
anatomists and psychophysicists interested in the function of the visual
cortex in the Australasian region and international visitors to
Australia from Europe and North America. During the two days of
the conference, a number of talks were presented on a variety of
topics (see list of speakers below). The meeting facilitated interchange
of ideas and encouraged international collaboration in visual cortical
research, particularly in the Australasian region.
This meeting was open to all interested people and registration
was free.
Meeting Program
Monday, 8th February 1999
9.00 Opening remarks: John Hearn (Director RSBS, ANU)
9.10 to 10.30 What is happening in the ventral stream? Chair: Bill
Levick, ANU
9.10: Gyorgy
Benedek, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical University, Szeged: Stimulus
characteristics that determine activation of inferotemporal cortex
in macaques
9.40: Manabu Tanifuji, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, Japan :
Feature based representation of objects in inferotemporal cortex revealed
by intrinsic optical imaging.
10.10: Ted Maddess,
Australian National University, Canberra: Cortical processing of texture
and scale: the apparent fineness illusion.
10.30 to 11.00 Fluid Break
11.00 to 12.30 Where is the dorsal stream leading us? Chair: Ann
Sefton, Sydney University
11.00: Marcello
Rosa, University of Queensland, Brisbane: Anatomy and Physiology
of Dorsal Extrastriate Cortex.
11.20: Johannes Zanker, Australian National University, Canberra: Segmentation
and transparency in motion perception.
11.40: John Ross, University of Western Australia, Perth: The time course
of saccadic suppression and some of its consequences.
12.00: William
Newsome, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Stanford:
Weak effects of attention in visual area MT.
12.30 to 14.00 Lunch Break
14.00 to 15.30 Is it there, or does it come from above? Chair: Mandyam
Srinivasan, ANU
14.00: A.B.
Bonds, Vanderbilt University, Nashville: The Changing View of the Role
of GABA in Visual Cortex.
14.30: Bogdan Dreher,
University of Sydney, Sydney: Possible role of cortico-cortical projections
from the higher to the lower visual areas.
14.50: Andrew James, Australian National University, Canberra: Corticocortical
feedback and the reconstruction of reality.
15.10: Peter Wenderoth,
Macquarie University, Sydney: Neural substrates of 1D and 2D tilt illusions.
15.30 to 16.00 Fluid Break
16.00 to 17.10 Putting form in context Chair: Liam
Burke, Sydney University
16.00: Adam Sillito,
Institute of Ophthalmology, London: Context and time dependent representations
in primate V1.
16.30: T.R.
(Sagar) Vidyasagar, Australian National University, Canberra: Interactions
between parvo and magno streams in primate vision: within and beyond the
striate cortex.
16.50: Rick van der Zwan, University of Sydney, Sydney: Mechanism
of global form perception.
18.30 to ... drinks & dinner : Old Canberra House, ANU Tuesday, 9th February 1999
9.10 to 10.30 Images in parallel Chair: Richard
Mark, ANU
9.10: Anna Roe,
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven: Optical imaging of higher
order feature perception in primates.
9.40: Zoltan
Kisvarday, Ruhr-University-Bochum, Bochum: Orientation, direction and
ocular dominance topography of lateral connections: possible functional
implications in the visual cortex of the cat.
10.10: David Crewther, La Trobe University, Melbourne: Cortical evoked
activity and the parallel processing of luminance, colour and form.
10.30 to 11.00 Fluid Break
11.00 to 12.30 Two eyes, two brains? Chair: Michael
Cook, ANU
11.00: Robert
O’Shea, University of Otago, Dunedin: Spatial frequency and the
spread of dominance in binocular rivalry.
11.30: Alan
Freeman, Univ. of Sydney, Sydney: New approaches to binocular rivalry.
11.50: John
Morley, Univ of New South Wales, Sydney: Binocular interactions in
cortical area 21a of the cat.
12.10: Jack
Pettigrew, University of Queensland, Brisbane: Studies of interhemispheric
switching.
12.30 to 14.00 Lunck Break
14.00 to 15.10 Objective mapping of subjective functions chair: Adrian
Horridge, ANU
14.00: Lin Chen, University of Science and Technology of China, Beijing:
Which area of human cortex is responsible for long-range apparent motion?
a fMRI mapping study.
14.30: John Watson, University of Sydney: Functional imaging studies of
the human visual cortex.
14.50: Barbara
Gillam, University of New South Wales, Sydney: Subjective contours
and line terminators: end-stopped cells and occlusion cues.
15.10 to 15.40 Fluid Break
15.40 to 16.50 In the end, isn't it all plastic? Chair: Steve
Redman, ANU
15.40: Ulf Eysel,
Ruhr-University, Bochum: Short- and long-term receptive field plasticity
in the cat visual cortex.
16.10: Corinna Darian-Smith, University of Melbourne, Melbourne: Responses
to peripheral injury in adult visual and somatosensory pathways.
16.30: Mike
Calford, Australian National University, Canberra: Topographic maps
and plasticity in the visual cortex.
16.50 to 17.00 Concluding remarks: Geoff Henry, ANU
Meeting Venue
Robertson Lecture Theatre
Research School of Biological Sciences
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200.
Meeting Organisers for further details and contact
Dr. T.R. Vidyasagar, Division of Psychology, Australian National University,
Canberra. (until 8th Jan 1999). Tel: +61 2 6249 2038. Fax: +61 2 6249 0499.
Dr. David Chelvanayagam, Div. of Psychology, Australian National University,
Canberra. (from 8th to 22nd Jan 1999). Tel.: +61 2 6279 8879. Fax: +61 2
6249 0499.
Dr. Johannes Zanker, Australian National University, Canberra. (from 22nd Jan
1999 till 7th Feb 1999). Tel. +61 2 6249 5441. Fax:+61 2 6249 3808.
Prof. Bogdan Dreher, Dept of Anatomy and Physiology, University of Sydney,
Sydney. Tel.: +61 2 9351 4194. Fax: +61 2 9351 6556.
