Biographical Sketch:
Education:
B.A. - University of Cambridge, England
Ph.D. - State University of New York Stony Brook
Postdoctoral Scholar - University of Alabama at Birmingham
Administrative Responsibilities:
Chair, Department of Vision Sciences
Director, Center for the Development of Functional Imaging
Secondary Appointments:
Professor, Department of Neurobiology
Professor, Department of Psychology
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Senior Scientist, Vision Science Research Center
Senior Scientist, School of Medicine Center for Aging
Senior Scientist, Civitan International Research Center
Scholarly Activity:
Teaching:
VS 212 Eye Movements & Normal Binocular Vision - co-teaches with Dr. Busettini
NBL 120 Basic Neuroscience - co-teaches with Dr. Lester
VIS 729 Introduction to Neurobiology - a laboratory-based, residential course taught each summer at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab; co-coursemaster with Dr. Keyser.
Research:
Dr. Gamlin is interested in vision and the neural control of eye movements. More specifically, despite their great clinical relevance, comparatively little is known about the way in which the brain controls those eye movements that are required to look at objects at different distances i.e. vergence, ocular accommodation, and pupillary responses. Therefore, the primary goal of the Gamlin laboratory is to investigate the ways in which the brain interprets the visual information guiding these eye movements, and uses this information to control them. To investigate these questions, we use electrophysiological, behavioral, fMRI, and neuroanatomical techniques. Currently, the Gamlin laboratory is studying the way in which the sensory signals of disparity and blur that are observed in the frontal cortex are transformed into the eye movement signals required for vergence and accommodation. The laboratory is also studying the role of specific precerebellar and cerebellar nuclei in the control of these eye movements. Dr. Gamlin's current interest in the pupillary light reflex is concentrated on characterizing the role that intrinsically-photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells play in mediating this important reflex in primates. These studies of the intrinsically-photoreceptive ganglion cells are also directed towards identifying their contribution to the entrainment of circadian rhythms.
Publications:
Book Chapters:
Busettini,C, Davison, R.C and Gamlin, P.D.R (2007) The Near Triad: Vergence, Accommodation, and Pupilloconstriction. The New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Elsevier.
McDougal, David H.and Gamlin, Paul D. R. (2007) Pupillary Control Pathways in Handbook of the Senses (Albright, T.. & Masland, R., Eds.); Elsevier.
Gamlin, P.D.R. (2003) Pupils. In Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences. Eds. M.J. Aminoff and R.B. Daroff. Academic Press.
Mays, L.E and P.D.R. Gamlin (2000) Neuronal circuits for accommodation and vergence in the primate. In Accommodation and Vergence Mechanisms in the Visual System. Eds. O. Franzén, H. Richter, and L. Stark. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, Switzerland. pp 1-9.
Gamlin, P.D.R. (2000) The Functions of the Edinger-Westphal Nucleus. In Nervous Control of the Eye. Eds. G. Burnstock and A. Sillito. Harwood Academic Publishers. pp 117-154.
Clarke, R.J. and P.D.R. Gamlin, (1995) The role of the pretectum in the pupillary light reflex. In Basic and Clinical Perspectives in Vison Research. Eds. J. Robbins et al. Plenum Press, pp 149-159.
Mays, L.E. and P.D.R. Gamlin, (1995) A neural mechanism subserving saccade-vergence interactions. In Eye Movement Research: Mechanisms, Processes and Applications. Eds. J. Findlay, R. Walker, and R.W. Kentridge, Elsevie, Amsterdam. pp 215-223.