Brian A. Wandell
Academic Appointments
- Professor, Social Sciences Cluster - Psychology
- Member, Bio-X
- Member, Child Health Research Institute
Key Documents
Contact Information
- Academic Offices
Personal Information Email Tel (650) 725-2466
Professional Overview
Administrative Appointments
- Director, Stanford's Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging (2010 - present)
- Chair, Psychology (2006 - 2009)
Honors and Awards
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2011)
- Member, National Academy of Sciences (2003)
Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations
Internet Links
Scientific Focus
Current Research Interests
Visual perception
Professor Wandell's work in visual neuroscience uses both neuroimaging and behavior testing to understand the action of the visual portions of the brain. His team has developed a set of magnetic resonance imaging methods for identifying and measuring distinct and specialized regions of human visual cortex, including regions that respond powerful to motion and color. His team has been particularly interested in measuring the development of brain function and reorganization following injury or abnormal development.
Reading development
The Wandell lab is applying a powerful set of MRI measurement methodologies to study human brain development. These include diffusion measures, functional measures, and novel approaches for assessing quantitative tissue properties such as tissue volume and chemistry. In one group of studies, they are measuring the signals and growth of visual cortex in children, aged 8-12, during the period children become skilled readers. Using very high spatial resolution and neuroimaging techniques, including some methods developed by this group, the lab is hoping to understand how visual signals contribute to the neural pathways of reading. These measurements of the developmental changes during the acquisition of skilled reading are intended to explain how visual signals are rapidly identified and classified as we read.
Publications
- Human trichromacy revisited. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; (3): E260-9
- Development of white matter and reading skills. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; (44): E3045-53
- Learning to see words. Annu Rev Psychol. 2012: 31-53
- Visual feature-tolerance in the reading network. Neuron. 2011; (5): 941-53
- Plasticity and stability of visual field maps in adult primary visual cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009; (12): 873-84
- Visual field maps in human cortex. Neuron. 2007; (2): 366-83
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