Professor
2315 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95817
Dr. Usrey's laboratory studies the neurobiological mechanisms for sensory processing and the role of attention in modulating these processes.
Neurology
B.A., UC San Diego, San Diego CA 1988
Ph.D., Neurobiolgoy, Duke University, Durham NC 1994
Postdoc, Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 1999
Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology, College of Biological Sciences, UC Davis, 2018
Outstanding Service as Graduate Group Chair Award - Neuroscience Graduate Group, UC Davis, 2018
Outstanding Graduate Mentor in Neuroscience Award - Neuroscience Graduate Group, UC Davis, 2015
Distinguished Service Award - Neuroscience Graduate Group, UC Davis, 2014
Scientific Innovations Award, Brain Research Foundation, 2012
Faculty Research Award (Research Article of the Year), College of Biological Sciences, UC Davis, 2012
College of Biological Sciences Faculty Research Award, 2012
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) - Office of Science and Technology, Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, 2002
McKnight Scholars Award, 2002
Charles Judson Herrick Award, American Association of Anatomists, 2002
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship Award, Sloan Foundation, 2001
Klingenstein Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences, Klingenstein Foundation, 2000
UC Davis - Faculty Research Award, 2000
Hembrook-Short J, Mock V, Usrey WM, Briggs F. Attention enhances the efficacy of communication in V1 local circuits. Journal of Neuroscience. 2019;39:1066-1076. (PMID: 30541911; PMCID: PMC6363925)
Usrey WM, Sherman SM. Corticofugal circuits: Communication lines from the cortex to the rest of the brain. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 2019;527:640-650. (PMID: 29524229; PMCID: PMC6131091)
Briggs F, Kiley CW, Callaway EM, Usrey WM. Morphological substrates for parallel streams of corticogeniculate feedback originating in both V1 and V2. Neuron. 2016;90:388-399.
Usrey WM, Alitto HJ. Visual functions of the thalamus. Annual Review of Vision Science. 2015;1:351-371.
Bastos AM, Briggs F, Alitto HJ, Mangun GR, Usrey WM. Simultaneous recordings from the primary visual cortex and lateral geniculate nucleus reveal rhythmic interactions and a cortical source for gamma-band oscillations. J of Neuroscience. 2014;34:7639-7644.
Briggs F, Mangun GR, Usrey WM. Attention Enhances Synaptic Efficacy and Signal-to-Noise in Neural Circuits. Nature. 2013;499:476-80.
Bastos AM, Usrey WM, Adams RA, Mangun GR, Fires P, Friston KJ. Cononical microcircuits for predictive coding. Neuron. 2012;76:695-711.
Moore BD, Kiley CW, Sun C, Usrey WM. Rapid plasticity of visual responses in the adult lateral geniculate nucleus. Neuron. 2011;71:812-819.
Briggs F, Usrey WM. Parallel processing in the corticogeniculate pathway of the macaque monkey. Neuron. 2009;62:135-146.