Professor

Office: Room 322B, Life Science Building
Phone: (502) 852-6031
Fax: (502) 852-8904
Email: woody.petry@louisville.edu

Lab location:  Life Sciences Building

Lab phone: 852-7644

Lab website: Visual Neuroscience Lab

Education

B.A. (1974) Bates College, Lewiston ME

M.A. (1976) Connecticut College, New London CT

Ph.D. (1980) Brown University, Providence RI

Post-Doctoral (1980-1982) Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Research Interests

Two common themes of my research have been: 1) basic brain mechanisms of vision, and 2) the influence of the post-natal environment on the development and plasticity of these mechanisms. My approach has been to use a wide variety of complementary research methodologies to address specific research questions at neural levels ranging from molecular and cellular to neural systems and behavior. Over recent years we have employed immunocytochemistry, single-cell electrophysiology, evoked potentials (ERG, VEP), neuroanatomical tract-tracing, molecular biology and visual psychophysics techniques. The variety of research methods in my lab allows undergraduates and graduate students to acquire first-hand exposure and technical skills in several areas of basic neuroscience and bio-medical research. Current projects include 1) the neural coding of visual movement and attention and 2) neuroplasticity genes in visual cortex. More information on these projects is available on my laboratory website.

Selected Publications

Chomsung* RD, Petry HM and Bickford ME. (2008) Ultrastructural examination of diffuse and specific tectopulvinar projections in the tree shrew. Journal of Comparative Neurology, in press.

Radtke ND, Aramant RB, Seiler MJ, Petry HM and Pidwell D. (2004) Vision change after sheet transplant of fetal retina with retinal pigment epithelium to a patient with retinitis pigmentosa. Archives of Ophthalmology, 122, 1159-1165

Lu*, H. and Petry, H.M. (2003) Temporal modulation sensitivity of tree shrew retinal ganglion cells. Visual Neuroscience, 20(4), 363-372.

Callahan*, T.L. and Petry, H.M. (2000) Psychophysical measurement of temporal modulation sensitivity in the tree shrew. Vision Research, 40, 455-458.

Courses often taught

Undergraduate:

PSYC 344 “Physiological Psychology”;
PSYC 404 “Sleep, Dreaming and Biological Rhythms”
Graduate:

PSYC 632 “Principles of Visual Science”
PSYC 642 “Behavioral Neuroscience”