For more than fifty years the amphibian visual system has been an important source of knowledge concerning the neural basis of vision and visually guided behaviors. Dr. Katherine Fite is continuing neuroanatomical experimentation on various optic pathways in the brain of amphibians. Her work is very important as we try to understand visuomotor orientation and optokinetic nystagmus, two behaviors which occur in man. Her approach will give us a detailed analysis of the neural circuits involved in vision and motor cell populations and how they interact, information that is essential to further understand the functional roles of these circuits.
