Gerald Westheimer

Research focuses on the human visual system. Over a period of 50 years the emphasis, which started on the eye as an optical system, moved first to the function of the retina and more recently to the processing of spatial information in the brain. By analyzing the quality of the optical image on the retina and the human observer's ability to make fine spatial discriminations he was able to establish a performance category now called hyperacuity, where the grain of the receptor mosaic is transcended and sophisticated cortical is at play.