Rate My Professor Trichur Vidyasagar

Professor Trichur Vidyasagar, known as Sagar, serves as Professor in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Melbourne, part of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. He is also an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Vidyasagar holds an MBBS and a PhD from the University of Manchester, with his doctoral research centered on neuroplasticity in the developing sensory system.

As Director of the Visual and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, he leads investigations into the neural basis of visual perception, attention, memory, and their connections to higher functions such as reading. The lab utilizes single-cell and multiple-unit electrophysiological recordings in animal models, psychophysics, and neuroimaging in humans to study functional microcircuitry of the primary visual cortex, neural mechanisms of attention, parallel pathways in the visual system, neuronal oscillations, and visual attention deficits in dyslexia. Ongoing research examines light's modulation of neuronal circuits regulating cognitive abilities, sleep-wake states, and applications to dyslexia and epilepsy. Vidyasagar was appointed Reader and Associate Professor in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences in 2002. His scholarly output includes over 100 publications, garnering more than 6,600 citations and an h-index of 42 per Google Scholar. Prominent works encompass 'Reading into neuronal oscillations in the visual system: implications for developmental dyslexia' (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2013), 'Subcortical orientation biases explain orientation selectivity of visual cortical cells' (Physiological Reports, 2015), and 'Apparent movement with subjective contours' (Vision Research, 1973). He received the University of Melbourne's 2021 Animal Welfare Award and participates in the Australasian Neuroscience Society's Animals in Research Committee, with NHMRC funding supporting his projects, including a 2023 Ideas Grant.