Jonathan Levitt studies the neural basis of visual perception, and the organization/development of mammalian cerebral cortex using electrophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques.

Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, 1992-1998
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1990-1992
M.A. | Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, Center for Neural Science, NYU, 1990
B.A. Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania,1984
 

The Levitt laboratory aims to understand the physiological properties and anatomical connections of neurons in visual areas of mammalian cerebral cortex. The ultimate goal of this work is to understand visual perception in terms of its underlying neural substrates. We now know that there are a number of distinct areas of mammalian cerebral cortex with visual functions, yet we do not know why there are so many visual areas, or indeed how single neurons in any area come to have the functional properties that they do. 

Much of our work focuses on characterizing the organization and postnatal development of neuroanatomical circuits linking different areas of mammalian cerebral cortex. We also have an interest in whether there are ultrastructural differences among neurons contributing to different circuits in visual cortex. Parallel electrophysiological studies aim to characterize the responses of single neurons in visual cortex to visual stimuli; understanding differences among areas will clarify the perceptual abilities mediated by those areas. To address these questions, we employ both electrophysiological recording as well as neuroanatomical techniques; these allow one to study not only the physiological properties of brain cells, but also the underlying structural basis for how such functional properties are constructed by the brain.

Representative Publications:

Khalil R, Gonzalez C, Alsuwaidi S, Levitt JB. 2022, Developmental refinement of visual callosal inputs to ferret area 17. J. Comp. Neurol. 530(5): 804-816.

Khalil R, Saint Louis MRJ, Alsuwaidi S, Levitt JB. 2020. Visual corticocortical inputs to ferret area 18. Front. Neuroanat. 14:581478. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2020.581478

Khalil R, Contreras-Ramirez V, Levitt JB. 2018. Postnatal refinement of interareal feedforward projections in ferret visual cortex. Brain Struct Funct. 223(5):2303-2322.

Khalil R, Levitt JB. 2017. Use of synaptic zinc histochemistry to reveal different regions and laminae in the developing and adult brain. J Vis Exp (128), e56547, doi:10.3791/56547

Khalil R, Levitt JB. 2014. Developmental remodeling of corticocortical feedback circuits in ferret visual cortex. J Comp Neurol. 522(14):3208-28.

Khalil R, Levitt JB. 2013. Zinc histochemistry reveals circuit refinement and is a reliable marker of visual areas in the developing ferret cortex. Brain Struct Funct. 218(5):1293-306.

Marmolejo N, Paez J, Levitt JB, Jones LB. 2012. Early postnatal lesion of the medial dorsal nucleus leads to loss of dendrites and spines in adult prefrontal cortex. Dev Neurosci. 34(6): 463-76.

Cheong SK, Tailby C, Martin PR, Levitt JB, Solomon SG. 2011. Slow intrinsic rhythm in the koniocellular visual pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. SCI USA 108(35):14659-63.

Levitt JB. 2009. "Receptive fields", In Encyclopedia of Perception (Goldstein EB ed., Sage Publications), Thousand Oaks, CA.

Shushruth S, Ichida JM, Levitt JB, and Angelucci A. 2009. Comparison of spatial summation properties of neurons in macaque V1 and V2. J Neurophysiology 102(4):2069-83.

Jeffery G, Levitt JB, Cooper H. 2008. Segregated hemispheric pathways through the optic chiasm distinguish primates from rodents. Neuroscience, 157: 637-643.

Xiao J, Levitt JB, Buffenstein R. 2006. The use of a novel and simple method of revealing neural fibers to show the regression of the lateral geniculate nucleus in the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber). Brain Res. 1077: 81-89.

Cantone G, Xiao J, Levitt JB. 2006. Retinotopic organization of ferret suprasylvian cortex. Vis. Neurosci. 23: 61-77.

Xiao J, Levitt JB, Buffenstein R. 2006. A stereotaxic atlas of the brain of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber). Neuroscience, 141(3):1415-1435.

Cantone G, Xiao J, McFarlane N, & Levitt JB. 2005. Feedback connections to ferret striate cortex: direct evidence for visuotopic convergence of feedback inputs. J. Comp. Neurol. 487: 312-331.

Xiao J, Levitt JB. A new chamber method for mounting tissue sections. 2005. J. Neurosci. Meths. 144: 235-240

Levitt, J.B. and Lund, J.S. Levitt, J.B. and Lund, J.S. 2002. The spatial extent over which neurons in macaque striate cortex pool visual signals. Vis. Neurosci. 19: 439-452.

Levitt, J.B. and Lund, J.S. 2002. Intrinsic connections in mammalian cerebral cortex. In Cortical areas: unity and diversity (eds. A. Schuez and R. Miller). Taylor & Francis, London UK.

Angelucci, A., Levitt J.B., and Lund, J.S. 2002. Anatomical origins of the classical receptive field and modulatory surround field of single neurons in macaque visual cortical area V1. Prog Brain Res. 136: 373-388.

Angelucci, A., Levitt, J.B., Walton, E.J.S., Hupé, J.-M., Bullier, J. and Lund J.S. 2002. Circuits for local and global signal integration in visual cortex. J. Neurosci. 22: 8633-8646.

Levitt JB. 2001. Neurobiology: function following form. Science 292: 232-233.

Kiper, D.C., Levitt, J.B., and Gegenfurtner, K.R. 1999. Chromatic signals in extrastriate areas V2 and V3. In: Color vision: from molecular genetics to perception (eds. K.R. Gegenfurtner and L.T. Sharpe). Cambridge University Press, New York NY

Levitt, J.B. and Lund, J.S. 1997. Contrast dependence of contextual effects in primate visual cortex. Nature 387: 73-76.

Other interests