David Alan McCormick is an American neurobiologist. He holds one of two Presidential chair positions and is director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Neurons to Minds Cluster of Excellence.
David A. McCormick | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 8, 1958 |
| Academic background | |
| Education | BA, BSc, Mathematics and Physiological Psychology, 1979, Purdue University Ph.D., Neuroscience, 1983, Stanford University |
| Thesis | Cerebellum: essential involvement in a simple learned response (1983) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Oregon Yale University |
Early life and education
editMcCormick completed his joint Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mathematics and Physiological Psychology at Purdue University before enrolling at Stanford University for his PhD in Neuroscience.[1]
Career
editYale University
editFollowing his PhD, McCormick became a research assistant and postdoctoral fellow at Stanford before accepting an assistant professor position in the Department of Neurobiology at Yale University. He was eventually promoted to the rank of full professor in 1994 and served as director of graduate studies in neurobiology from 1994 to 1999.[2] As a graduate student at Stanford University, McCormick discovered that the cerebellum was essential for Classical Conditioning of learned movements.[3] His work formed the basis for understanding the neural mechanisms of Pavlovian conditioned responses. In 1984 he was awarded the Donald B. Lindsley Prize for this research. As a professor at Yale University School of Medicine, McCormick studied the function of the cerebral cortex and thalamus including the neural mechanisms of activity generation during sleep and epilepsy,[4][5] and how neuromodulators control sleep, waking, and arousal. He was subsequently awarded the Senator Jacob Javits Award by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for his research.[6] Following this award, McCormick's laboratory discovered that "intracortical synaptic communication operates through both an analog and digital mode." As such, he began investigating the mechanisms by which axons and synapses may operate in this regime.[2] McCormick also conducted studies of the thalamus and in sleep and consciousness.[7] In 2008, McCormick was appointed the Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor of Neurobiology.[2] Following his promotion, McCormick found that when one introduces slow oscillation signals into brain tissue, it creates a feedback loop as the changes in electrical field guide neural activity.[8] The McCormick laboratory revealed the neural mechanisms of the Yerkes-Dodson Curve, which posits that there is an optimal level of arousal or attention for performance.[9]
In recognition of his neuroscience research, McCormick was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[10] and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[11] Later, McCormick was one of four Yale faculty members elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015. He was specifically recognized for his work in the cellular and network mechanisms of the brain.[12] In 2016, McCormick was recognized by the Connecticut Academy of Science And Engineering[13] and received the Javits Award for the second time.[14]
University of Oregon
editMcCormick left Yale University in 2017 to become the director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Neurons to Minds Cluster of Excellence.[15] In 2020, McCormick started teaching Happiness: a Neuroscience and Psychology Perspective which has become one of the largest and most popular elective classes at the university.
Personal life
editMcCormick is married and has two children.
Selected publications
edit- Thalamus: Vol. 1. Organization and Function
- Electrophysiology of the Neuron: An Interactive Tutorial
- Thalamus: Vol. 2. Experimental and Clinical Aspects (co-editor)
References
edit- ^ "David McCormick, PhD". Yale University. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ a b c "David McCormick Appointed the Duberg Professor of Neurobiology". Yale University. September 26, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ McCormick, David A.; Thompson, Richard F. (20 January 1984). "Cerebellum: Essential Involvement in the Classically Conditioned Eyelid Response". Science. 223 (4633): 296–299. doi:10.1126/science.6701513.
- ^ McCormick, David A.; Bal, Thierry (March 1997). "SLEEP AND AROUSAL: Thalamocortical Mechanisms". Annual Review of Neuroscience. 20 (1): 185–215. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.20.1.185. PMID 9056712.
- ^ McCormick, David A; Contreras, Diego (March 2001). "On The Cellular and Network Bases of Epileptic Seizures". Annual Review of Physiology. 63 (1): 815–846. doi:10.1146/annurev.physiol.63.1.815.
- ^ Masliah, Alberto (April 6, 2005). "McCormick wins Javits Award". Yale Daily News. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "New Duberg Professor explores the brain's intricate networks". Yale University. April 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "Yale Study Shows Electrical Fields Influence Brain Activity". Yale University. July 14, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ McGinley, Matthew J.; David, Stephen V.; McCormick, David A. (July 2015). "Cortical Membrane Potential Signature of Optimal States for Sensory Signal Detection". Neuron. 87 (1): 179–192. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.038. PMC 4631312.
- ^ "Eight Yale faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Yale University. April 24, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "AAAS Fellows". Yale University. May 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Kan, Ellen (November 3, 2015). "Four professors elected to NAM". Yale Daily News. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Haar, Dan (February 23, 2016). "Yale Dominates Connecticut Academy Of Science And Engineering Class Of 2016". Hartford Courant. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "David McCormick, Ph.D. Javits Award 2016". National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Barlow, Jim (2017). "UO lands top-flight brain scientist for two key roles". University of Oregon. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
External links
editDavid A. McCormick publications indexed by Google Scholar