
Sam Gale, Ph.D.
Scientist II
Sam Gale's Ph.D. research, in David Perkel’s lab at the University of Washington, focused on basal ganglia circuits required for vocal learning in songbirds. He moved to Janelia Research Campus for post-doctoral research with Gabe Murphy. At Janelia, he first worked to quantitatively describe cell types in the mouse superficial superior colliculus (SC), their visual response properties, and their anatomical connections. He then focused on the mechanisms of visual response selectivity in one particularly interesting SC cell type that projects to visual thalamic area LP. LP is now the current target of his research at the Allen Institute.

Research
Research Interests
The first aim of my research at the Allen Institute is to discover the anatomical connectivity, subdivisions, and function of mouse visual thalamic area LP. Extensive projections between LP and visual cortex allow cortical areas to communicate, but the function of these cortico-thalamic loops are unknown. LP also provides an alternative route through which visual information from the retina (via the superior colliculus) can influence cortical circuits. The second aim of my research is record activity in multiple cortical and subcortical structures simultaneously with Neuropixel probes while mice engage in behavioral tasks.
Expertise
- Neurophysiology
- Neuroanatomy
Research Programs
- Neural coding
Selected Publications
Journal of Neurophysiology
March 6, 2019
Jia X, Siegle JH, Bennett C, Gale SD, Denman DJ, Koch C, Olsen SR
Higher-order thalamic circuits channel parallel streams of visual information in mice
Neuron
February 27, 2019
Bennett C, Gale SD, Garrett ME, Newton ML, Callaway EM, Murphy GJ, Olsen SR
Journal of Neuroscience
August 31, 2016
Gale SD, Murphy GJ
Journal of Neuroscience
October 1, 2014
Gale SD, Murphy GJ