Michael A. Silver

Michael A. Silver is an Associate Professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UC Berkeley, with affiliations in the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Psychology. His research focuses on cognitive neuroscience, particularly the neurophysiological and neurochemical substrates of visual perception, attention, and learning. He leads the Silver Lab, which investigates topics such as visual attention mechanisms, perceptual learning, cholinergic pharmacology, and the effects of psychedelics on brain function. Silver holds a Ph.D. from UCSF and has been recognized with grants from the NIH, NSF, and private foundations.

Education: B.S. Biological Sciences and Chemistry (Carnegie Mellon, 1991); Ph.D. Neuroscience (UCSF, 1999). Awards include the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship and Hellman Family Faculty Fund. He mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in vision science and neuroscience.

Research interests span visual neuroscience, including the impact of psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin) on neural substrates of perception and cognition. His lab collaborates with institutions like Stanford University and UC Irvine to explore therapeutic applications of psychedelics and age-related auditory decline. Key projects include cholinergic modulation of attention and perceptual learning, and functional subdivisions of the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Recent articles highlight studies on attentional modulation of visual crowding, effects of psychedelics on predictive coding, and GABA levels in amblyopia. Silver teaches courses on visual cognitive neuroscience and supervises over 20 graduate students and postdocs. His grants total over $5M, supporting work on nicotine therapy for auditory decline and psychedelic science.