Adam Sillito, emeritus professor of visual science at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London, who has died aged 79, described one of his recreations in Who’s Who as “dreaming of better things”. A lateral thinker who grasped the bigger picture, he carried out research into the mechanics of visual perception that yielded vital knowledge for future treatments. As director of the institute from 1991 until 2006, he transformed it from a backwater on the verge of closure to a world-class centre of excellence, partnering with Moorfields eye hospital and attracting top scientists from all over the world.
In the 1970s, Sillito was a lecturer at the University of Birmingham and exploring an aspect of the intricate process of visual perception. In order to “see”, neurons must relay information from the eyes to the visual cortex in the brain, where it is interpreted as images. At the time researchers were mostly interested in how neurotransmitters have an “excitatory” effect on neurons, causing them to fire and transmit information to the next cell.
