William Thomas Newsome (born June 5, 1952) is a neuroscientist at Stanford University who works to "understand the neuronal processes that mediate visual perception and visually guided behavior." He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. According to an article in PNAS, "What sets Newsome's research apart from many other studies in this area is that the techniques he uses—primarily, stimulation of brain areas of primates with microelectrodes—have helped demonstrate cause and effect rather than merely show a correlation between behavior and activity of the brain."