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The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
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Welcome to the Heinen Lab
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| Our laboratory studies how neurons in the brain process information about the visual world in order to direct the eyes towards an object of interest. We focus on smooth pursuit eye movements which are used to follow moving objects. Our work addresses how perceptual and cognitive areas of the brain modulate this sophisticated eye movement system, and also how the signals encoded by populations of neurons in regions of the brain that process visual motion are converted into commands that activate the muscles which rotate the eyes.
The primary goal of our research is to provide information that will aid in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as strabismus and amblyopia that affect the systems in the brain which underlie vision and the control of eye movements. This work should also lead to the eventual development of robotic prosthetics that will move the eyes properly in patients who have lost the ability to do so on their own. The secondary goal of the research is to explore basic neuronal information coding in the brain so we can understand and cure devastating cognitive disorders of movement and perception such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, dyslexia and schizophrenia. |
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