Preeti Verghese

Preeti Verghese, principal investigator of the NIH-funded research grant R01EY022394, studying recovery of stereopsis in age-related macular degeneration.

Senior Scientist

Chief Scientific Officer

Ph.D.

The research in my lab examines the neural processes, strategies and adaptations that humans use to interact with objects in the real world. We investigate these questions using psychophysics, eye movements, computational modeling and neuroimaging. Our goal is to understand the mechanisms of normal vision and action, as well as the basis of attention and visual adaptation in clinical populations. This work includes attention deficits in amblyopia, and the potential for binocular vision in individuals with age-related macular degeneration.

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Verghese Lab
Contact Information:

Email: preeti@ski.org

Office Phone: (415) 345-2072


2318 Fillmore Street

San Francisco, CA 94115

Publications

Graphical representation of stereoacuity data with a color gradient, featuring points labeled with coordinates, relevant to Angela Gomes Tomaz's research on visual perception.

(2026). The best stereoacuity is rarely at the fovea. Vision Research, 240, 108748. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2025.108748

Verghese P, Chopin A, Gomes-Tomaz Â, Alcalde NG, Levi DM. (2025). Vergence anomalies are associated with impaired stereopsis in amblyopia. Vision Res. 237:108696. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2025.108696.

A diagram illustrating target position in visual perception research, featuring visible target points, eccentricity-dependent noise, and a graph showing bias in relation to distance from the plate edge, relevant to Jason Rubinstein's studies on motion perception in individuals with age-related macular degeneration.

Rubinstein, J. F., Alcalde, N. G., Chopin, A. ., & Verghese, P. . (2025). Oculomotor challenges in macular degeneration impact motion extrapolation. Journal of Vision, 25(1). 10.1167/jov.25.1.17

IMRF logo featuring a stylized brain, event details for IMRF in Durham, UK, from July 15th-18th, 2025.

Verghese, P., Gauper, A., Nandy, R., Tomaz, A. G., Levi, M. D., & Chopin, A. (2024). Interocular contrast suppression partially accounts for impaired stereopsis in the central visual field of individuals with and without amblyopia. Journal of Vision, 24(10), 1250–1250.

Shanidze, N. ., & Verghese, P. . (2024). Smooth pursuit deficits impact dynamic visual acuity in macular degeneration. Optometry and Vision Science, 101(6), 8. 10.1097/OPX.0000000000002144 (Original work published 2024)

Logo of an eye care organization featuring a stylized eye design with a blue outline and a white pupil, symbolizing vision health and ophthalmology.

Verghese P, Nyström M, Foulsham T, McGraw PV. Eye movements in visual impairment. Vision Res. 2023 Oct;211:108296. doi: 10.1016/j.visres.2023.108296. PMID: 37506496; PMCID: PMC10529007.

Pattern of concentric gray circles with varying sizes, illustrating visual perception concepts relevant to studies in ophthalmology and vision science.

Verghese, P. . (2023). The utility of peripheral stereopsis. Frontiers in Neuroscience. (Original work published 2023)

Polar plot illustrating data related to saccadic movements in macular degeneration studies, featuring multiple angular distributions in green and gray with an overlaying orange line.

Vullings, C. ., Lively, Z. ., & Verghese, P. . (2022). Saccades during visual search in macular degeneration. Vision Research, 201. 10.1016/j.visres.2022.108113 (Original work published 2022)

Scatter plot displaying data points in a polar coordinate system, relevant to research on saccadic contributions and visual processing in macular degeneration.

Shanidze, N. ., Lively, Z. ., Lee, R. ., & Verghese, P. . (2022). Saccadic contributions to smooth pursuit in macular degeneration. Vision Research, 200, 108102. 10.1016/j.visres.2022.108102 (Original work published 2022)

Scatter plot showing vertical and horizontal extent in degrees, with black and green dots representing data points related to macular degeneration and a color gradient indicating d' values.

Verghese, P. ., Ghahghaei, S. ., & Lively, Z. . (2022). Mapping residual stereopsis in macular degeneration. Journal of Vision, 22(13). (Original work published 2022)

Bar graph illustrating visual cortical function measurements across different groups: Control, Aniso, and Strab with Fusion, highlighting significant differences in areas V1, V3a, V4, hMT+, and LOC, relevant to research on amblyopia and visual perception.

Hou, C. ., Tyson, T. L., Uner, I. J., Nicholas, S. ., & Verghese, P. . (2021). Excitatory Contribution to Binocular Interactions in Human Visual Cortex is Reduced in Strabismic Amblyopia. Journal of Neuroscience. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0268-21.2021 (Original work published 2021)

Animated icon representing visual search strategies, featuring colored dots arranged in a grid, highlighting central focus for research on age-related macular degeneration by Cécile Vullings at Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute.

Vullings, C. ., & Verghese, P. . (2021). Mapping the binocular scotoma in macular degeneration. Journal of Vision, 21(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1167/jov.21.3.9 (Original work published 2021)

Verghese, P. & Tomaz, (2025). The best stereoacuity may not be at the fovea. Journal of Vision, 25(9), 2792.

Verghese, P. ., Safi, M. ., & Shanidze, N. . (2024). Deficits in smooth pursuit in macular degeneration impact dynamic visual acuity. Seattle, WA, USA.

Verghese, P. ., Gauper, A. ., Nandy, R. ., Tomaz, A. G., Levi, D. ., & Chopin, A. . (2024). Interocular contrast suppression partially accounts for impaired stereopsis in the central visual field of individuals with and without amblyopia. St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.

Diagram illustrating the concept of 95% BCEA in relation to saccadic movements, featuring arrows indicating target direction and distinctions between movements within and outside BCEA, relevant to research on visual processing in macular degeneration.

Shanidze, N. ., Lively, Z. ., Lee, R. ., Velisar, A. ., & Verghese, P. . (2021). Saccades during smooth pursuit in macular degeneration. (Original work published 2021)

Lively, Z. ., Vullings, C. ., & Verghese, P. . (2020). Do saccade characteristics in macular degeneration adapt to compensate for the binocular scotoma?. Online: Bay Area Vision Research Day. (Original work published 2020)

Safi, M. ., Verghese, P. ., & Shanidze, N. . (2020). Effects of task demands on smooth pursuit gain in macular degeneration. Canceled due to COVID: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting. (Original work published 2020)

Shanidze, N. ., & Verghese, P. . (2019). Motion Perception in Central Field Loss: Visual Field Contributions. Vancouver B.C.: ARVO. (Original work published 2019)

Velisar, A. ., Verghese, P. ., & Shanidze, N. . (2019). Does eccentric fixation alter head movement strategy for smooth pursuit?. Toyama, Japan: Neural Control of Movement.

Mapping of binocular scotoma in macular degeneration, featuring red and green markers indicating eye movement patterns, with a central focus on the affected area.

Vullings, C. ., & Verghese, P. . (2019). Mapping the binocular scotoma in macular degeneration. (Original work published 2019)

Vullings, C. ., & Verghese, P. . (2019). Binocular scotoma mapping and eye movement patterns in central field loss. Lewiston, USA. (Original work published 2019)

Shanidze, N. ., & Verghese, P. . (2018). Motion Perception in Central Field Loss.

Shanidze, N. ., Ullman, E. ., Badler, J. B., & Verghese, P. . (2018). Interaction of Eye and Head Movements during Smooth Pursuit in Macular Degeneration.

Projects

Labs

  • Verghese Lab
    Verghese Lab
    Principal Investigator:
    Our laboratory studies the mechanisms of healthy vision and action, as well as the basis of attention and visual adaptation in clinical populations.
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Centers

  • Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
    Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
    The Center's research goal is to develop and apply new scientific knowledge and practical, cost-effective devices to better understand and address the real-world problems of blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind...
    Read More

Collaborators

Internal Collaborators

Trainees

Current Trainees

Past Trainees