Scientific

Abstract In this talk, I will present recent results from my lab showing how visual experience can modify the way we encode and perceive our surrounding space. I will first describe a novel model based on a spiking neural network which uses a biologically inspired plasticity rule (spike-timing dependent plasticity or ‘STDP’) to simulate the learning of binocular properties from natural stereoscopic images (Chauhan et al., 2018). I will then present behavioral data collected in patients with macular degeneration (MD). These data suggest that peripheral vision is modified after the apparition of the scotoma in this population (Maniglia et al., 2018). Finally, I will show that perceptual learning can be an interesting tool to improve visual abilities in MD patients. References: – Chauhan, T., Masquelier, T., Montlibert, A., & Cottereau, B. R. (2018). Emergence of binocular disparity selectivity through Hebbian learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 38(44), 9563-9578. – Maniglia, M., Soler, V., Cottereau, B., & Trotter, Y. (2018). Spontaneous and training-induced cortical plasticity in MD patients: Hints from lateral masking. Scientific reports, 8(1), 90. http://tmbi.fr/benoit-cottereau/

Abstract Ting will present personal insights regarding her experiences supporting students with CVI in the school setting then highlight challenges and perspectives that can help school teams and families secure appropriate comprehensive evaluations along with implement effective services. This discussion of available resources and strategies will empower colloquium participants to embrace a broader view of accessibility in the classroom for every student with a visual impairment. https://gcoe.sfsu.edu/people/faculty/yue-ting-siu

Abstract: Traditionally, it was thought that the saccade and pursuit oculomotor systems were separate, with distinct functions. In the mid-2000s, new physiological data demonstrated that the superior colliculus, as well as other established saccade neural structures, contained cells that responded during pursuit establishing a significant overlap in the pathways subserving pursuit and saccades. In this talk, I present early and recent behavioral data from my collaboration with Steve Heinen that provide a new perspective on pursuit and saccadic system operation that could explain the overlap in neural architecture. Some of our most recent data provides direct evidence that the saccadic system influences pursuit and specifies conditions under which that influence occurs. https://people.wright.edu/scott.watamaniuk