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Hou Lab

Principal Investigator:

Chuan Hou

Contact Information:

Email: chuanhou@ski.org

office Phone: (415) 345-2073

Mobile Phone: (415) 345-2069

2318 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA 94115

The research in my lab focuses on the sensory processing in binocular vision and its disruption by amblyopia and strabismus. The current project is to use EEG source imaging combined with psychophysics and pupil tracking to investigate the role of selective visual attention in interocular suppression, as well as the spatial and temporal dynamics of visual processing in people with disrupted binocularity.

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Zhou, Z., Hou, C.; Attentional Eye Selection Affects Perception During Binocular Rivalry. Trans. Vis. Sci. Tech. 2025;14(10):26.

Hou, C. . (2023). A new approach to measure interocular suppression in amblyopia and strabismus. MethodsX, 12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2023.102527 (Original work published 2024)

Hou, C. . (2022). A novel method for utilizing dichoptic attention tasks in amblyopic training. MethodsX , 9 (101829). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101829 (Original work published 2022)

Hou, C. ., & Nicholas, S. . (2022). Perceptual learning with dichoptic attention tasks improves attentional modulation in V1 and IPS and reduces interocular suppression in human amblyopia. Scientific Reports, 12(1). 10.1038/s41598-022-13747-4 (Original work published 2022)

Good, W. V., Wong, R. J., Norcia, A. M., Stevenson, D. K., Slagel, T. ., Hou, C. ., & Bhutani, V. K. (2022). Bilirubin-induced neurotoxicity and visuocortical dysfunction. Journal of Perinatology, 43, 240-241. 10.1038/s41372-022-01417-2 (Original work published 2022)

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)

Hou, C. ., & Munares, G. A. (2021). Feature Counting Is Impaired When Shifting Attention Between the Eyes in Adults With Amblyopia. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.674146 (Original work published 2021)

Wong-Kee-You, A. M. B., Wei, H. ., & Hou, C. . (2020). Feature Counting Under Dichoptic Viewing in Anisometropic and Strabismic Amblyopia. Translational Vision Science & Technology, 9(6), 13-13. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.9.6.13 (Original work published 2020)

Hou, C. ., Nicholas, S. C., & Verghese, P. . (2020). Contrast Normalization Accounts for Binocular Interactions in Human Striate and Extra-striate Visual Cortex. Journal of Neuroscience, 40(13), 2753-2763. (Original work published 2020)

Hou, C. ., Tyson, T. L., Üner, I. ., & Verghese, P. . (2017). Latent Binocular Interactions in Cortical Area V1 of Human Amblyopia. Journal of Vision, 17(10), 758-758. 10.1167/17.10.758 (Original work published 2017)

Good, W. V., & Hou, C. . (2015). Visuocortical bilirubin-induced neurological dysfunction. Seminars in Neonatology and Perinatology, 20(1), 37-41. 10.1016/j.siny.2014.12.007 (Original work published 2015)

Hou, C. ., Norcia, A. M., Madan, A. ., & Good, W. V. (2014). Visuocortical function in infants with a history of neonatal jaundice. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 55(10), 6443-9. 10.1167/iovs.14-14261 (Original work published 2014)

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Zhou, Z. ., & Hou, C. . (2024). Visual Uncertainty in Binocular Rivalry. St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA.

Wong-Kee-You, A. M. B., Nicholas, S. ., & Hou, C. . (2020). Evidence of Audiovisual Interactions in The Primary Auditory Cortex. Virtual Vision Science Society. (Original work published 2020)

Hou, C. ., Zhang, X. ., Fang, Q. ., Shou, T. ., Zeng, L. ., Yan, M. ., … Li, P. . (1995). The analysis of disparity evoked potentials by a new form of static random-dot stereograms. Yan Ke Xue Bao, 11(1), 48-52.

Projects

Active

Binocular Rivalry and its neural processing in cortical hierarchy

It has been a mystery as to what level of cortical hierarchy is suppressed in visual processing from the amblyopic eye and how neural representations change when increasing contrast or paying attention to the amblyopic eye. In this project, we will adapt a standard EEG binocular rivalry paradigm, which modulates stimuli at different frequencies in each eye and incorporates a behavioral measure of perceptual eye dominance. We will simultaneously measure neural activity along the cortical hierarchy and perceptual eye dominance under 3 conditions: equal contrasts in the two eyes, perceptually…

Active

Multisensory Interactions Between the Primary Sensory Cortices

Under construction!

Active

The Role of Selective Visual Attention in Amblyopic Suppression

Individuals with strabismus are confronted with double vision, their brain has to choose to attend to one image and ignore or suppress the other. It has been commonly suggested that a constant suppression on the non-preferred eye in strabismus is responsible for the development of amblyopia. In the current project, we study the role of top-influences of attention in amblyopic suppression and test the hypothesis that visual suppression in amblyopia may be a form of long-term attentional “neglect”.

Active

Grouping and Perception in Different Types of Amblyopia

This project was to measure the neural correlates of grouping and perception in different types of amblyopia. We found that strabismus generates significant abnormalities at both early and later stages of cortical processing and, importantly, that these abnormalities are independent of visual-acuity deficits

researchers looking at a computer monitor

Completed

Alleviating interocular suppression by high-attention demand training in amblyopia

The goal of this project is to test a hypothesis that whether or not training patients to pay more attention to the input from the amblyopic eye can overcome interocular suppression to treat amblyopia.

Completed

Fellow Eye Deficits in Strabismic Amblyopia

Fellow eye abnormalities have been reported in a number of psychophysical and VEP studies. The goal of this project is to characterize the fellow eye deficits.

Inactive

Texture Segmentation in Human Infants and Adults with Amblyopia

This project study the neural mechanisms of texture and motion based segmentation as basic inputs to object processing. This project used frequency-domain non-linear analysis of high-density EEG recordings in human infants. We also used fMRI-informed EEG source-imaging combined with psychophysics to study texture segmentation processing and the role of attention in normal adults and in adults with amblyopia.

Inactive

Motion Integration in infants and amblyopia

This project studies the integration of local estimates of motion direction and orientation into global patterns. Integration mechanisms were studied in human infants, normal adults and in adults with amblyopia.

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