Projects
-
Active
Effects of Noise Exposure Across the Lifespan on Balance and Stability in Older Adults
Falls in older adults are common, have high societal and monetary costs, often lead to injury and can even be fatal. It is known that noise can damage the vestibular periphery resulting in postural instability and compromised balance. This project investigates how natural aging is accelerated by lifetime noise exposure, and how that can lead to impaired vestibular function, contributing to propensity to fall.
-
Active
Robotic Oculomotor Simulator
Current eye tracking and calibration algorithms do not accommodate eccentric viewing and the capacity for accurate eye tracking is difficult to assess in individuals with central visual field loss, and few studies of naturalistic oculomotor behavior exist. To address this problem, we are developing a binocular robotic model of the human eyes that can simulate fixation and eye movements with an eccentric preferred retinal locus in one or both eyes and allow for precise assessment of eye tracking performance of head mounted computer vision-based eye tracking systems.
-
Active
Modeling Smooth Pursuit Eye-Movement Deficits in Macular Degeneration
The project investigates the deficits in smooth pursuit in individuals with age-related macular degeneration within the framework of a Bayesian model.
-
Active
Hearing the World: A Remote Study of Auditory Perception
We aim to investigate the nature of auditory perception and how the brain learns rules for interpreting sounds.
-
Active
Mechanisms of Photophobia in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Human Subjects: Therapeutic Implications
The purpose of this grant is to identify the mechanisms responsible for generating photophobia in patients who have suffered mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Currently, estimates indicate that this painful condition persists in about 60% of those who suffered from blast-related traumatic brain injury and 30% of those who suffered non-blast-related concussive injuries.
-
Active
SL-CN: Harnessing the Power of Drawing for the Enhancement of Learning across Levels of Vision Function
This Science of Learning Collaborative Network brings together researchers and experts from the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, University of Bamberg (Germany), Columbia University and Emory University to investigate how the visual art of drawing can enhance learning. Underlying learning principles and neural mechanisms will be considered, and how these can be harnessed for real-life learning enhancement. Though humans have been drawing for at least 30,000 years, little is understood about brain processes involved in this activity.
-
Active
Stereopsis in Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration affects the central retina, often causing asymmetrical damage to the two eyes. How does this asymmetrical loss affect stereopsis — the percept of depth generated by the small separation of image features in the two eyes?
-
Active
The 3 Ps of 3D: Perception, Pedagogy, and Practice for 3D Printing
3D printing is increasingly used in STEM education. How can it be made accessible to students who are blind or visually impaired?
-
Active
Spectral ERG analysis of hypersensitivity to light in traumatic brain injury
The purpose of this research study is to use the spectral electroretinogram (ERG) to deteremine how the retinal mechanisms of sufferers from abnormal light sensitivity due to head injury differ from those without abnormal light sensitivity.
