Ongoing projects – Ann M. Skoczenski, Ph.D.

Neural Processes of Pattern Vision in Human Infants (Supported by NIH 1R01 EY12692 to AMS)

The goal of this project is to advance our understanding of the development of visual pattern sensitivity in human infants. Numerous and complex cues are available to judge the spatial position of visual pattern elements, including orientation, luminance contrast, temporal frequency and spatial frequency. These experiments are designed to determine the relative contributions of mechanisms sensitive to these different sources of information to infants’ position sensitivity. We primarily use visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to measure the neural underpinnings of visual position sensitivity.

Orientation Interactions in the Visual Cortex of Human Infants (Research conducted in collaboration with Anthony M. Norcia, Ph.D and T. Rowan Candy, Ph.D. Supported by NIH 1R01 EY12692 to AMS and NIH 1R01 EY06579 to AMN)

This research is focused on the development of the cortical responses supporting orientation sensitivity in human infants. Although previous research has shown that infants can make broad orientation discriminations for serially-presented stimuli by the age of 1-2 months, we have shown that interactions between orientation mechanisms (measured by masking studies) develop quite late, and some orientation responses emerge as late as the end of the first postnatal year.

The Development of Spatial Vision in Non-Human Primates (Research conducted at New York University in collaboration with J. Anthony Movshon, Ph.D. and Lynne Kiorpes, Ph.D. Supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute award to JAM)

This project investigates the physiological mechanisms of visual processing in monkeys. We have measured the development of spatial vision in normal and experimentally strabismic infant macaque monkeys, using the visual evoked potential (VEP) technique, and are using the data to determine the role of neural noise limitations on visual sensitivity development.

Pattern vision in children with cortical visual impairment (Research conducted in collaboration with William V. Good, M.D. Supported by the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Foundation)

The goal of this project is to measure residual vision in children with vision loss due to cortical damage. We have developed tests that can accurately quantify pattern vision in infants and young children with cortical visual impairment (CVI), that may be used in the future to predict the visual outcome of these patients. A second goal is to examine the relationship between structure and function in the developing visual system, by conducting within-subject comparisons of VEP-measured visual acuities to brain imaging data showing structural damage.