Development and Plasticity of Spatial Vision: Examining Structure and Function

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My research examines factors that determine how we see visual patterns across the visual field. We have the impression of seeing fine details everywhere in the visual field, but only the center of vision has high resolution vision. A number of other aspects of how we see also vary across the visual field and impact day-to-day activities such as driving or finding an item on a cluttered shelf. My studies aim to provide new insights into general principles about those aspects of visual perception and how the brain processes visual information from the whole visual field. My research combines measures of visual perception, anatomical organization of the visual cortex, and activity of neurons in that area of the brain. Our interdisciplinary studies link how we see with the neurons that process visual information. We use innovative anatomical techniques to render the cortex transparent so labeled neurons can be studied. This new technique for creating a see-through brain allows us to study the neurons and their network of connections in the visual area of the cortex in ways that are not possible with other anatomical procedures. One obvious questions that can be addressed with the see-through brain is whether the arrangement of neurons in visual cortex is specialized to process information from the center of vision. The current proposal describes several projects to examine visual, anatomical, and physiological specialization across central and peripheral visual fields. These studies will clarify our understanding of variations in visual perception across the visual field and the neural processing that underlies those aspects of how we see.