Vision Research...
VISUAL PSYCHOPHYSICS
The workplace is a primary arena for performing visual tasks. Human vision is capable of locating objects in space with exquisite precision. Current and recent research is directed towards understanding mechanisms of binocular vision and stereoscopic depth perception. Research in the human psychophysics lab at ISR is aimed at identifying the limits of visual processing and measuring the improvement in object localization and identification efficiency that is theoretically attainable.
VISUAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY (INVERTEBRATE VISION RESEARCH)
Ongoing research into the invertebrate anatomy and
physiology of the American
horseshoe crab gives us better understanding of the basic visual
processes of
the retina. The American horseshoe crab visual system has been used as
a popular
model system because of it's many similar features as the human visual
system,
although it has fewer, much larger elements, which facilitates
experimentation.
Current research includes investigating what retinal processes are
array
properties so that illumination of a small portion of the retina,
causes changes
in all of the retina. Discovery of a number of these array properties
have lead
into the investigation of the nature of the intra-retinal communication
behind
them. Another major area of research is investigation of mechanisms for
the
naturally-occurring light-sensitive membrane shedding from the
photoreceptors.
Three mechanisms operate in parallel, and their interplay is influenced
by
weather, seasons, and geographical location, all impinging on the
natural
circadian rhythm of the crab. The principal techniques used in the
laboratory
are light microscopy, confocal microscopy, transmission electron
microscopy, 3-D
reconstruction, image analysis, and stereology.
| VISUAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY (DEGENERATIVE
RETINAL DISEASES IN TRANSGENIC FROGS)
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Collaborations with the Center for Vision Research and the
Department of
Ophthalmology at Upstate Medical University creates an excellent team
of
investigators to research and engineer transgenic frogs that present
the same
vision symptoms as we see in human patients with degenerative retinal
diseases
such as retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration. These labs are in
the
process of developing a system in which the interaction of rod and cone
photoreceptor cell secretions can be studied. It seems likely that each
of these
photoreceptors secretes a substance that maintains the health of the
visual
receptors in the eye. Vision Research Faculty
Gus
Engbretson, Ph.DDepartment Chairperson, Biomedical & Chemical Engineering.
(Visual Cellular and Developmental Biology, and Optomology)
Email:
Webpage: http://www.isr.syr.edu/faculty/engbretson.html
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Bart
Farell, Ph.D Research Associate Professor, Biomedical & Chemical Engineering. (Visual Psychophysics, functional imaging of brain activity) Email: Webpage: http://www.isr.syr.edu/faculty/bart_farell |
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Confocal microscope image of rhabdom shedding in a photoreceptor of a horseshoe crab eye. |
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