Clinical Psychophysics Unit
Research Team
- Dr Allison McKendrick
- Dr Josephine Battista
- Dr Anne Weymouth
- Ms Renee Karas
National & International Collaborators
- Professor David Badcock - Psychology, University of Western Australia
- Dr Andrew Turpin - Computer Science, RMIT University
- Dr Chris Johnson - University of Iowa, USA
- Dr Stuart Gardiner - Devers Eye Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA
- Dr Geoff Sampson, Victorian College of Optometry, Melbourne
- Dr Kathleen Merikangas, National Institute of Mental Health, USA
- Mr Philip Brittain, Kings College, London
- Dr Mark Walland, Department of Surgery, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne
The research conducted in the Clinical Psychophysics Laboratory uses visual psychophysics as a tool to better understand both normal visual processing and damage due to disease. The laboratory has specific interests in the study of glaucoma, migraine, and the process of normal aging. Our broad aims include developing better clinical tests for the assessment of visual damage, improving our understanding of disease processes, and gaining a better understanding of the behavioural consequences of visual change.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in developed nations such as Australia. We are interested in developing better tests to detect visual damage due to glaucoma and to subsequently monitor progression of the disease process. We are approaching this challenge from two perspectives:
- Development of better test algorithms for perimetry and better methods of relating visual function to anatomical changes.
- Development of new test stimuli that provide more information about the disease process and its staging.
Migraine
Migraine is a very common neurological condition affecting approximately 15% of the population. Many people with migraine experience visual symptoms during their attacks, either in the form of a visual aura, or as subtler symptoms such as blur or difficulty focussing. We are interested in exploring the nature and cause of these visual symptoms to enable a better understanding of the areas of the visual pathway involved in migraine, as well as assisting in accurate differential diagnosis of visual symptoms in people with migraine. Our work indicates that changes in visual field sensitivity, in cortical visual processing, and in early pre-cortical visual processing, are abnormal in some people in migraine, at times between their attacks.
Ageing
Australia has an ageing population. We are interested in the study of how vision changes with healthy ageing. In particular, we are interested in how ageing alters our ability to interpret the contrast of objects and their shape. Our research aims to create an enhanced understanding of neural changes that occur due to normal ageing, as well as to provide information that can be used for the planning of optimal visual environments for the elderly.
Selected Recent Publications
- Battista J, Badcock DR, McKendrick AM. (2008)Spatial summation properties for magnocellular and parvocellular pathways in glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. Oct 20. E-pub ahead of print.
- Gardiner SK, Swanson WH, Demirel S, McKendrick AM, Turpin A, Johnson CA. (2008) A two-stage neural spiking model of visual contrast detection in perimetry. Vision Research. 2008: 48(18): 1859-69.
- Sampson GP, Badcock DR, Walland MJ, McKendrick AM. (2008) Foveal contrast processing of increment and decrement targets is equivalently reduced in glaucoma. Br J Ophthalmol. 92(9): 1287-92.
- McKendrick AM, Sampson G, Walland MJ, Badcock DR. (2007) Contrast sensitivity changes due to glaucoma and normal aging: low spatial frequency losses in both magnocellular and parvocellular pathways. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 48(5): 2115-22.
- Anderson AJ, McKendrick AM. (2007) Quantifying adaptation and fatigue effects in Frequency Doubling Perimety. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 48: 943-8.
- Turpin A, Jankovic D, McKendrick AM. (2007) Retesting visual fields: utitlising prior information to decrease test-retest variability in glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 48: 1627-34.
- Ditchfield J, McKendrick AM, Badcock DR. (2006) Processing of global form and motion in migraineurs. Vision Res. 46:141-8.