Visual perception and action

We explore how input from the eyes is processed by the brain to perceive and interact with the world around us, regulate our physiology, move our body and eyes and support decision making.

The brain takes the pattern of light falling on the retina and carries out the staggeringly complex processing required to support the wide range of behaviours needed in everyday life.

Our research investigates the processing of information from the eye to perceive important properties of the outside world such as colour, location, shape, motion and time of day. We consider how this visual information determines what we attend to and guides the movement of our eyes and body, and how it is integrated with information from the other senses.

Our research also addresses how visual perception is affected by ageing and conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, autism, schizophrenia, balance and movement disorders, and Parkinson’s disease, with implications for understanding symptoms as well as developing interventions.

Research in our group addresses fundamental science, as well as having practical applications. We investigate how impaired vision affects the performance of tasks in everyday life, and how difficulties can be overcome by devices, environment and training to improve quality of life.

We use a broad range of methodologies to investigate these questions including:

  • visual psychophysics
  • reaction times
  • computational modeling
  • eye, head and limb tracking
  • pupillometry
  • immersive virtual reality and motion tracking
  • EEG and visual evoked potentials
  • functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • multielectrode recording
  • dark adaptometry
  • electroretinograms
  • opto- and chemo-genetics
  • engineering approaches
  • image processing
  • qualitative approaches.