# Smith\-Kettlewell Eye Research: Smith\-Kettlewell Eye Research

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## Pages
- [About Us](https://www.ski.org/about-us/)
- [Directions and Contact Info](https://www.ski.org/directions-and-contact-info/)
- [Terms of Use](https://www.ski.org/terms-use/)
- [Publications](https://www.ski.org/publications/)
- [Donate](https://www.ski.org/donate/)
- [Labs](https://www.ski.org/labs/)
- [Centers](https://www.ski.org/centers/)
- [Current Fellows](https://www.ski.org/current-fellows/)
- [Library](https://www.ski.org/library/)

## News
- [New Publication in the American Journal of Ophtalmology Challenges Current Views on Mobility in Central Visual Field Loss](https://www.ski.org/news/new-publication-in-the-american-journal-of-ophtalmology-by-katherine-p-agathos-natela-m-shanidze-and-donald-c-fletcher/)
- [YouDescribe Launches Two New Describer Interfaces for GAAD 2026](https://www.ski.org/news/youdescribe-launches-two-new-describer-interfaces-for-gaad-2026/)
- [Science News Highlights Echolocation Study by Santani Teng and Haydée García\-Lázaro](https://www.ski.org/news/science-news-highlights-echolocation-study-by-santani-teng-and-haydee-garcia-lazaro/)
- [Oakland High School's Students Visit Smith\-Kettlewell](https://www.ski.org/news/oakland-high-schools-students-visit-smith-kettlewell/): On Friday, February 6th, students from Oakland High School's Innovative Design and Engineering Academy visited Smith\-Kettlewell\. Students learned about different kinds of accessibility research directly from some of our scientists, giving them inspiration for their term projects\.
- [SKERI Postdoctoral Fellow Awarded Federal Grant for Research on Neural Plasticity and Echolocation](https://www.ski.org/news/skeri-postdoctoral-fellow-awarded-federal-grant-for-research-on-neural-plasticity-and-echolocation/)

## Technical Files
- [Smith Kettlewell Enhanced Technical File: Non\-Visual Soldering](https://www.ski.org/technical-file/non-visual-soldering/)
- [3D Printing for BVI Makers](https://www.ski.org/technical-file/3d-printing-for-bvi-makers/)

## Centers
- [Smith\-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center](https://www.ski.org/center/smith-kettlewell-brain-imaging-center/)
- [Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center](https://www.ski.org/center/rehabilitation-engineering-research-center/): The Center's research goal is to develop and apply new scientific knowledge and practical, cost\-effective devices to better understand and address the real\-world problems of blind, visually impaired, and deaf\-blind consumers\. The RERC has many ongoing R\&D projects and collaborative relationships, both internal and external to Smith\-Kettlewell\. Primary funding for the RERC comes from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, with other important sources of support, including the National Eye Institute, and The Smith\-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute\.
- [Video Description Research and Development Center](https://www.ski.org/center/video-description-research-and-development-center/)

## Collaborators
- [Vinod K\. Bhutani, MD, FAAP](https://www.ski.org/collaborator/vinod-k-bhutani-md-faap/)
- [Amrita Puri, Ph\.D\.](https://www.ski.org/collaborator/amrita-puri-phd/)
- [Roberto Manduchi, PhD](https://www.ski.org/collaborator/roberto-manduchi-phd/)
- [Hans Strasburger PhD](https://www.ski.org/collaborator/hans-strasburger-phd/)
- [Michael Ezeana](https://www.ski.org/collaborator/michael-ezeana/)

## Funding
- [Interocular Suppression and Selective Attention in Amblyopia](https://www.ski.org/funding/interocular-suppression-and-selective-attention-amblyopia/)
- [Stereopsis and Suppression in Strabismus and Amblyopia](https://www.ski.org/funding/stereopsis-and-suppression-strabismus-and-amblyopia/)
- [Maximizing visual potential in age\-related macular degeneration](https://www.ski.org/funding/maximizing-visual-potential-age-related-macular-degeneration/)
- [Coordination of Eye and Head Movements in Central Field Loss](https://www.ski.org/funding/coordination-eye-and-head-movements-central-field-loss/)
- [Realistic Hearing\-Aid Outcome Measures](https://www.ski.org/funding/realistic-hearing-aid-outcome-measures/)

## Labs
- [Verghese Lab](https://www.ski.org/lab/verghese-lab/): Our laboratory studies the mechanisms of healthy vision and action, as well as the basis of attention and visual adaptation in clinical populations\.
- [Tyler Lab](https://www.ski.org/lab/tyler-lab/)
- [Likova Lab](https://www.ski.org/lab/likova-lab/): The main areas of my research are learning and brain plasticity of multimodal sensorimotor processing in the blind and the sighted\. 
- [Heinen Lab](https://www.ski.org/lab/heinen-lab/): Action for Vision and Thought Our laboratory studies eye movements to understand basic neural circuitry that moves the eyes for clear vision, and as a tool to probe mental processes that are distinctly human\. Our ultimate goal is to understand the substrate of neurological function and dysfunction, leading to development of non\-invasive diagnosis and therapy for brain trauma and psychiatric disorders\.   Vision without eye movements A single, static retina severely limits vision and perception\- limitations that eye movements minimize\. For starters, each retina “sees” ~120 deg, and both together see only ~210 degees since the eyes are roughly aligned\. Eye \(and head, and body\) movements expand our field of view\. But the retina limits vision in two other significant ways\. First, high acuity vision is possible only with our tiny fovea \(~4 deg\)\. To view an entire scene at high resolution we almost continuously scan it with rapid, saccadic eye movements\. Second, retinal circuitry that preprocess images before they enter the brain is sluggish, causing images to blur when they move on the retina\. To preserve image clarity, vestibulo\-ocular \(VOR\) and optokinetic \(OKN\) reflexes stabilize images subconsciously to compensate for self\-motion, while smooth pursuit and fixation systems stabilize moving and stationary object images voluntarily\. Our laboratory studies smooth pursuit, fixation and saccades\. Representative work: \-  Voluntary stabilizing eye movements in normals Badler, J\. B\., Watamaniuk, S\. N\., \& Heinen, S\. J\. \(2019\)\. A common mechanism modulates saccade timing during pursuit and fixation\. Journal of neurophysiology, 122\(5\), 1981\-1988\. \-  Voluntary stabilizing eye movements in patients with age\-related macular degeneration \(AMD\) Shanidze, N\., Heinen, S\. \& Verghese, P\. \(2017\) Monocular and binocular smooth pursuit in central field loss\. Vision Research, 141, 181\-190\. \-  Binocular eye movement control that aids 3D vision Heinen, S\., Watamaniuk, S\., Candy, T\. R\., Badler, J\., \& Chandna, A\. \(2019\)\. A covered eye does not always follow objects moving smoothly in depth\. Vision Sciences Society Annual Meeting, St\. Pete Beach, FL, May 2019\.       Eye movements are a sensitive assay of normal and damaged brain function Knowledge of how specific neural structures generate eye movements is extensive and growing, and our laboratory has contributed significantly to this literature\. Eye movement structures are ubiquitous and include visual, parietal and frontal cortices, the basal ganglia, the brainstem and the cerebellum\. Furthermore, oculomotor pathways overlap those involved in perception, motor control and executive function, and therefore studying them provides insight into general brain operation\. Consequentially, when trauma or psychiatric disorders afflict the brain \(e\.g\., Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, dyslexia, schizophrenia, autism\), and in age\-related neurodegeneration, characteristic eye movement deficits present\. Therefore measuring eye movements provides a non\-invasive window on normal and broken brain operation\. Representative work: Missal, M\. \& Heinen, S\.J\. \(2017\) Stopping smooth pursuit\. Phil\. Trans\. R\. Soc\. B 372\(1718\), 20160200\. Yang, S\-N\. \& Heinen, S\.J\. \(2014\) Contrasting the roles of the supplementary and frontal eye fields in ocular decision making\. J\. Neurophysiol\. DOI: 10\.1152/jn\.00543\.2013\. Our laboratory is also developing a computer gaming system for diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury \(mTBI\)       Reading the human mind with eye movements  Eye movements not only indicate what we see, but where and how we allocate our mental resources, and are therefore a sensitive, dynamic and objective readout of distinctly human thought processes\. Furthermore, they are measured efficiently and non\-invasively with relatively inexpensive, portable commercial devices, giving eye movement recording significant advantages over other neural imaging technologies\. Eye movements reveal bottom\-up, reflexive attention allocation to sudden and salient events that our survival may depend upon\. But they also indicate emotional states and numerous top\-down, cognitive processes e\.g\. our perceptions, how we anticipate and predict, how we allocate attention and make decisions, areas our lab has contributed to\. They read out high\-level processes related to memory, planning, problem solving and face recognition, but our work shows they also reflect inattentive, subconscious mental processes\. Furthermore, eye movement recording has practical applications including aiding cockpit design, using gaze patterns of experts both to train novices and evaluate performance in tasks including surgery, clinical diagnosis, sports, airplane inspection, and driving\. They also elucidate what people find interesting in advertising and other media \- we have contributed here showing they indicate interesting frames for video summarization\. Representative work:  \-  Subconscious control of movement Watamaniuk, S\.N\., Bal, J\. \& Heinen, S\.J\. \(2017\) A subconscious interaction between fixation and anticipatory pursuit\. J\. Neurosci, 37\(47\), 11424\-11430\. \-  Eye movements for video summarization Ma, Z\., Wu, J\., Zhong, S\., Jiang J\., \& Heinen S\. J\. \(2019\)"Human Eye Movements Reveal Video Frame Importance," in Computer, vol\. 52, no\. 5, pp\. 48\-57, May 2019\.doi: 10\.1109/MC\.2019\.2903246 \-  Anticipation and prediction Heinen, S\.J\., Badler, J\.B\. \& Ting, W\.W\. \(2005\) Timing and velocity randomization similarly affect anticipatory pursuit\. J\. Vision5:6, 493\-503\. \-  Decision making Heinen, S\.J\., Rowland, J\., Lee, B\.T \& Wade, A\.R\. \(2006\) An oculomotor decision process revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging\. J\. Neurosci\.26:52, 13515\-13522\. \-  Attention allocation Watamaniuk, S\. \& Heinen, S\.J\. \(2015\) Allocation of attention during pursuit of large objects is no different than during fixation\. J\. Vision15\(9\), 9\-9\. Collapse \-
- [Good Lab](https://www.ski.org/lab/good-lab/): Our laboratory studies the conditions which cause monocular or bilateral blindness in infants and children\.

## Projects
- [Reading Random Word Sequences \(The SKread Test\)](https://www.ski.org/project/reading-random-word-sequences-skread-test/): This vision test shows random word sequences that prevent the prediction of upcoming words by linguistic criteria and is simple to score in a clinical setting\. It combines the standardized format of the MNread test with sequences of random words and letters, like in the Pepper test\. We have used this test on hundreds of patients with maculopathies and on healthy subjects to measure their reading speed and register errors\. Reading speed was always higher for continuous text than for random word sequences, even in normally sighted subjects\. The number of errors made was always higher than for…
- [Blindness and Low Vision Support Group](https://www.ski.org/project/blind-and-low-vision-support-group/): Join Dr\. Don Fletcher, one of the world’s leading authorities on Low Vision Rehabilitation, to share experiences and learn about the things that help you maintain a full and happy life while living with low vision\.
- [Fourth Annual Smith\-Kettlewell Summer Research Institute](https://www.ski.org/project/fourth-annual-smith-kettlewell-summer-research-institute/)
- [SKribbleEyes](https://www.ski.org/project/scribbleeyes/)
- [Stereopsis in Macular Degeneration](https://www.ski.org/project/stereopsis-macular-degeneration/): Macular degeneration affects the central retina, often causing asymmetrical damage to the two eyes\. How does this asymmetrical loss affect stereopsis — the percept of depth generated by the small separation of image features in the two eyes?

## Publications
- [](https://www.ski.org/publication/17255/)
- [](https://www.ski.org/publication/17244/)
- [The impact of presentation mode and technology on reading comprehension among blind and sighted individuals](https://www.ski.org/publication/the-impact-of-presentation-mode-and-technology-on-reading-comprehension-among-blind-and-sighted-individuals/)
- [Cue combination for depth perception in macular degeneration: Motion parallax augments disparity](https://www.ski.org/publication/cue-combination-for-depth-perception-in-macular-degeneration-motion-parallax-augments-disparity/)
- [The best stereoacuity is rarely at the fovea](https://www.ski.org/publication/the-best-stereoacuity-is-rarely-at-the-fovea/)

## Optional
- [Sitemap index](https://www.ski.org/sitemap_index.xml)