Visual Neuroscience

Research Group Leader

Dr Anita J Simmers
Senior Lecturer

Tel: +44(0)141 331 3996
Email: anita.simmers@gcu.ac.uk

Dr Simmers has published extensively in the field of amblyopia and the psychophysical assessment of visual function.  Amblyopia ‘lazy eye’ is the most common cause of reduced visual function in childhood affecting approximately 3-4% of the total population.  It leads to abnormal development of the visual areas of the brain and if untreated permanent visual deficits.  Her research work in this area is highly cited along with a proven track record of obtaining independent research income (MRC, Wellcome, Fight for Sight, Chief Scientists Office) and of managing successful research collaborations both nationally and internationally (UCL; University of Bristol; McGill University, Montreal; Schepens Eye Institute, Harvard, Boston and University of Auckland, New Zealand).  Anita sits on an editorial board, is a reviewer for 12 International journals and 5 grant funding bodies.  She is also a founding member of Glasgow Neuroscience an academic and clinical community that aims to stimulate and improve neuroscience across Glasgow with the aim to share ideas, expertise and foster local collaboration.

Deputy Research Group Leader

Dr Stephanie Rossit
Lecturer

Tel: +44(0)141 273 1696
Email: stephanie.rossit@gcu.ac.uk

Dr Rossit's major research interest is in how and where in the human brain sensory information is represented and combined for perceptual and motor responses and how these processes are affected by aging and disease.  Moreover, she is also interested in studying novel methods for diagnosis and treatment of visual neglect a severe condition present in up to 80% of stroke patients.  In her research, Dr Rossit carries out experiments with both healthy participants and stroke patients using state-of-the-art lesion-symptom mapping and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  This work has resulted in numerous articles published in high-ranking international journals in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience.  Dr Rossit collaborates with many national and international institutions (University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, University of Edinburgh, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Imperial College of London, Western Ontario University, Canada) and is a reviewer for several international journals (e.g., Neuropsychologia, Cortex, Experimental Brain Research).

Research Scope

The Visual Neuroscience Research Group carries out fundamental and strategic research about the human visual system. Our group brings together individual researchers and their research groups through a broad range of studies and techniques that reflect the diversity and originality of all aspects of neuroscience. The research interests of the group encompass the neural mechanisms of vision, visual perception, visuo-motor control and the study of visual dysfunctions. Our aim is to understand how the visual system is organized in the normal human brain, how it develops, and how aging and brain damage affect this system with the final goal of developing novel strategies for restoring vision through a multidisciplinary approach.

Visual neuroscience involves a wide variety of methods and approaches including computational theory, functional neuroimaging, psychophysics, neuropsychology and others. It illustrates perhaps more clearly than any other area of brain research, the overriding need to combine and coordinate these diverse efforts.

The Visual Neuroscience Group has a proven track record of obtaining independent research income and of managing successful research collaborations within the academic and clinical community both nationally and internationally. This ensures both a technological and conceptual interdisciplinary approach in our research.


Our work is based on a wide range of technical approaches, including:

• Electrophysiology (ie fNIRS, VEP’s, EEG)

• Functional neuroimaging

• Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping

• Psychophysics

• Eye tracking and motion tracking

• Computational modeling

We are particularly interested in:

• Visual information processing (e.g. global form and shape recognition, face recognition, motion integration)

• Translational research (e.g. perceptual learning in amblyopia, rehabilitation of stroke patients, visual neglect, visual form agnosia, hemianopia)

• Neural basis of visual perception and visuo-motor control (ie reaching, grasping) and ocular motor control (e.g. accommodation, vergence)

• Relationship between visual, motor and cognitive processes and impairments present in vulnerable populations (e.g. elderly, stroke patients, migraine, dyslexia, ASD and young children)