[CTN] Abstract for CTN/Optometry-Vision Science seminar, TODAY 3.30pm, PAS 2464

[Matthijs van der Meer]

I didn't include the abstract for today's seminar with my previous
announcement, it follows below.

"What can vision tell us about brain development?"

Oliver Braddick, University of Oxford
Jan Atkinson, University College London

http://www.psychol.ucl.ac.uk/vdu/index.html

Abstract

Our work has shown that first months of infants’ life see the emergence
of visual cortical functions, including the global processing of motion
and form that is characteristic of extra-striate visual areas. Since
vision is one of the earliest functions to develop in infancy, measures
of visual development can provide us with a window into the more general
development of the human brain, both typical and atypical. We will
present findings on the delays and anomalies of visual and
visuo-cognitive function in children at risk from perinatal brain damage
and from genetic problems such as Williams Syndrome. This work has led
to the idea of ‘dorsal stream vulnerability’, which is reflected in a
range neurodevelopmental disorders and in areas of cognitive development
areas including attention, spatial cognition, and visuo-motor control.