Date: August 11th, 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Location: University of Amsterdam, REC-A building, main CCN 2025 conference venue - Room A2.11
Please join us for our CCN satellite event on computational models and clinical disorders. We have a series of exciting talks (with time for Q&A) covering a broad range of methods applications and conditions. This session will highlight the potential of this field to bring real world benefit!
I hope you are as excited as we are!
Please register your interest here
If you have any questions about the session, please contact the organizer (Marcus Daghlian) at [email protected]
Koen Haak6,7
Post-chiasmatic damage to the visual system results in homonymous visual field defects (HVDs). Visual Restitution Training has been shown to facilitate partial recovery of the affected visual field in patients with chronic HVDs. However, training outcomes remain variable. We compared pre-training visual field coverage maps obtained through standard automated perimetry with those derived from neural perimetry using functional MRI. These comparisons identify visual field locations that are more likely to exhibit recovery following training, thereby informing evidence-based treatment decision making and enabling targeted training interventions.
Marcus Daghlian1,2, C. Roelofzen1, J. van Dijk, M. C. de Jong1, S. O. Dumoulin1,9,10
The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) characterizes visual function, and is widely used in research on visual perception and ophthalmological disorders. Here, we present a new method to estimate the neural equivalent of the CSF that describes how a population of neurons responds to contrast as a function of spatial frequency. In addition we extend this method showing how bayesian modelling can be used to estimate the uncertainty of parameters, providing more robust results for potentially noisy patient data.
Henning Schulte2, Yuqing Cai10, Birte Gestefeld2, Christoph Strauch10, Jan-Bernard Marsman, Stefan Van der Stigchel, Jeroen Goossens, Teuni ten Brink10, Frans W. Cornelissen2, Marnix Naber10
Standard automated perimetry is difficult to perform by various patient groups and can be unreliable. The requirement for sustained fixation over the course of testing and the need for giving feedback in form of a button press often leads to retakes and is a strain on patients and ophthalmological care units. Recently, various attempts have been made to design perimetry methods that overcome some of these limitations. These novel methods rely on different, but potentially complementary information and are designed to be applied on the exact same data of individuals watching movie clips. The first method is based on Open-DPSM, a toolbox for modelling pupil size. It is comparing the influence of contrast and luminance on different parts of the visual field to determine its integrity. The second method compares local deviations in saccadic behavior to normative data to assess visual field function. Here, we showcase their capabilities in assessing the visual field in two different patient groups. The different “viewpoints” of the two methods are believed to be synergetic, but also allow for differentiation of visual behaviour and perception. For example, gaze is known to enable behavioural compensation in the case of visual field loss, while pupil size is mainly modulated by unconscious processes and is believed to be unaffected by compensation behavior. We will present new work on the integrating these two approaches to free-viewing perimetry that highlights their complementary potential and differentiating aspects.
Michelle Moerel3
Perceiving a continuous whistling, ringing, or buzzing is the daily experience of people with tinnitus. Tinnitus is very common, and results in significant psychological distress in 2-3% of the population. Despite extensive research, the neural correlates of human tinnitus still debated. I will show how combining ultra-high field (UHF) MRI at 7 Tesla with computational modelling can shed light on the auditory system in both health and disease.
Chris Klink4,5, P Roelfsema4
Stimulation of brain areas involved in visual processing yields percepual experiences called 'phosphenes'. It has the potential of creating a rudimentary form of vision directly in the brains of people that have become blind later in life as a consequence of malfunctions at the level of the eye or optic nerve. Patterns of visual brain stimulation can convey information about the visual world and have been shown to facilitate object recognition. Virtual electrode implantations that take both individual brain anatomy and probablistic functional brainmaps into account inform both the design of neurotechnological hardware such as electrodes and the development of surgical strategies involved in visual brain postheses. Phenomenological simulations of 'prosthetic vision' associated with a specific implant furthermore allows non-invasive exploration of the functional limitations of such systems in seeing volunteers.
Tessa Dekker8
Novel ocular gene therapy approaches to treating eye disease make it possible to rescue retinal functions in people with severe sight loss. However, when the brain is deprived of its typical visual input, will pathways stay dormant and ready to process newly rescued signals, or will they deteriorate, take on other functions, or fail to develop in the first place? To start addressing these questions, we used computational modelling approaches to trace retinotopic neural signalling cascades across the visual pathways of people with heritable eye diseases undergoing new therapies. Our data reveal how the developing brain adapts to altered input and, how the adapted brain can process newly rescued retinal signals.