UR Center for Visual Science

Upcoming Events | Center for Visual Science February 24, 2026 3:00 pm, URMC 1-9576 Ryan Case Method Room & Zoom

#cvstoday March 6 at 12:30 pm, 221 Meliora Hall & Zoom

BCS Thesis Defense: Sam Jenks, Graduate Student (Advisor: Martina Poletti)

Visual Asymmetries in the Foveola
more: www.cvs.rochester.edu/events/index... @uor-braincogsci.bsky.social

New article from @johnfoxe.bsky.social What we have learned about adolescent mental health and where we are going after a decade with the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.
doi.org/10.1016/j.dc... #URochesterResearch @urneuroscience.bsky.social

Frontiers | Retinal biomarkers in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: evidence and implications for the neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative models Retinal morphological and functional alterations, such as changes in the thickness and volume of the retinal neural layers, architecture of the microvasculat...

NEW review from @drsmsilverstein.bsky.social Studies show retinal changes in schizophrenia. This review links these changes across life stages to show how both brain development and degeneration play a role. doi.org/10.3389/fmed... #URochesterResearch

Undergraduate Research Our faculty are invested heavily in research, and we encourage qualified undergraduates to become engaged in research projects.

Applications are OPEN for the Meliora Fellowships and the Wiesman Scholarship. Learn more about undergraduate summer research opportunities in BCS: www.sas.rochester.edu/bcs/undergra...

NEW from Steven Silverstein: Use of repository corticotropin injection for the prophylaxis of corneal graft rejection in high-risk patients: A case series. doi.org/10.1016/j.ij... #URochesterResearch @drsmsilverstein.bsky.social

2of2) The method improved a metalens’s focus intensity by 73%, helping boost performance while accounting simultaneously for easier fabrication.

1of2) NEW publication from Jannick Rolland in Optics Express: A new design method optimizes large-scale metasurfaces with many parts while modeling near-field coupling also known as crosstalk...
doi.org/10.1364/OE.5... #URochesterResearch @urengineering.bsky.social

Announcing the 2026 Boynton Colloquium Series. The first talk by Weiji Ma has been cancelled due to inclement weather and will be rescheduled. Details: www.cvs.rochester.edu/events/boynt...

Frontiers | Photobonding of silk fibroin-based hydrogels to rabbit corneas IntroductionCorneal abrasions are common ocular injuries characterized by the loss of epithelial cells. Severe cases are often treated with amniotic membrane...

NEW paper from @marcoslabur.bsky.social Photobonding of silk fibroin-based hydrogels to rabbit corneas. doi.org/10.3389/fbio... #URochesterResearch @urengineering.bsky.social

Announcing the CVS Boynton Colloquium talk by Anna Roe on March 17: Discovery of a new cortical area for central vision.

Co-sponsored by Brain & Cognitive Sciences. There will be reception at 5PM at Grappa, 30 Celebration Dr, Rochester, NY 14620.
www.cvs.rochester.edu/events/index...

Assessing retinal thickness in women with history of preeclampsia | EB To compare retinal thickness measurements between women with and without history of preeclampsia, and to determine associations with cognitive performance.

#URochesterResearch OUT NOW from @drsmsilverstein.bsky.social in Eye & Brain: Assessing Retinal Thickness and Associations with Cognitive Function in Women with History of Preeclampsia. doi.org/10.2147/eb.s... @flaumeye.bsky.social

OUT NOW from Jannick Rolland in Optics Letters: Source wavefront generation for a non-interferometric reconfigurable null test using a photonic lantern. doi.org/10.1364/OL.5... #URochesterResearch @urengineering.bsky.social

New paper from @johnfoxe.bsky.social in JAMA Pediatrics shows that U.S. children with long COVID were more likely to face poverty, food insecurity, and poor social support, showing social conditions affect long COVID risk. doi.org/10.1001/jama... #URochesterResearch @urneuroscience.bsky.social

New research from Len Zheleznyak found that, in Chinese children’s eyes, peripheral optical quality worsens with eccentricity and shows wavelength-dependent anisotropy, with myopic children’s peripheral blur oriented more anti-radially compared to emmetropes.
doi.org/10.1364/JOSA...

Announcing our first 2026 CVS Boynton Colloquium talk on Feb 24 at 3PM: Weiji Ma, New York University

Title: Eye movements and planning

Talk will be in URMC 1-9576 Ryan Case Method Room & Zoom. There will be reception following the talk at 5PM at Grappa.
www.cvs.rochester.edu/events/index...

The Gradient Refractive Index of the Eye's Crystalline Lens Join Zoom

#cvstoday Feb 9 at 3:30 pm, Presented in Goergen 101 on Zoom only

Optics Colloquium: Alberto de Castro, Research Scientist, Instituto de Óptica "Daza de Valdés", CSIC

The Gradient Refractive Index of the Eye's Crystalline Lens

www.hajim.rochester.edu/optics/news-...

We welcome Samrat Sarkar as a Postdoctoral Researcher @marcoslabur.bsky.social @cvsuor.bsky.social; Dr Sarkar’s career path includes clinical optometry at LVPrasad Eye Inst 🇮🇳, Masters at QUT and PhD at UNSW 🇦🇺, becoming an expert in #myopia control. @flaumeye.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social

Upcoming Events | Center for Visual Science BCS Thesis Defense: Sanjana Kapisthalam, Graduate Student (Advisor: Martina Poletti)

#cvstoday Feb 6 at 11:00 am, 1101 Dewey Hall & Zoom

BCS Thesis Defense: Sanjana Kapisthalam, Graduate Student (Advisor: Martina Poletti)

Active Vision: Probing Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Task-Driven Fixation Periods in Healthy and Clinical Populations
www.cvs.rochester.edu/events/index...

The brain uses eye movements to see in 3D Contrary to long-standing beliefs, motion from eye movements helps the brain perceive depth—a finding that could enhance virtual reality.

NEW research from the DeAngelis lab shows that contrary to long-standing beliefs, motion from eye movements helps the brain perceive depth—a finding that could enhance virtual reality.
www.rochester.edu/newscenter/b... #URochesterResearch @cvsuor.bsky.social

OUT NOW from Alex Levin: Novel variant in FGFR2 in a family with anterior segment anomalies in Ophthalmic Genetics. doi.org/10.1080/1381... #URochesterResearch @flaumeye.bsky.social

Neutrophils are white blood cells that circulate in our blood. When they reach capillaries, they compress & fill these vessels. Derek Power et al via:👇👇
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

@urneuroscience.bsky.social @flaumeye.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social @cvsuor.bsky.social @uofrbme.bsky.social

Facial gestures are enacted through a cortical hierarchy of dynamic and stable codes Facial gestures are one fundamental set of communicative behaviors in primates, generated through the dynamic arrangement of many fine muscles. Anatomy shows that facial muscles are under direct…

New article from Marc Schieber: Facial gestures are enacted through a cortical hierarchy of dynamic and stable codes. doi.org/10.1126/scie... #URochesterResearch

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New paper from Martina Poletti & Michele Rucci: Chromatic induction and retinal image motion. doi.org/10.1177/0301... #URochesterResearch @aplabur.bsky.social @uor-braincogsci.bsky.social

Microglial interferon signaling and Aβ plaque pathology are enhanced in female 5xFAD Alzheimer’s disease mice, independent of estrous cycle stage - Journal of Neuroinflammation Journal of Neuroinflammation - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) presents with a sex bias in which women are at higher risk and exhibit more rapid cognitive decline and brain atrophy compared to men....

NEW study from Ania Majewska shows female mice have worse Alzheimer’s plaque buildup and stronger immune cell responses than males, which may help explain higher AD risk in women.
doi.org/10.1186/s129... #URochesterResearch @urneuroscience.bsky.social

Frontiers | Systematic review on biomarker potential of vitreous microRNA in retinal disease The vitreous fluid, situated in the posterior chamber of the eye, holds a close relationship with the inner retina. Within this milieu, retinal cells secrete...

New review from Michael Telias in Frontiers in Ophthalmology shows that tiny RNAs in eye fluid can signal retinal disease. miR-142, miR-9, and miR-21 are strong biomarker candidates.
doi.org/10.3389/foph... #URochesterResearch @flaumeye.bsky.social

New paper from Jannick Rolland in Optica: Design methods for imaging with freeform optics
doi.org/10.1364/OPTI... #URochesterResearch @urengineering.bsky.social

Well done, Renuka! 👏👏👏

#cvstoday NSC Doty Lecture at 3:00 pm, Zoom

Elisabeth A. Murray, Chief, Section on the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH

Prefrontal-amygdala interactions in social cognition and decision making

OUT NOW from Marc Schieber in PNAS: Neural synchrony links sensorimotor cortices in a network for facial motor control.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas... #URochesterResearch

Chimeric music reveals an interaction of pitch and time in electrophysiological signatures of music encoding Pitch and time are the essential dimensions defining musical melody. Recent electrophysiological studies have explored the neural encoding of musical pitch and time by leveraging probabilistic models…

New paper from Edmund Lalor in J. Neuroscience: Chimeric music reveals an interaction of pitch and time in electrophysiological signatures of music encoding.
doi.org/10.1523/jneu... #URochesterResearch @uofrbme.bsky.social