Why? Visual object recognition is of fundamental importance for our daily life and can be critically affected by eye diseases. During clinical routine this impairment is traditionally quantified by visual acuity assessments with the disadvantage to employ less-engaging stimuli and to rely on subjective responses, which are strong confounds, e.g., in paediatric testing. Objective readouts of neural brain responses to natural stimuli offer options to overcome this problem.

How? The project will use visual evoked potentials including signatures of endogenous attention to assess functional vision in children with an innovative objective approach that employs natural stimuli for low demand visual function testing.

Where? The project will be carried out at the Visual Processing Laboratory of the Ophthalmic Department of the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (Germany) known for its large, vibrant neuroscience community. As part of an enthusiastic interdisciplinary research team, supervised by Prof. M.B. Hoffmann you will benefit from the wide academic exchange in national and international scientific networks, including secondments to academic and industry partners in Denmark (Region Hovedstaden Copenhagen) and the Netherlands (Reperio).

What can you expect to learn and experience? You will receive project-specific in-depth expert training including non-invasive electrophysiology, children testing, function testing and pathophysiology in ophthalmology and vision science.

Who are we looking for? You are exceptionally motivated to pursue a career in neuroscience and have a great interest in clinical and basic vision science. Strong programming skills (e.g. Python, PsychoPy, R, MatLab) and experience with quantitative neuroscience are essential requirements. Experience in systematic data-acquisition and non-invasive electrophysiology is a plus. Candidates with a background in vision science, neuroscience, neuroimaging, experimental psychology, ophthalmology, biology, physiology, physics, or related areas will be considered.

References

• Hoffmann MB, Brands J, Behrens-Baumann W, Bach M (2017) VEP-based acuity assessment in low vision. Documenta Ophthalmologica 135:209­-218
• Hamilton R, Bach M, Heinrich S, Hoffmann MB, Odom V, McCulloch DL, Thompson DA (2020) VEP estimation of visual acuity: a systematic review. Documenta Ophthalmologica (in press)
• Hamilton R et al., Bach M, Heinrich SP, Hoffmann MB, Odom, VJ, McCulloch DL, Thompson DA (2020) ISCEV extended protocol for VEP methods of estimation of visual acuity. Documenta Ophthalmologica (in press)
• Hoffmann MB, Dumoulin SO (2015) Congenital visual pathway abnormalities - a window onto cortical stability and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences 38: 55-65