Team Gronert

The Gronert lab takes safety seriously. They are also interested in intrinsic protective circuits in ocular inflammatory, immune and wound healing responses.

Adaptive Optics

Swati Bhargava from the Roorda lab. The question that motivates the research in the Roorda lab is, "how do humans convert the two-dimensional images that land on the retina into such a rich perceptual experience?"

Dr. Michael Silver

Michael Silver, Professor of Optometry and Vision Science and Neuroscience, in his lab on the Berkeley campus. The brains behind Dr. Silver are those of his two sons, Talyn and Gryphon. The artwork was made by his wife Jenny as lab warming gift.

Dr. Roorda's Fovea

New paper from the Roorda Lab: Human foveal cone photoreceptor topography and its dependence on eye length.

Focusing Response

Post-doctoral researchers Vivek Labhishetty and Steve Cholewiak are studying optical and image-based depth cues in current and emerging display technologies. Their research could lead to more comfortable and immersive head mounted display (HMD) technologies and has implications on myopia (nearsightedness) development.

Perception and Visual Cognition

Dr. Agostino Gibaldi of the Banks Lab is interested in extending models of sensory processing and oculo-motor behavior from laboratory settings to complex stimuli that more closely resemble real world conditions.

Affinity Spots

PhD student Dylan Paiton produced this plot for a recent paper submission. The model is a two-layer neural network trained on videos of natural scenes. Each pair of plots corresponds to a layer 2 neuron. The square plot is the spatial "receptive field" of the layer 2 neuron, the circular plot is the time-frequency "receptive field" of the layer 2 neuron. At the start of the model, each layer 2 neuron is connected randomly to all of the layer 1 neurons. Over time, after looking at millions of video segments, it learns a unique and interesting connectivity pattern to specific layer 1 neurons.

Neural Activity In The Retina

Light that enters the eye activates rod and cone photoreceptors, which in turn activate retinal ganglion cells.

Team Gronert

The Gronert lab takes safety seriously. They are also interested in intrinsic protective circuits in ocular inflammatory, immune and wound healing responses.

Adaptive Optics

Dr. Michael Silver

Dr. Roorda's Fovea

New paper from the Roorda Lab: Human foveal cone photoreceptor topography and its dependence on eye length.

Focusing Response

Perception and Visual Cognition

Affinity Spots

Neural Activity In The Retina

Light that enters the eye activates rod and cone photoreceptors, which in turn activate retinal ganglion cells.

Team Gronert

The Gronert lab takes safety seriously. They are also interested in intrinsic protective circuits in ocular inflammatory, immune and wound healing responses.

Apply Now

PhD Program
By January 4, 2021

News

Center for the Science of PsychedelicsSeptember 16th, 2020

Vision Science professor Michael Silver is the inaugural director.

Response to COVID-19August 3rd, 2020

The Vision Science program has taken measures to keep our students, faculty, and staff healthy.

Living by our Values and Guiding PrinciplesJune 4th, 2020

We are committed to diversity, respect for cultural differences, and promotion of social justice.

Perception as Inference: The Brain and ComputationMay 21st, 2020

Simons Institute video featuring Dr. Bruno Olshausen, Professor of Vision Science, Optometry and Neuroscience.

Fields of Research

Faculty

The Vision Science faculty constitute a prestigious group of educators and researchers. Click the arrow to learn more about them, including research interests, contact information and links to lab websites.

Students

About 40 graduate students are currently enrolled in the Vision Science program. Their backgrounds include degrees in psychology, biology, engineering, computer science, or optometry.

Admissions

Berkeley is the No. 1 public university in the world. Our students and faculty come from different places and backgrounds, but together we create a vibrant and dynamic community that seeks to create a better world. Join us!