Professor Hannah Smithson
My research focuses on the neural mechanisms that underlie perception.
I am fascinated by how the eye and brain process visual information. My research addresses this question primarily through psychophysical experiments - inferring the perceptual processes that underly particular patterns of human performance on visual tasks.
A major focus of my current research uses an adaptive optics enabled ophthalmoscope (one of only a handful of such instruments worldwide) to image the mosaic of retinal cells in the living human eye, and to present visual stimuli targeted to particular elements of the retinal microstructure. Our aim is to link stimulation, neural activity and visual performance to answer such questions as "How do the neural circuits in human retina adapt to maintain sensitivity across the vast range of environmental light levels?"
Our group conducts basic research into the mechanisms underlying normal adult human perception. We also seek to explore potential applications of our findings - for example, in developing new display technologies and in understanding limitations of vision in disease.
My first degree was in Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge: 1993-1996). I was introduced to visual science in my final undergraduate year by John Mollon, under whose supervision I subsequently studied for a doctoral degree on visual masking (University of Cambridge: 1996-2000). I spent two years as a post-doc in the USA, with Joel Pokorny in Chicago working on colour adaptation (University of Chicago: 2000-2001), and with Qasim Zaidi in New York City working on colour constancy (SUNY College of Optometry: 2001-2002).
I returned to the UK as an Affiliated Lecturer at Cambridge (2002-2003), before moving to London to work with Andrew Stockman on adaptation (Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL: 2003-2005). I took my first lectureship at Durham University (Lecturer 2005-2009; Senior Lecturer 2009-2011) and moved from there to the University of Oxford, where I am currently a Professor in Experimental Psychology and Tutorial Fellow at Pembroke.
Professor Hannah Smithson
My research focuses on the neural mechanisms that underlie perception.
I am fascinated by how the eye and brain process visual information. My research addresses this question primarily through psychophysical experiments - inferring the perceptual processes that underly particular patterns of human performance on visual tasks.
A major focus of my current research uses an adaptive optics enabled ophthalmoscope (one of only a handful of such instruments worldwide) to image the mosaic of retinal cells in the living human eye, and to present visual stimuli targeted to particular elements of the retinal microstructure. Our aim is to link stimulation, neural activity and visual performance to answer such questions as "How do the neural circuits in human retina adapt to maintain sensitivity across the vast range of environmental light levels?"
Our group conducts basic research into the mechanisms underlying normal adult human perception. We also seek to explore potential applications of our findings - for example, in developing new display technologies and in understanding limitations of vision in disease.
My first degree was in Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge: 1993-1996). I was introduced to visual science in my final undergraduate year by John Mollon, under whose supervision I subsequently studied for a doctoral degree on visual masking (University of Cambridge: 1996-2000). I spent two years as a post-doc in the USA, with Joel Pokorny in Chicago working on colour adaptation (University of Chicago: 2000-2001), and with Qasim Zaidi in New York City working on colour constancy (SUNY College of Optometry: 2001-2002).
I returned to the UK as an Affiliated Lecturer at Cambridge (2002-2003), before moving to London to work with Andrew Stockman on adaptation (Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL: 2003-2005). I took my first lectureship at Durham University (Lecturer 2005-2009; Senior Lecturer 2009-2011) and moved from there to the University of Oxford, where I am currently a Professor in Experimental Psychology and Tutorial Fellow at Pembroke.