Professor Jonathan Erichsen

: Media commentator
: Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Jonathan Erichsen

Professor of Visual Neuroscience, Deputy Head of School
School of Optometry and Vision Sciences

Research interests

I have long-standing research interests in all aspects of the control of visuomotor behaviour, including eye movements, with the goal of achieving a better understanding of the interaction between sensory and motor mechanisms within the visual system.

One principal focus of my past work has been defining and stimulating the central near response pathways in the brain, including vergence and the pupillary light reflex, in order to better understand the interrelationship between accommodation and refractive development of the eye. This led to a growing interest in normal and abnormal eye movements in people (children as well as adults).

Nearly twenty years ago, I established the Cardiff Research Unit for Nystagmus (RUN) to conduct studies of eye movement disorders in people with infantile nystagmus in order to better understand the impact of the continuous oscillatory eye movements on their vision and everyday life.

More recently, I founded the Eye Movement Experimental Research Group (EMERG) to reflect the expansion of our research into eye movement abnormalities of those with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Huntington’s disease, as well as others, such as young children at risk of schizophrenia, or adults suffering from dystonia.

Date
Type

2012

Erichsen, J. T. and May, P. J. 2012. A perioculomotor nitridergic population in the macaque and cat. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 53 (9), pp.5751-5761. (10.1167/iovs.12-10287)
Erichsen, J. T. and Woodhouse, J. M. 2012. Human and animal vision. In: Batchelor, B. ed. Machine Vision Handbook. Springer. , pp.89-115.
Harris, C. M. , Waddington, J. and Erichsen, J. T. 2012. Infantile Nystagmus: An adaptationist approach. In: Gottlob, I. et al., The Challenge of Nystagmus. Nystagmus Network. , pp.27-48.
Jones, P. H. et al. 2012. The impact of stress on visual performance in congenital nystagmus. In: Harris, C. M. , Gottlob, I. and Sanders, J. eds. The Challenge of Nystagmus. Nystagmus Network. , pp.239-260.

2011

Chen, P. Y. P. et al. 2011. Heritability of ocular component dimensions in chickens: genetic variants controlling susceptibility to experimentally induced myopia and pretreatment eye size are distinct. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 52 (7), pp.4012-4020. (10.1167/iovs.10-7045)
Chen, P. Y. et al. 2011. Selective breeding for susceptibility to myopia reveals a gene-environment interaction. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 52 (7), pp.4003-4011. (10.1167/iovs.10-7044)
Guggenheim, J. et al. 2011. Pre-treatment choroidal thickness is not predictive of susceptibility to form-deprivation myopia in chickens. Ophthalmic And Physiological Optics 31 (5), pp.516-528. (10.1111/j.1475-1313.2011.00827.x)
Samsel, P. A. et al. 2011. A novel method for the induction of experimental glaucoma using magnetic microspheres. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 52 (3), pp.1671-1675. (10.1167/iovs.09-3921)
Taylor, S. et al., 2011. Involvement of the CD200 receptor complex in microglia activation in experimental glaucoma. Experimental Eye Research 92 (5), pp.338-343. (10.1016/j.exer.2011.01.012)
Tsanov, M. et al., 2011. Oscillatory entrainment of thalamic neurons by theta rhythm in freely moving rats. Journal of Neurophysiology 105 (1), pp.4-17. (10.1152/jn.00771.2010)
Tsanov, M. et al., 2011. Hippocampal inputs mediate theta-related plasticity in anterior thalamus. Neuroscience 187 , pp.52-62. (10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.03.055)
Tsanov, M. et al., 2011. Theta-modulated head direction cells in the rat anterior thalamus. The Journal of Neuroscience 31 (26), pp.9489-9502. (10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0353-11.2011)
Tsanov, M. et al., 2011. Differential regulation of synaptic plasticity of the hippocampal and the hypothalamic inputs to the anterior thalamus. Hippocampus 21 (1), pp.1-8. (10.1002/hipo.20749)
Vann, S. D. et al. 2011. Selective disconnection of the hippocampal formation projections to the mammillary bodies produces only mild deficits on spatial memory tasks: Implications for fornix function. Hippocampus 21 (9), pp.945-957. (10.1002/hipo.20796)

2010

Aggleton, J. P. et al. 2010. Hippocampal-anterior thalamic pathways for memory: uncovering a network of direct and indirect actions. European Journal of Neuroscience 31 (12), pp.2292-2307. (10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07251.x)
Amin, E. et al. 2010. Selective lamina dysregulation in granular retrosplenial cortex (area 29) after anterior thalamic lesions: an in situ hybridization and trans-neuronal tracing study in rats. Neuroscience 169 (3), pp.1255-1267. (10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.05.055)
Chen, P. Y. et al. 2010. Sex, eye size, and the rate of myopic eye growth due to form deprivation in outbred white leghorn chickens. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 51 (2), pp.651-657. (10.1167/iovs.09-3826)
Tattersall, R. J. et al., 2010. Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging of crystalline lens dimensions in chicken. Molecular Vision 16 (18), pp.144-153.
Wright, N. F. et al. 2010. Parallel but separate inputs from limbic cortices to the mammillary bodies and anterior thalamic nuclei in the rat. The Journal of Comparative Neurology 518 (12), pp.2334-2354. (10.1002/cne.22336)

2009

Goodall, N. et al. 2009. 3-Dimensional modelling of chick embryo eye development and growth using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Experimental Eye Research 89 (4), pp.511-521. (10.1016/j.exer.2009.05.014)
Prashar, A. et al. 2009. Common determinants of body size and eye size in chickens from an advanced intercross line. Experimental Eye Research 89 (1), pp.42-48. (10.1016/j.exer.2009.02.008)

2008

May, P. J. , Sun, W. and Erichsen, J. T. 2008. Defining the pupillary component of the perioculomotor preganglionic population within a unitary primate Edinger-Westphal nucleus. In: Kennard, C. and Leigh, R. J. eds. Using Eye Movements as an Experimental Probe of Brain function - A Symposium in Honor of Jean Büttner-Ennever. Progress in Brain Research Vol. 171.Amsterdam: Elsevier. , pp.97-106. (10.1016/S0079-6123(08)00613-4)

2007

Prashar, A. et al. 2007. Measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) in chickens using a rebound tonometer: Quantitative evaluation of variance due to position inaccuracies. Experimental Eye Research 85 (4), pp.563-571. (10.1016/j.exer.2007.07.010)
Wiggins, D. et al. 2007. Infantile nystagmus adapts to visual demand. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 48 (5), pp.2089-2094. (10.1167/iovs.06-1108)

2006

Bingman, V. P. et al. 2006. Spared feature-structure discrimination but diminished salience of environmental geometry in hippocampal-lesioned homing pigeons (Columba livia). Behavioral Neuroscience 120 (4), pp.835-841. (10.1037/0735-7044.120.4.835)
Bingman, V. P. et al., 2006. Representing the richness of avian spatial cognition: properties of a lateralized homing pigeon hippocampus. Reviews in the Neurosciences 17 (1-2), pp.17-28. (10.1515/REVNEURO.2006.17.1-2.17)
Morgan, J. E. et al. 2006. Retinal ganglion cell remodelling in experimental glaucoma. In: Hollyfield, J. G. , Anderson, R. E. and LaVail, M. M. eds. Retinal Degenerative Diseases. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Vol. 572.New York: Springer. , pp.397-402.
Nair-Roberts, R. G. et al. 2006. The distribution of Substance P reveals a novel subdivision in the hippocampus of parasitic South American cowbirds. Journal of Comparative Neurology 496 (5), pp.610-626. (10.1002/cne.20915)

2005

Pearce, J. M. et al. 2005. The influence of hippocampal lesions on the discrimination of structure and on spatial memory in pigeons (Columba livia). Behavioral Neuroscience 119 (5), pp.1316-1330. (10.1037/0735-7044.119.5.1316)

2004

Fernandez-Juricic, E. , Erichsen, J. T. and Kacelnik, A. 2004. Visual perception and social foraging in birds. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 19 (1), pp.25-31. (10.1016/j.tree.2003.10.003)

2003

McGuigan, C. et al. 2003. Halophenyl furanopyrimidines as potent and selective anti-VZV agents. Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy 14 (3), pp.165-170. (10.1177/095632020301400306)
Rakebrandt, F. et al. 2003. The construction of a model eye for investigation of laser-tissue interactions in scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. Optometry & Vision Science 80 (3), pp.252-258. (10.1097/00006324-200303000-00015)

2002

Erichsen, J. T. and May, P. J. 2002. The pupillary and ciliary components of the cat Edinger-Westphal nucleus: a transsynaptic transport investigation. Visual Neuroscience 19 (1), pp.15-29. (10.1017/S0952523801191029)
Guggenheim, J. A. et al. 2002. Similar genetic susceptibility to form-deprivation myopia in three strains of chicken. Vision Research 42 (25), pp.2747-2756. (10.1016/S0042-6989(02)00383-8)
McGuigan, C. et al. 2002. Alkyloxyphenyl furano pyrimidines as potent and selective anti-VZV agents with enhanced water solubility. Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy 13 (2), pp.91-99. (10.1177/095632020201300203)

2001

Erichsen, J. T. et al. 2001. Oxygen modulates the release of urokinase and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 by retinal pigment epithelial cells. The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 33 (3), pp.237-247. (10.1016/S1357-2725(01)00009-7)

2000

Erichsen, J. T. , Hodos, W. and Evinger, C. 2000. The pupillary light reflex, accommodation and convergence: Comparative considerations. In: Franzén, O. , Richter, H. and Stark, L. eds. Accommodation and vergence mechanisms in the visual system. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag. , pp.31-42.
McGuigan, C. et al. 2000. Highly potent and selective inhibition of varicella-zoster virus by bicyclic furopyrimidine nucleosides bearing an aryl side chain. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 43 (26), pp.4993-4997. (10.1021/jm000210m)
Moriarty, P. et al., 2000. Protein kinase C isoenzyme expression in retinal cells. Ophthalmic Research 32 (2-3), pp.57-60. (10.1159/000055590)
Vann, S. D. et al. 2000. Fos imaging reveals differential patterns of hippocampal and parahippocampal subfield activation in rats in response to different spatial memory tests. Journal of Neuroscience 20 (7), pp.2711-2718.
Vann, S. D. et al. 2000. Using Fos imaging in the rat to reveal the anatomical extent of the disruptive effects of fornix lesions. Journal of Neuroscience 20 (21), pp.8144-8152.

1999

Riters, L. V. et al., 1999. Neurochemical evidence for at least two regional subdivisions within the homing pigeon (Columba livia) caudolateral neostriatum. Journal of Comparative Neurology 412 (3), pp.469-487. (10.1002/(SICI)1096-9861(19990927)412:3<469::AID-CNE7>3.0.CO;2-8)

1995

Peshori, K. R. , Erichsen, J. T. and Collins, W. F. 1995. Differences in the connectivity of rat pudendal motor nuclei as revealed by retrograde transneuronal transport of wheat germ agglutinin. Journal of Comparative Neurology 353 (1), pp.119-128. (10.1002/cne.903530111)

1994

Erichsen, J. T. et al. 1994. Neuroactive substances in the developing dorsomedial telencephalon of the pigeon (Columba livia): Differential distribution and time course of maturation. Journal of Comparative Neurology 345 (4), pp.537-561. (10.1002/cne.903450406)
Sun, W. S. , Erichsen, J. T. and May, P. J. 1994. NADPH-diaphorase reactivity in ciliary ganglion neurons: A comparison of distributions in the pigeon, cat, and monkey. Visual Neuroscience 11 (5), pp.1027-1031. (10.1017/S0952523800003965)

1993

Petry, H. M. , Erichsen, J. T. and Szel, A. 1993. Immunocytochemical identification of photoreceptor populations in the tree shrew retina. Brain Research 616 (1-2), pp.344-350. (10.1016/0006-8993(93)90230-K)

1992

Bagnoli, P. et al., 1992. Distribution of neuropeptide Y, substance P, and Choline acetyltransferase in the developing visual system of the pigeon and effects of unilateral retina removal. Journal of Comparative Neurology 318 (4), pp.392-414. (10.1002/cne.903180405)

1991

Cabot, J. B. et al., 1991. Retrograde, trans-synaptic and transneuronal transport of fragment C of tetanus toxin by sympathetic preganglionic neurons. Neuroscience 40 (3), pp.805-823. (10.1016/0306-4522(91)90014-F)
Collins, W. F. , Erichsen, J. T. and Rose, R. D. 1991. Pudendal motor and premotor neurons in the male rat: A WGA transneuronal study. Journal of Comparative Neurology 308 (1), pp.28-41. (10.1002/cne.903080104)
Erichsen, J. T. , Bingman, V. P. and Krebs, J. R. 1991. The distribution of neuropeptides in the dorsomedial telencephalon of the pigeon (Columba livia): A basis for regional subdivisions. Journal of Comparative Neurology 314 (3), pp.478-492. (10.1002/cne.903140306)
Krebs, J. R. , Erichsen, J. T. and Bingman, V. P. 1991. The distribution of neurotransmitters and neurotransmitter-related enzymes in the dorsomedial telencephalon of the pigeon (Columba livia). Journal of Comparative Neurology 314 (3), pp.467-477. (10.1002/cne.903140305)
Reiner, A. et al., 1991. Neurotransmitter organization of the nucleus of Edinger-Westphal and its projection to the avian ciliary ganglion. Visual Neuroscience 6 (5), pp.451-472. (10.1017/S0952523800001310)

1990

Hodos, W. and Erichsen, J. T. 1990. Lower-field myopia in birds: An adaptation that keeps the ground in focus. Vision Research 30 (5), pp.653-657. (10.1016/0042-6989(90)90091-X)
Manning, K. A. , Erichsen, J. T. and Evinger, C. 1990. Retrograde transneuronal transport properties of fragment C of tetanus toxin. Neuroscience 34 (1), pp.251-263. (10.1016/0306-4522(90)90319-Y)

1989

Erichsen, J. T. et al. 1989. Head orientation in pigeons: Postural, locomotor and visual determinants. Brain Behavior and Evolution 33 (5), pp.268-278. (10.1159/000115935)

1986

Evinger, C. and Erichsen, J. T. 1986. Transsynaptic retrograde transport of fragment C of tetanus toxin demonstrated by immunohistochemical localization. Brain Research 380 (2), pp.383-388. (10.1016/0006-8993(86)90241-6)

1985

Tansley, K. and Erichsen, J. T. 1985. Vision. In: Campbell, B. and Lack, E. eds. A Dictionary of Birds. Calton: T & A D Poyser. , pp.623-629.

1984

Gamlin, P. D. R. et al., 1984. The neural substrate for the pupillary light reflex in the pigeon (Columba livia). Journal of Comparative Neurology 226 (4), pp.523-543. (10.1002/cne.902260407)

1983

Reiner, A. et al., 1983. Parasympathetic ocular control — functional subdivisions and circuitry of the avian nucleus of Edinger-Westphal. Trends in Neurosciences 6 (4), pp.140-145. (10.1016/0166-2236(83)90068-1)

1982

Erichsen, J. T. et al. 1982. Localization of substance P-like and enkephalin-like immunoreactivity within preganglionic terminals of the avian ciliary ganglion: light and electron microscopy. Journal of Neuroscience 2 (7), pp.994-1003.
Erichsen, J. T. , Reiner, A. and Karten, H. J. 1982. Co-occurrence of substance P-like and Leu-enkephalin-like immunoreactivities in neurones and fibres of avian nervous system [Letter]. Nature 295 (5848), pp.407-410. (10.1038/295407a0)

1980

Erichsen, J. T. , Krebs, J. R. and Houston, A. I. 1980. Optimal Foraging and Cryptic Prey. Journal of Animal Ecology 49 (1), pp.271-276.
Houston, A. I. , Krebs, J. R. and Erichsen, J. T. 1980. Optimal prey choice and discrimination time in the great tit (Parus major L.). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 6 (3), pp.169-175.

1977

Krebs, J. R. et al., 1977. Optimal prey selection in the great tit (Parus major). Animal Behaviour 25 (1), pp.30-38. (10.1016/0003-3472(77)90064-1)

For most of the early part of my career, my focus has been on defining and stimulating the central near response pathways in the brain, including vergence and the pupillary light reflex, in order to better understand the interrelationship between accommodation and refractive development of the eye. The techniques employed included, stereotaxic surgery, immunohistochemistry, neural pathway tracing, and microstimulation.

Over time, these studies led to a growing interest in tracking eye movement responses in typical adults, school age children, and babies. Nearly twenty years ago, I established the Cardiff Research Unit for Nystagmus (RUN) to conduct studies of eye movement disorders in people with infantile nystagmus in order to better understand the impact of the continuous oscillatory eye movements on their vision and everyday life. We are fortunate to have been able to recruit a large cohort of volunteers with this condition, and our experiments have demonstrated the effect of environmental influences, such as stress or visual demand, on the intensity of their oscillations. Importantly, however, our results demonstrate that the most commonly used measure of visual performance, visual acuity, is not significantly affected by changes in the eye movements of a given individual, suggesting the need for developing better outcome measures.

More recently, I have founded the Eye Movement Experimental Research Group (EMERG) to reflect the expansion of our research into eye movement abnormalities of those with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Huntington’s disease, as well as others, such as children at risk of schizophrenia or adults suffering from dystonia. One study with colleagues in Psychology involved using gaze-contingent paradigms to explore the ability to train visual attention in older children with autism. We are also currently exploring the impact of eye movements on perception in patients who have undergone epilepsy surgery.

My collaborations, both in the UK and internationally, have ranged from an assessment of nerve fibre layer damage in an experimental model of glaucoma to investigations of the role of the hippocampus in spatial navigation and visual discriminations. I was recently involved in leading a Leverhulme Trust funded interdisciplinary study with engineering colleagues to investigate the remarkable ability of homing pigeons to sense and orient with respect to the earth's magnetic field.

In the past, our work has been supported by grants from the BBSRC, Leverhulme Trust and Wellcome Trust, and currently by both the College of Optometrists and nystagmus charities (Nystagmus Network and IN-vision). Our laboratories include state-of-the-art histological and neuroscience laboratories, a suite of videomicrographic image processing workstations, and several dedicated eye tracking facilities that include both non-invasive infra-red recording systems and large high-performance stimulus display systems.

I deliver lectures in several different undergraduate modules, including Introductory Optometry, Binocular Vision & Neurophysiology, and Research in Optometry & Vision Science, for which I am also the module leader. In addition, I participate in practical sessions demonstrating prosections of head and neck anatomy for the Cells and System module.

My teaching covers the following subject areas:

organisation, neuroanatomy & physiology of the retina and visual brain pathways
development of the visual system
vision agnosias
visual perception
characteristics and control of eye movements and their impact on vision
research and the scientific method

Education and professional qualifications

1972: AB (First Class Honours in Biology) Harvard University
1979: DPhil (Zoology) University of Oxford
1979 - 1983: National Eye Institute (NIH) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stony Brook University, NY (USA)

Honours and awards

1972: Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
1972: NSF Postgraduate Studentship
1972 - 1975: Marshall Scholar
1972 - 1979: Danforth Foundation Fellow

Professional memberships

Applied Vision Association (AVA)
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB)

Academic positions

2014 - present: Professor, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
2006 - 2014: Head, Visual Neuroscience & Molecular Biology Research Group
1995 - 2014: Senior Lecturer, School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
1983 - 1996: Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Neurobiology & Behavior, Stony Brook University, NY (USA)
1979 - 1983: NEI Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Neurobiology & Behavior, Stony Brook University, NY (USA)

Committees and reviewing

Lead, Visual Neuroscience
Director, Research Unit for Nystagmus (RUN)
Director, Eye Movement Experimental Research Group (EMERG)
Student Staff Panel
Extenuating Circumstances Committee
BSc Board of Studies
Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute Management Group

Recent university committees (2000-2012)

Chair, University JBIOS Users' Group
Biological Standards Committee
CUBRIC Steering Group
EMRIC Management Group
BCNC

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

Human Eye Movements
visual psychophysics and perception
Infantile Nystagmus
Neurodegenerative Disease
neuroanatomy of spatial memory

Current supervision

Katherine Ward

Contact Details

[email protected]
+44 29208 75656
Optometry and Vision Sciences, Room Room 2.39, Maindy Road, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ

Professor Jonathan Erichsen

Teams and roles for Jonathan Erichsen

Professor of Visual Neuroscience, Deputy Head of School

Overview

Research interests

Publication

2025

2024

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2014

2013