Flaum Eye Institute

Krystel Huxlin, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of Ophthalmology
Neurobiology and Anatomy
Center for Visual Science
Brain & Cognitive Science

Research Interests

Adult Visual Plasticity
One of our goals is to understand the cellular basis and psychophysical characteristics of visual perceptual plasticity in adulthood. We are particularly interested in contrasting the plastic potential of intact visual systems with the visual plasticity that can be attained by adult visual systems that have sustained permanent damage at different levels of their hierarchical organization. One avenue of research we are currently pursuing is to use anatomical tools, molecular biology, visual psychophysics, virtual reality and functional imaging (fMRI) to characterize changes at the cellular and systems levels that are key to the recovery of visual functions after brain damage in adulthood. We have recently begun applying this knowledge to patients with visual cortical damage following stroke, tumor or trauma with the ultimate goal of developing behavioral and pharmacological strategies to promote visual recovery following such damage.

Huxlin Lab Links Home Research Team Publications, Presentations & Patents Honors & Awards Teaching

Corneal Wound Healing and Physiological Optics
This research is intended to provide new insights into the biological causes and perceptual consequences of increased optical aberrations in the eye following manipulations or the ocular surface, including laser refractive surgery (in collaboration with Dr's. Geunyoung Yoon and  Scott MacRae) and corneal transplantation (in collaboration with Dr. Holly Hindman). Using anterior segment optical coherence tomography, in vivo confocal imaging, wavefront sensing, histology, cell culture and molecular biology, we are beginning to quantify the relationship between different aspects of ocular wound healing and optical quality in the eye. Furthermore, we are interested (in collaboration with Dr's. Richard Phipps and Patricia Sime) in understanding the different molecular pathways controlling the complex wound healing response of the cornea and in studying the effects of pharmacologically manipulating these pathways on both corneal biology and optics. This knowledge is essential for the ultimate development of both intra- and post-operative strategies to improve the optical outcome of ocular surgeries and wounds.

Selected Publications

Huxlin KR, Pasternak T. (2004) Training-induced recovery of motion perception after extrastriate cortical damage in the adult cat. Cerebral Cortex; 14: 81-90.

Huxlin KR, Yoon G, Nagy L, Porter J, Williams DR. (2004) Monochromatic ocular wavefront aberrations in the awake-behaving cat. Vision Research; 44: 2159-2169.

Nagy L. J., MacRae S., Yoon G., Cox I. and Huxlin K.R. (2007) Photorefractive keratectomy in the cat eye: biological and optical outcomes. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery; 33: 1051 - 1064.

Bühren, J., Yoon, G., Kenner, S., MacRae, S. and Huxlin, K.R.  (2007) The effect of optical zone decentration on lower- and higher-order aberrations after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in a cat model. Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science 48: 5806 - 5814.

Martin T., Riley M.E., Kelly K., Hayhoe M. and Huxlin K.R. (2007) Visually-guided behavior of homonymous hemianopes in a naturalistic task. Vision Research 47: 3434 - 3446.

Huxlin, K.R. Williams, J.M. and Price, T. (2008) A neurochemical signature of visual recovery after extrastriate cortical damage in the adult cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 508: 45 - 61.

Huxlin, K.R. (2008) Perceptual plasticity in damaged adult visual systems. Vision Research Reviews - Vision Research 48: 2154 - 2166.

Ding, L., Bühren, J., Nagy, L.J., Knox, W. and Huxlin, K.R. (2008) Intra-stromal Refractive Index Shaping (IRIS) of the cornea and lens using a low-pulse-energy femtosecond laser oscillator. Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science 49: 5332 - 5339.

Bühren, J., Nagy, L.J., Swanton, J.N., Kenner, S., Yoon, G., MacRae, S.M., Phipps, R., Huxlin, K.R. (2009) Optical effects of anti-TGFb treatment after photorefractive keratectomy in a cat model. Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science 50: 634 - 643.

Huxlin K.R., Martin T., Riley M., Kelly K., Friedman D.I., Burgin W.S. and Hayhoe M. (2009) Perceptual re-learning of complex visual motion after V1 damage in humans. Journal of Neuroscience 29: 3981 - 3991.

Ferguson H.E., Kulkarni, A., Lehmann G.M., Garcia-Bates T.M., Thatcher T.H., Huxlin K.R., Phipps R.P. and Sime, P.J. (2009) Electrophilic PPAR_ ligands have potent anti-fibrotic effects in human lung fibroblasts. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology (in press - Ms. No. Red-2009-0006C.R1).

Bühren, J., Yoon, G., MacRae, S. and Huxlin, K.R. (2009) Contribution of optical zone decentration and pupil dilation on the change of optical quality after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in a cat model. Journal of Refractive Surgery (in press - Ms. No. JRS-2008-250 Version 1).

Martin, T. and Huxlin, K.R. (2009) Spontaneous and Training-Induced Visual Learning in Cortical Blindness: Characteristics and Neural Substrates. Topics in Cognitive Science (in press - Ms. No. S-09-81).

Nagy, L.J., Ding, L., Xu, L., Knox, W.H. and Huxlin, K.R. (2009) Potentiation of femtosecond laser intratissue refractive index shaping (IRIS) in the living cornea with sodium fluorescein. Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science (In press - Ms. No. IOVS-09-3901).