There is an opening for a PhD student in my lab. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration with MRI physicist Dr Jennifer Macfarlane from the University of Dundee/NHS Tayside to investigate the neural substrate of sustained attention.
The full advert with a project description and information about how to apply is on FindAPhD
I will be presenting our work “Disease mechanisms in spatial neglect: displaced locus of attention in response to salient objects” by Balslev, Mitchell, Chandrashekhar, Lambert and Cvoro as a virtual poster at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, in November 2025. This is a collaboration between researchers at the University of St Andrews and acute stroke consultants in NHS Fife and NHS Tayside.
I have uploaded a virtual poster, if you would like to learn more about our research.
With thanks to Kritika, who created the video below.
A (less fun, more informative) project description is here
Wishing Dr Kritika Lohia all the best as she starts her postdoctoral fellowship in my lab. Kritika completed her PhD in Visual Neuroscience at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi with the dissertation “Perceptual and Neural Mechanisms of Static and Dynamic Stereopsis”. She has now joined the research team working on the MRC-funded Strabismus project. I look very much forward to working together and to seeing you continue to grow as a researcher.
…for winning funding from China Scholarship Council to support her PhD studies, and for a great 1. st year research presentation at the Psycholoquia in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience.
The photo shows Pei in front of her poster, together with half of her supervisor (one can still see how proud I am).
We are seeking a highly motivated Post-doctoral Research Fellow to join Dr. Daniela Balslev‘s team on an MRC-funded project: The role of oculoproprioception in the neural control of ocular alignment: Understanding disease mechanisms in strabismus.
This collaborative project involves experts from the Universities of St Andrews (Prof Malinda Carpenter, Developmental Psychology) and Glasgow (Dr Alessio Fracasso, Cognitive Neuroscience/Ultrahigh Field fMRI), as well as from the Children’s Orthoptic Unit NHS Fife (Dr Nikki Hall, Clinical Ophthalmology).
The 36-month position starts May 1, 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Project Overview
Strabismus (squint) is a common childhood eye disorder where individuals struggle to align their eyes. This project investigates whether inaccurate proprioceptive input from extraocular muscles contributes to eye misalignment. Using eye tracking, fMRI, and TMS, the research will examine both paediatric and adult populations to uncover the neural basis of ocular alignment.
Key Responsibilities
1. Assess proprioceptive impairments in children with strabismus (eye tracking in 4- to 5-year-olds).
2. Investigate the neural substrate for binocular coordination in adults (ultra-high-field fMRI, TMS).
Qualifications
Applicants should hold (or be nearing completion of) a PhD in cognitive neuroscience or a related field, with expertise in one or more of the following: eye tracking, behavioural research with children, fMRI, or TMS. A strong interest in vision or oculomotor control is essential, and additional training will be provided.
Application details
For further information and to apply please visit https://www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/5685/0/443631/889/research-fellow-ar3087dd
For questions, contact Dr Daniela Balslev at daniela.balslev@st-andrews.ac.uk
Closing date: January 20, 2025
Interview date: February 5 or 6, 2025 (online), TBC
I’m delighted to share that Pei Wu has joined the lab to conduct research towards a PhD with me and Dr Tom Otto.
She will investigate the neural mechanisms underlying motor eye dominance.
Poster:
Cortical and subcortical proprioceptive contribution to oculomotor control in humans
Daniela Balslev1, Graeme A. Keith2, Ross Hardaker3, Frances Crabbe3, and Alessio Fracasso3
1School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK 2Imaging Centre of Excellence, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK 3School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Our poster reports the results of a small pilot study using ultra-high field (7 Tesla) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We show the feasibility of parallel, brain and brainstem data acquisition.
We did this research because we have previously observed that stretching the extraocular muscles of the right eye is associated with an increase of neural activity in the brainstem extraocular motor nuclei that move the left eye (Balslev et al., Human Brain Mapping, 2022). Understanding the proprioceptive coupling between the two eyes is important, because it may shed light on the disease mechanisms of strabismus, a common and disabling condition in children characterised by misaligned ocular axes. The objective is to find out which brain or brainstem structure drives this proprioceptive coupling between the two eyes. Is this a short reflex via the brainstem (like a crossed stretch reflex in the skeletal muscles) or does it reflect a longer feedback loop via the brain?
One can answer this question using fMRI connectivity. The first step in this research, however, is to acquire fMRI data from both brain and brainstem at the same time. This was not possible in our previous study at 3 Tesla where we had to zoom in on the brainstem. Imaging the brainstem is challenging because of the small nuclei and the proximity of the pulsating blood vessels. Most studies tackle this challenge by limiting the field of view to the structure of interest. Our innovative approach was to use the higher streghth of the magnetic field to increase signal-to-noise ratio. We replicate previous results, and this time around, we manage to image both brain and the brainstem at the same time, enabling future connectivity analyses.
The poster is scheduled for presentation on Wednesday June 26 and Thursday June 27 13:45-15:45 at COEX Seoul, South Korea. This small pilot was funded by the University of St Andrews (LIFTS award to Daniela) and the University of Glasgow. We are now applying for funds to complete this research (UPDATE 1.07.2024 – I just heard that the UK Medical Research Councils funded this project. I’m so happy and grateful that we get to finish this research!) .
