The effect of mild traumatic brain injuries on visual and vestibular functions
Applications are invited for a three-year PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1 October 2022 or later.
Project description
Patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) frequently suffer from a variety of visual and vestibular problems. TBI-associated visual symptoms include blurred vision, double vision, reading problems, and eye strain. In addition, many patients show vestibular symptoms, including dizziness, nausea, and impaired balance. TBI can also affect the interactions between the visual and vestibular system that preserve gaze stabilisation during self and imposed body motion resulting in visual induced dizziness. The aim of this 3-year PhD project is to systematically investigate visual and vestibular functions in TBI patients. The visual function experiments will investigate low-level (e.g., contrast sensitivity), mid-level (e.g. contour – and shape perception and high-level cortical visual processes (e.g. visual search, attention). The vestibular testing will involve a combination of clinical tests, objective oculomotor and vestibular tests and tests of visuo-vestibular interactions and eye-head coordination during visual smooth pursuit. Further, the scholar will have the opportunity to incorporate some of the neuroimaging methodologies at new Brain and Imaging Research Centre (BRIC) at the University of Plymouth.
The successful candidate will be part of the Eye and Vision Research Group and The Motor Control Laboratory at the Brain and Imaging Research Centre (BRIC) at the University of Plymouth.
The PhD scholar will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team of experts in vision (Dr Gunnar Schmidtmann), clinical neurology (Dr Ellie Edlmann) and neurorehabilitation (Professor Jonathan Marsden).
Please email gunnar.schmidtmann@plymouth.ac.uk if you are interested.
Eligibility
Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in an appropriate subject and preferably a relevant masters qualification.
The studentship is supported for 3 years and includes full Home tuition fees plus a stipend of £16,062 per annum (2022/23 rate). The studentship will only fully fund those applicants who are eligible for Home fees with relevant qualifications. Applicants normally required to cover International fees will have to cover the difference between the Home and the International tuition fee rates (approximately £12,670 per annum).
If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Dr Gunnar Schmidtmann.
Please see a list of supporting documents to upload with your application.
This vacancy will involve working with children and/or vulnerable adults and any appointment will be subject a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
For more information on the admissions process generally, please contact doctoralcollege@plymouth.ac.uk.