David Zee MD

Professor of Neurology

dzee@jhu.edu
Telephone Number: 443-287-4625
Fax Number: 410-614-1746

Department of Neurology
Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 N. Wolfe St.
Baltimore, MD 21287
Room: Path 2-210
Areas of Research
Systems, Cognitive + Computational Neuroscience
Neural Circuits, Ensembles + Connectomes
Neurobiology of Disease

Graduate Program Affiliations

Neuroscience Training Program

Center for Hearing and Balance

Visual Neuroscience Training Program

Regulation of Eye Movements

Disorders of the control of eye movements lead to disabling disturbances of vision and balance. Our research aims to understand better the mechanisms by which ophthalmologic, neurologic and inner ear diseases affect ocular eye movements and vision. We apply biomedical engineering techniques to the recording and analysis of eye movements both in normal subjects and in patients with neuro-ophthalmologic or vestibular disorders. Our emphasis is on the mechanisms that ensure optimal performance of the ocular motor control system. Both the immediate visual and vestibular influences on eye movements and the more long-term adaptive processes that permit compensation for disease are investigated. We currently are also studying the effects of the magnetic fields of MRI machines on the inner ear labyrinth and consequently brain function. We are using advanced imaging techniques to visualize movement of fluid within the inner ear. We also are using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to study vestibular perception, i.e., how the brain develops a sense of upright. Another focus is on the relationship between the molecular biology of ion channels and the genetic and acquired causes of tremor of the limbs as well as oscillations of the eyes. The use of eye movement recordings as diagnostic aids (for example, early diagnosis of stroke, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis) are also being investigated.


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