Ageing in vision and action

Presentation

The natural deterioration of vision with age gradually affects the independence and quality of life of older people. Losses in visual acuity, depth perception, colour perception and contrast perception impact walking, balance, locomotion, spatial orientation and navigation. With the global increase in the number of elderly people, visual ageing is a major public health issue. Our team studies the neurophysiological, perceptual and cognitive mechanisms involved in this process, from healthy ageing to pathologies such as AMD. We develop digital twins of the visual system, personalised models based on high-precision imaging, functional measurements and clinical cohorts, in order to understand, predict and monitor the progression of visual ageing.

The specific functional and neurobiological factors responsible for the loss of sensitivity in various visual functions—contrast sensitivity, motion perception, visual attention—remain poorly characterised. Our multidisciplinary approach links multilevel patterns of age-related functional consequences, from behaviour to neural processing. We combine approaches from computational neuroscience, neuroimaging (EEG, fMRI), psychophysics, and advanced statistical analysis to construct a unified characterisation of how ageing shapes the sensory and cognitive aspects of visuospatial behaviour.

We closely link fundamental research, clinical practice and innovation, collaborating with the Clinical Investigation Centre at Quinze-Vingts Hospital and industrial partners. Our work aims to transform these models into tools for personalised medicine for visual ageing, with concrete applications in early diagnosis, rehabilitation and the optimisation of visual aids. Thanks to cutting-edge technological platforms such as Streetlab, we conduct ecological behavioural experiments and develop innovative solutions to maintain the independence and mobility of elderly people.