Dr Matt J Dunn
Lecturer, Deputy Director of Postgraduate Research
- dunnmj1@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44(0)29 208 70576
- Room 2.12, Optometry and Vision Sciences, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Research in my lab is focused on exposing the mechanisms underlying disorders of visual perception – including blindsight, Charles Bonnet Syndrome (hallucinations), visual dyslexia and infantile nystagmus. In particular, I am interested in the role of involuntary eye movements in perceptual (in)stability. My interest in eyetracking extends to the clinical application of eyetrackers in routine eyecare and neurology practice. I am the author of the popular ophthalmology e-textbook Dunn Vision Reference.
We typically recruit patients with orthoptic or perceptual disorders in order to better understand visual physiology. If you have a neurological visual disorder and are interested in taking part in research, please click here for more information.
Biography
Professional memberships
- GOC registered optometrist
- Fellow, Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member of the College of Optometrists (MCOptom)
Academic positions
| 2016 – Present | Lecturer, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University |
| 2014 – 2016 | Research Associate, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University |
| 2013 – 2015 | Teacher, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University |
| 2014 – 2014 | Research Associate, Department of Neuroscience, Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board |
| 2013 – 2014 | Research Associate, School of Psychology, Cardiff University |
| 2010 – 2013 | Clinical supervisor, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University |
Speaking engagements
Invited talks
| 2022 | India Vision Institute ResMeet (Hyderabad, India) "Challenges in integrating eyetracking into clinical care" |
| 2022 | Hans van der Steen Valedictory Symposium (Rotterdam, Netherlands) "Perception with nystagmus" |
| 2020 | Nystagmus Decoded (Madurai, India) – "Eyetracking made simple" (session moderator) |
| 2018 | RNIB Wales (Cardiff, UK) – "Understanding infantile nystagmus" |
| 2017 | Vision 2017 (The Hague, Netherlands) – “’Time to see’ in infantile nystagmus” |
| 2016 | Rank Prize Funds (Grasmere, UK) – “Visual perception in the presence of nystagmus” |
| 2016 | Oxford, Bristol, Cardiff & Southampton Alliance in Vision Research (Cardiff, UK) – “Seeing with nystagmus” |
| 2016 | 100% Optical (London, UK) – “A clinician’s guide to nystagmus” |
| 2015 | Midland Peripatetic Group for Teachers of the Visually Impaired (Birmingham, UK) – "Seeing with nystagmus" |
| 2015 | LV Prasad Eye Institute (Hyderabad, India) – "Visual perception in infantile nystagmus" |
| 2015 | University of California (Berkeley, California, US) – "Visual perception in infantile nystagmus" |
| 2015 | University of Houston (Houston, Texas, US) – "Visual perception in infantile nystagmus" |
| 2015 | Orthoptics Decoded (Madurai, India) – "Orthoptic treatments for nystagmus" (session moderator) / "Supranuclear gaze palsies" |
| 2015 | Nystagmus Network International Research Workshop (New Orleans, Louisiana, US) – "Visual timing in infantile nystagmus" |
| 2015 | ARVO Annual Meeting (Denver, Colorado, US) – "Visual processing in infantile nystagmus is not slow" |
| 2013 | Nystagmus Network International Research Workshop (Abingdon, UK) – "Appropriate measures of visual performance in infantile nystagmus: Acuity is not enough" |
| 2013 | European Conference on Eye Movements (Lund, Sweden) – "Involuntary saccade initiation is related to the timing of voluntary saccades in infantile nystagmus" |
| 2013 | ARVO Annual Meeting (Seattle, Washington, US) – "Visual acuity in infantile nystagmus in the absence of image motion" |
Public engagement and media appearances
I am registered as a STEMnet ambassador, and provide public talks on vision science and perception.
| 2019 | Public lecture (Unearthed Festival, UK) – "What we miss: The neuroscience of perception" |
| 2018 | Radio interview (BBC Good Morning Wales) – The importance of early sight tests |
| 2018 | Public lecture (Sunday Assembly, Bristol, UK) – “What we miss” |
| 2017 | Public lecture (Green Gathering, UK) – "Perception, illusions and visual neuroscience" |
| 2016 | Public lecture (Tintern Philosophy Circle, UK), – "How much can we know from our senses?" |
| 2016 | Public lectures (Boomtown Fair & Green Gathering, UK) – “How experience shapes perception: perspectives from visual neuroscience” |
| 2015 | TV news article (BBC Points West) – Mobility and vision in patients following stroke |
| 2015 | TV news article (BBC Wales Today) – Using virtual reality to understand visual guidance of walking |
| 2015 | Public lecture (Green Gathering, UK) – "Neuroscience of visual perception" |
| 2014 | Public lecture (Sunrise Festival, UK) – "Psychophysics and perception" |
Committees and reviewing
Journal reviewer for:
- Behavior Research Methods
- Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Journal of Ophthalmology
- PLOS One
- Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
- Vision Research
- Eye
- Current Eye Research
- Clinical Ophthalmology
- Acta Psychologica
- Therapeutic Advances in Rare Disease
- Optometry and Vision Science
- Strabismus
- Journal of Eye Movement Research
- Optometry in Practice
Grant reviewer for:
- Medical Research Council
- Macular Society
- Nystagmus Network
Publications
2022
- Ceroni, F. et al. 2022. Analysis of fibroblast growth factor 14 (fgf14) structural variants reveals the genetic basis of the early onset nystagmus locus nyS4 and variable ataxia. European Journal of Human Genetics (10.1038/s41431-022-01197-5)
- Shetty, S., Janardhanan, A., Perumalswamy, V., Mishra, C. and Dunn, M. J. 2022. Acquired vertical pendular nystagmus in diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis: A diagnostic dilemma. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology - Case Reports 2(2), pp. 503-505. (10.4103/ijo.IJO_2360_21)
- Rennie, K. et al. 2022. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with nystagmus and an exploration of public assumptions about the condition: an electronic questionnaire study. BMC Ophthalmology 22, article number: 268. (10.1186/s12886-022-02484-x)
- Thomas, N., Dunn, M. J. and Woodhouse, J. M. 2022. Voluntary flutter presenting during ophthalmoscopy: A case report. Case Reports in Ophthalmology 13(1), pp. 286-291. (10.1159/000524384)
- Holmqvist, K. et al. 2022. Eye tracking: empirical foundations for a minimal reporting guideline. Behavior Research Methods (10.3758/s13428-021-01762-8)
2021
- Cutsuridis, V., Jiang, S., Dunn, M. J., Rosser, A., Brawn, J. and Erichsen, J. T. 2021. Neural modelling of antisaccade performance of healthy controls and early Huntington's disease patients. Chaos 31, article number: 13121. (10.1063/5.0021584)
- Weaterton, R. et al. 2021. Beyond visual acuity: development of a simple test of the slow-to-see phenomenon in children with infantile nystagmus syndrome. Current Eye Research 46(2), pp. 263-270. (10.1080/02713683.2020.1784438)
2020
- Dunn, M. J., Carter, P., Shawkat, F., Osborne, D. and Self, J. 2020. Eyetracking-enhanced VEP for nystagmus. Presented at: 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, United States, 3-7 May 2020, Vol. 61. Vol. 7. pp. 5092.
- Self, J. E. et al. 2020. Management of nystagmus in children: A review of the literature and current practice in UK specialist services. Eye (10.1038/s41433-019-0741-3)
2019
- Dunn, M. J., Harris, C. M., Ennis, F. A., Margrain, T. H., Woodhouse, J. M., McIlreavy, L. and Erichsen, J. T. 2019. An automated segmentation approach to calibrating infantile nystagmus waveforms. Behavior Research Methods 51(5), pp. 2074-2084. (10.3758/s13428-018-1178-5)
- Clark, R. et al. 2019. The potential and value of objective eye tracking in the ophthalmology clinic. Eye 33, pp. 1200-1202. (10.1038/s41433-019-0417-z)
- Thomas, N., Acton, J., Erichsen, J. and Dunn, M. J. 2019. Validation of a novel gaze-contingent perimeter with high-speed eye tracking. Presented at: 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 28 April - 2 May 2019, Vol. 60. Vol. 9. pp. 522-522.
- Wells, M., Rushton, S., Redmond, T., Clatworthy, P. and Dunn, M. 2019. Residual visual function in cortical vision loss. Optometry Today 59(3), pp. 62-65.
- Huang, J., Kinateder, M., Dunn, M. J., Jarosz, W., Yang, X. and Cooper, E. A. 2019. An augmented reality sign-reading assistant for users with reduced vision. PLoS ONE 14(1), article number: e0210630. (10.1371/journal.pone.0210630)
- Bowden, J., Whitaker, D. and Dunn, M. J. 2019. The role of peripheral vision in the flashed face distortion effect. Perception 48(1), pp. 93-101. (10.1177/0301006618817419)
2018
- Kinateder, M., Gualtieri, J., Dunn, M. J., Jarosz, W., Yang, X. and Cooper, E. A. 2018. Using an augmented reality device as a distance-based vision aid - promise and limitations. Optometry and Vision Science 95(9), pp. 727-737. (10.1097/OPX.0000000000001232)
- Robinson, D. G., Margrain, T. H., Dunn, M. J., Bailey, C. and Binns, A. M. 2018. Low-level night-time light-therapy for age-related macular degeneration: a randomized clinical trial. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 59(11), pp. 4531-4541. (10.1167/iovs.18-24284)
- Dunn, M. J. and Rushton, S. K. 2018. Lateral visual occlusion does not change walking trajectories. Journal of Vision 18(9), article number: 11. (10.1167/18.9.11)
2017
- Dunn, M. 2017. Disorders of perception. Optometry Today 57(11), pp. 64-69.
- Binti Ahmad Zahidi, A., Woodhouse, J., Erichsen, J. T. and Dunn, M. 2017. Infantile nystagmus: an optometrist's perspective. Clinical Optometry 9, pp. 123-131. (10.2147/OPTO.S126214)
- Dunn, M., Debbie Wiggins, D., Woodhouse, J. M., Margrain, T. H., Harris, C. M. and Erichsen, J. T. 2017. The effect of gaze angle on visual acuity in infantile nystagmus. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 58(1), pp. 642-650. (10.1167/iovs.16-20370)
- Dunn, M., McIlreavy, L. and Erichsen, J. 2017. The Nystagmus null zone: evidence for contributions from each eye. Perception 46(10), pp. 1224-1225.
2016
- Dunn, M. 2016. Visual perception in infantile nystagmus. Optometry in Practice 17(1), pp. 19-26.
- Dunn, M. 2016. Clinical assessment of nystagmus. Optometry Today 56(7), pp. 80-85.
- Dunn, M. and Lee, H. 2016. Management of nystagmus. Optometry Today 56(8), pp. 64-68.
2015
- Dunn, M., Margrain, T. H., Woodhouse, J. M. and Erichsen, J. T. 2015. Visual processing in infantile nystagmus is not slow. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 56(9), pp. 5094-5101. (10.1167/iovs.15-16977)
- Harrison, J. J., Sumner, P., Dunn, M. J., Erichsen, J. T. and Freeman, T. C. A. 2015. Quick phases of infantile nystagmus show the saccadic inhibition effect. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 56(3), pp. 1594-1600. (10.1167/iovs.14-15655)
2014
- Dunn, M., Margrain, T. H., Woodhouse, J. M., Ennis, F., Harris, C. M. and Erichsen, J. T. 2014. Author response: grating visual acuity in infantile nystagmus in the absence of image motion. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 55(8), pp. 4955-4957. (10.1167/iovs.14-15070)
- Dunn, M. J., Margrain, T. H., Woodhouse, J. M., Ennis, F. A., Harris, C. M. and Erichsen, J. T. 2014. Grating visual acuity in infantile nystagmus in the absence of image motion. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 55(4), pp. 2682-2686. (10.1167/iovs.13-13455)
- Dunn, M. 2014. Quantifying perception and oculomotor instability in infantile nystagmus. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Teaching
I deliver the Perception lecture series and run orthoptics teaching clinics. I am recognised as a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Modules currently taught
| OP2206 | Perception |
| OP3207 | Research in Optometry and Vision Science |
| OP3103 | Binocular Vision (clinic lead) |
| OPT006 | Paediatric Ophthalmology |
| OPT007 | Eye Care for People with Learning Disabilities |
Modules previously taught
| OP3205 | Occupational Optometry, Law and Business (module leader) |
| OP3104 | Abnormal Ocular Conditions |
| OP0205 | Introductory Optometry |
| OP2206 | Colour Vision and Perception (module leader) |
| OP3106 & OP2207 | Visual Perception (module leader) |
| OP2201 | Clinical Studies and Dispensing |
| OP2104 | Binocular Vision |
| OP3103 | Primary Eye Care |
| OP2103 | Investigative Techniques |
| Doctoral Academy | MATLAB programming |
Funding (external only)
| 2020 | JT Erichsen, L McIlreavy, MJ Dunn, JM Woodhouse. Development of an eye tracking system for assessment in the home. Nystagmus Network |
£4000 |
| 2020 | MJ Dunn (PI), Teufel C. Investigating a plausible mechanism underlying hallucinations in Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Fight for Sight / Welsh Government | £14,034 |
| 2020 | JT Erichsen, R Wise, MJ Dunn, L McIlreavy. Infantile nystagmus: exploring the causes and establishing better measures of visual performance. College of Optometrists | £60,000 |
| 2018 | MJ Dunn (PI) [Fellowship]. The role of attention in peripheral vision. College of Optometrists | £28,727 |
| 2018 | MJ Dunn (PI), Shawkat F, Self J. Improving VEP diagnostics in people with nystagmus. Nystagmus Network / Fight for Sight | £6201 |
| 2017 | N Thomas, MJ Dunn, J Acton, JT Erichsen. Additional clinical testing for retinal predictors of visual performance in nystagmus. Nystagmus Network | £1387 |
| 2016 | PL Clatworthy, SK Rushton, MJ Dunn. The effect of visual cognitive impairment due to cerebrovascular disease on walking. North Bristol Trust | £8510 |
| 2016 | MJ Dunn (PI), JH Acton, JT Erichsen. Retinal predictors of visual performance in infantile nystagmus. College of Optometrists | £55,827 |
| 2014 | MJ Dunn (PI). Understanding binocular vision in infantile nystagmus. College of Optometrists | £19,573 |
| 2014 | MJ Dunn (PI) & JT Erichsen. Establishing clinical measures of temporal visual function in infantile nystagmus. Nystagmus Network | £14,552 |
| 2013 | MJ Dunn (PI) & JT Erichsen. Nystagmus analysis software development grant, Nystagmus Network | £1500 |
Supervision
If you are interested in pursuing a PhD with me, please get in touch or click here for more information.
Current supervision
Past projects
- Dr Mason Wells (co-lead supervisor; 2022) Cinematic scanning: using movie watching fMRI to investigate the function and organisation of the visual brain
- Dr Nikita Thomas (lead supervisor; 2021) Development of a novel gaze-contingent perimeter and assessment of retinal structure in infantile nystagmus
