缅北禁地

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Staff Profile

Professor Anya Hurlbert

Professor of Visual Neuroscience

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7638
  • Address: Centre for Transformative Neuroscience
    Institute of Biosciences
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Framlington Place
    University of 缅北禁地 upon Tyne
    NE2 4HH
Background

Brief biography


My background is in physics, medicine and neuroscience, with my higher education and early career research experience taking place on both sides of the Atlantic. I hold a BA in Physics from Princeton University and a Part III Diploma in Theoretical Physics and MA in Physiology from Cambridge University, where I held a Marshall Scholarship. I received a PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT, where I studied with Tomaso Poggio and Peter Schiller, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. I held a Vision Research Fellowship at Oxford University in Andrew Parker’s lab, before joining Physiological Sciences in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at 缅北禁地 as a lecturer.

At 缅北禁地, I became acting Head of the Division of Psychology, Brain and Behaviour (Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering) in 2003, and interim Head in 2007, helping to create the new School of Psychology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.  In 2004, I co-founded the Institute of Neuroscience with the late Professor Colin Ingram, and was co-Director of the Institute until 2014. In 2012, we established the Centre for Translational Systems Neuroscience with a Capital Award from the Wellcome Trust. Since the inception of the Centre for Research Excellence in Transformative Neuroscience in 2021, I have been a member of its steering group. In 2016, I was appointed the university's first Dean of Advancement.

Roles and responsibilities

University

Professor of Visual Neuroscience

Dean of Advancement

Steering Group, Centre for Transformative Neuroscience

External

Trustee, Science Museum Group, UK

Chair, Advisory Board, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford

Optoelectronics Committee, Rank Prize

Director, Vision Sciences Society

Scientific Consultative Group Member, National Gallery, London

Advisory Council, Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University

Consulting Editor, Perception

Associate Editor, Journal of Vision

Scientist Trustee, National Gallery, London (2010-2018)

Chair, Educational Trust, Royal Grammar School, 缅北禁地 (2010-2018)

 

Research

My research focuses on human visual perception: how and why do we see what we see? The typical human brain relies heavily on vision to make sense of the world, and I believe that understanding how people see will ultimately reveal much about how the brain works. My main interests are in how people perceive colours, how the colours people see interact with other attributes (e.g. shape, texture) in defining objects, how colours evoke emotions and names, and in the underlying neural processes from eye to brain. In my lab, we study these processes using psychophysical, computational and neuroimaging techniques in humans, across the age range, in normal and atypical development. We also apply our findings to real-world problems where colour provides solutions, and develop and apply calibrated colour imaging techniques. 

Colour perception

Colour vision enables many important behavioural tasks; people use colour to recognise objects (is that my coffee cup?) and to assess material properties (is this banana ripe? is his skin jaundiced?), as well as to enhance basic visual processing and visual search.  The neural processes that underlie colour perception begin in the retina and continue through multiple areas of cortex.

Colour constancy is a fundamental phenomenon which ensures that the object colours people see tend to stay the same despite changes in lighting spectra which cause changes in the light reflected from objects. Colour constancy enables people (and other animals who also possess colour constancy) to use colour as a reliable indicator of object identity or material properties. Yet despite being held up as a textbook example of a perceptual constancy, colour constancy is neither perfect nor perfectly understood. Research in my lab addresses several key questions about colour constancy: How good is colour constancy really? Has the human visual system optimised colour constancy for natural surfaces and lights? What are the underlying mechanisms in the eye and brain that achieve colour constancy? Does colour constancy in fact improve object recognition?

To measure human colour constancy better, we have developed a new method for discriminating changes in illumination, using tuneable LED light sources in real-world scenes. We demonstrated this lighting system and principles of colour perception at the National Gallery’s summer 2014 exhibition Making Colour.

To improve colour constancy in digital images, we also work towards making better colour correction algorithms, by tailoring these to the complexity of real world viewing conditions. For example, in recent EPSRC- and industry-funded projects, we have analysed colour constancy from the joined perspectives of human and computer vision, and explored the effects of multiple illuminations on colour appearance in real scenes.

Colour perception in colour vision deficiencies and developmental disorders 

The colours that people see and how they communicate about them depend on many factors, from the photoreceptors in their eyes to mechanisms in brain areas at higher levels, and are influenced by their environment, culture and personal histories. Colour elicits strong emotional responses in children, and is often used as a learning tool in early education. There are reports that emotional responses to colour may be exaggerated in developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS). Although atypicalities in other sensory domains are well studied in both ASD and WS, the integrity of colour perception in these developmental disorders is less well understood. We are studying how colour perception develops in ASD and WS, and to what extent emotional responses to colour in both atypically and typically developing children are linked to the basic ability to discriminate between colours, and how colour discrimination is in turn linked to the development of colour naming.

The non-visual effects of spectral variations of light on mood and behaviour

Spectral variations in light give rise not only to the perception of colour, but also to non-visual effects, on human health, mood and general performance. These effects arise through the non-visual pathway originating in the melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells. We are using tuneable LED technology, combined with physiological and behavioural measurements, to explore the effects of varying light spectra on both visual perception and cognitive performance. Our aim is to develop a dynamic lighting system that responds to human behavioural needs. This project began with the HI-LED research programme (Human-centric Intelligent LED engines for the take up of SSL in Europe) funded by the EU FP7 programme (see ). 


Other research interests and applications

Machine learning for biomedical image analysis (OCTAHEDRON )

Colour vision testing

Hyperspectral imaging of foodstuffs, for process control

Hyperspectral imaging of artwork

Development of spectrally tuneable illumination for vision research and museum lighting

The use of colour in contemporary and Old Master paintings



Teaching

Undergraduate

PSC3008: Physiology of the Nervous System (Physiological Sciences)

PSY3008: Art, Mind and Brain (Psychology)

PSY3097: Empirical Project (Psychology)

PSY2002: Perception (Psychology)

PSY3050: Making Sense of Forgotten Senses (Psychology)

CMB3000: Research Project (Biomedical Sciences)

Postgraduate

MMB8019: Sensory Systems Neuroscience (MRes in Neuroscience)

MMB8099: Project (MRes in Neuroscience)

 

Publications

  • Articles

    • Konakanchi Yesesvi, Hurlbert Anya. . Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2025, 3128, 012023.
    • Hurlbert A, Yu C. . Annual Review of Vision Science 2025, 11, 267-301.
    • Yu Cehao, Pastilha Ruben, Hurlbert Anya. . Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2025, 3128, 012005.
    • Cebioglu I, Nuttall P, Pollard N, Potts L, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2025, 3128, 012022.
    • Cebioglu I, Mistry M, Vasey R, Hurlbert A. . Journal of the Optical Society of America A 2025, 42(5), B178-B189.
    • Yu C, Van Zuijlen JP, Spoiala C, Pont SC, Wijntjes MWA, Hurlbert AC. . Journal of Vision 2024, 24(1), 1-27.
    • Wedge-Roberts R, Aston S, Beierholm U, Kentridge R, Hurlbert A, Nardini M, Olkkonen M. . Developmental Science 2023, 26(2), e13306.
    • Aston S, Jordan G, Hurlbert A. . Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision 2023, 40(3), A230-A240.
    • Vali M, Nazari B, Sadri S, Pour EK, Riazi-Esfahani H, Faghihi H, Ebrahimiadib N, Azizkhani M, Innes W, Steel DH, Hurlbert A, Read JCA, Kafieh R. . Diagnostics 2023, 13(7), 1309.
    • Danesh H, Steel DH, Hogg J, Ashtari F, Innes W, Bacardit J, Hurlbert A, Read JCA, Kafieh R. . Translational Vision Science and Technology 2022, 11(10), 10.
    • Nichol B, Hogg HDJ, Pepper GV, Hamoonga VM, Wilson KJ, Hurlbert AC, Read JCA. . Royal Society Open Science 2022, 11(4).
    • Nichol B, Hurlbert AC, Read JCA. . Journal of Public Health Research 2022, 11(4), 22799036221127627.
    • Gupta G, Gross N, Pastilha R, Hurlbert A. . bioRxiv 2020.
    • Pastilha R, Gupta G, Gross N, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2020, 20(13), 18.
    • Wedge-Roberts R, Aston S, Beierholm U, Kentridge R, Hurlbert A, Nardini M, Olkkonen M. . Journal of Vision 2020, 20(12), 4.
    • Aston S, Denisova K, Hurlbert A, Olkkonen M, Pearce B, Rudd M, Werner A, Xiao B. . Perception 2020, 49(11), 1235-1251.
    • Aston S, Radonjic A, Brainard DH, Hurlbert AC. . Journal of Vision 2019, 19(3), 15.
    • Hurlbert A. . Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 2019, 30, 186-193.
    • Crichton S, Shrestha L, Hurlbert A, Sturm B. . Drying Technology 2018, 36(7), 804-816.
    • Martin D, Hurlbert A, Cousins DA. . Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 2018, 32(3), 379-383.
    • Schloss KB, Lessard L, Racey C, Hurlbert AC. . Vision Research 2018, 151, 99-116.
    • Radonjic A, Ding X, Krieger A, Aston S, Hurlbert AC, Brainard DH. . Journal of Vision 2018, 18(5), 11.
    • Carle T, Horiwaki R, Hurlbert A, Yamawaki Y. . Journal of Insect Behavior 2018, 31(2), 158-175.
    • Aston S, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2017, 17(9).
    • Radonjic A, Pearce B, Aston S, Krieger A, Dubin H, Cottaris NP, Brainard DH, Hurlbert AC. . Journal of Vision 2016, 16(11), 2.
    • Cranwell MB, Pearce B, Loveridge C, Hurlbert AC. . Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 2015, 56(5), 3171-3178.
    • Brainard DH, Hurlbert AC. . Current Biology 2015, 25(13), R551-R554.
    • Mackiewicz M, Finlayson GD, Hurlbert AC. . IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 2015, 24(5), 1460-1470.
    • Finlayson GC, Mackiewicz M, Hurlbert AC, Pearce BM, Crichton S. . Journal of the Optical Society of America A 2014, 31(7), 1577-1587.
    • Pearce BM, Crichton SOJ, Mackiewicz M, Finlayson GD, Hurlbert AC. . PLoS One 2014, 9(2), e87989.
    • Vurro M, Ling Y, Hurlbert AC. . Journal of Vision 2013, 13(7), 20.
    • Franklin A, Bevis L, Ling Y, Hurlbert AC. . Developmental Science 2010, 13(2), 346-352.
    • Ruppertsberg AI, Bloj M, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2008, 8(9), 3.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert A. . Journal of the Optical Society of America A: Optics and Image Science, and Vision 2008, 25(6), 1215-1226.
    • Hurlbert A. . Current Biology 2007, 17(21), R906-R907.
    • Hurlbert AC, Ling Y. . Current Biology 2007, 17(16), R623-R625.
    • Aspell JE, Tanskanen T, Hurlbert AC. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2005, 22(11), 2937-2945.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2004, 4(9), 721-734.
    • Hurlbert A. . Current Biology 2003, 13(7), R270-R272.
    • Bloj M, Wolfe K, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2002, 2(7), 154.
    • Gigg J, Golledge HDR, McDonald JS, Hurlbert AC, Tovee MJ. . Perception 2002, 31(supplement), 67.
    • Wolf K, Hurlbert AC. . Perception 2002, 31(supplement), 70.
    • Wolf K, Hurlbert A. . Journal of Vision 2002, 2(7), 137.
    • Bloj MG, Hurlbert AC. . Perception 2002, 31(2), 233-246.
    • Hurlbert A. . Nature Neuroscience 2001, 4(1), 3-5.
    • Hurlbert A. . Current Biology 2000, 10(6), R231-R233.
    • Bloj MG, Kersten D, Hurlbert AC. . Nature 1999, 402(6764), 877-879.
    • Hurlbert A. . Current Biology 1999, 9(15), R558-R561.
    • Hurlbert AC. Illusions and reality-checking on the small screen. Perception 1998, 27, 633-636.
    • Hurlbert A.C., Bramwell D.I., Heywood C. and Cowey A. Discrimination of cone contrast changes as evidence for colour constancy in cerebral achromatopsia. Exp. Brain Res 1998, 123, 136-144.
    • Hurlbert AC. Computational models of colour constancy. In: Walsh V, Kulikowski J (eds). Perceptual Constancy: Why things look as they do. Cambridge University Press 1998, 283-321.
    • Hurlbert AC. Primer: Colour Vision. Current Biology 1997, 7(7), R400-R402.
    • Moeller P. and Hurlbert A.C. Motion edges and regions guide image segmentation by colour. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B 1997, 264, 1571-1577.
    • Moeller P. and Hurlbert A.C. Interactions between colour and motion in image segmentation. Current Biology 1997, 7(2), 105-111.
    • Moller P, Hurlbert A. Interactions between colour and motion in image segmentation. Current Biology 1997, 7(2), 105-111.
    • Hurlbert A. Colour vision. Current Biology 1997, 7(7), R400-R402.
    • Moeller P. and Hurlbert A.C. Psychophysical evidence for fast, region-based segmentation processes in motion and colour. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 1996, 93, 7421-7426.
    • Bramwell D.I. and Hurlbert A.C. Measurements of colour constancy using a forced choice matching technique. Perception 1996, 25, 229-241.
    • Hurlbert AC. Colour vision: Putting it in context. Current Biology 1996, 6(11), 1381-1384.
    • HURLBERT AC. . CURRENT BIOLOGY 1994, 4(5), 423-426.
    • A. C. Hurlbert,A. M. Derrington. Neural Coding - How Many Neurons Does It Take to See. Current Biology 1993, 3(8), 510-512.

  • Authored Book

    • Marshall J, Hurlbert A, Boddy J, Cronin T, Douglas R, Johnsen S, Cortesi F. . Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2024.

  • Book Chapters

    • Pastilha R, Hurlbert A. . In: Nayantara Santhi and Manuel Spitschan, ed. Circadian and Visual Neuroscience. Elsevier BV, 2022, pp.275-301.
    • Hurlbert A. . In: Gayford M; Kemp M; Munro J, ed. Hockney's Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction. London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2022, pp.145-158.
    • Hurlbert A. . In: Fabian A; Gibson J; Sheppard M; Weyand S, ed. Vision. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp.57-106.
    • Hurlbert AC. . In: Shapiro, A; Todorovic, D, ed. Oxford Compendium of Visual Illusions. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017, pp.382-387.
    • Hurlbert AC, Owen KA. . In: Elliott, AJ; Fairchild, MD, ed. Handbook of Color Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp.454-480.
    • Hurlbert AC. . In: Albertazzi, L, ed. Handbook of Experimental Phenomenology: Visual Perception of Shape, Space and Appearance. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, pp.369-394.
    • Hurlbert A, Ling Y. . In: Best, J, ed. Colour Design: Theories and Applications. Oxford: Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2012, pp.129-157.
    • Hurlbert A. . In: S. Aldworth, ed. Reassembling the Self: A Collection. London, UK: Cassland Books, 2012, pp.5-8.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert A. . In: Biggam, C.P., Hough, C.A., Kay, C.J., Simmons, D.R, ed. New Directions in Colour Studies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011, pp.347-360.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert AC, Robinson L. . In: Pitchford, N.J., Biggam, C.P, ed. Progress in Colour Studies 2: Psychological Aspects. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2006, pp.173-188.
    • Hurlbert AC. Optical Illlusions. In: Brown,TG;Creath,K;Kogelnik,H;Kriss,MA;Schmit,J;Weber,MJ, ed. The Optics Encyclopedia. Oxford: Wiley-VCH, 2004.
    • Hurlbert AC. . In: Gregory, R.L, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.186-188.
    • Hurlbert A, Wolf K. . In: Heywood, CA; Milner, D; Blakemore, C, ed. The roots of visual awareness: a festschrift in honour of Alan Cowey. London: Elsevier, 2004, pp.147-160.
    • Wolf K, Hurlbert AC. . In: Mollon, J.D., Pokorny, J., Knoblauch, K, ed. Normal and Defective Colour Vision. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp.239-247.
    • Hurlbert AC. . In: Signals and Perception: SD329 Course Textbook. London, UK: Open University Press, 2002.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Llenas A, Hurlbert A, Lam F, Manudhane R, Gupta G, Giddings J, Carreras J. . In: CIE 2019 29th Quadrennial Session. 2019, Washington, D.C. USA: CIE (International Commission on Illumination).
    • Hurlbert A, Pearce BM, Aston S. . In: CIE 2016 Lighting Quality and Energy Efficiency Conference. 2016, Melbourne, Australia: CIE Central Bureau.
    • Padfield J, Aston S, Kergourlay F, Luo MR, Hurlbert AC. . In: CIE 2016 Lighting Quality & Energy Efficiency. 2016, Melbourne, Australia: CIE.
    • Aston S, Turner J, Bisson TLC, Jordan G, Hurlbert A. . In: 39th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP). 2016, Barcelona, Spain: Sage Publications Ltd.
    • Aston S, Groombridge J, Pearce B, Hurlbert A. . In: 38th European Conference on Visual Perception (EVCP) 2015. 2015, Liverpool, UK: Sage.
    • Bradley P, Aston S, Jordan G, Hurlbert A. . In: 38th European Conference on Visual Perception (EVCP) 2015. 2015, Liverpool, UK: Sage.
    • Crichton S, Sturm B, Hurlbert A. . In: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Annual International Meeting 2015. 2015, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
    • Crichton SOJ, Sturm B, Hurlbert A. . In: 2015 ASABE Annual International Meeting. 2015, New Orleans, LA, USA.
    • Hurlbert A, Pearce B, Aston S. . In: 38th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP). 2015, Liverpool, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
    • Cranwell M, Riby D, Le Couteur A, Pearce B, Hurlbert A. . In: 38th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP). 2015, Liverpool, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.
    • Mackiewicz M, Crichton SOJ, Newsome S, Gazerro R, Finlayson GD, Hurlbert AC. . In: 6th European Conference on Colour in Graphics, Imaging and Vision (CGIV). 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Crichton SOJ, Pichat J, Mackiewicz M, Tian GY, Hurlbert AC. . In: 6th European Conference on Colour in Graphics, Imaging and Vision (CGIV). 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Ling Y, Vurro M, Hurlbert A. . In: Society for Imaging Science and Technology: 4th European Conference on Colour in Graphics, Imaging, and Vision and 10th International Symposium on Multispectral Colour Science (CGIV/MCS). 2008, Terrassa, Spain: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert AC. . In: Final Program and Proceedings - IS and T/SID Color Imaging Conference. 2007, Albuquerque, New Mexico: IS & T--the Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Hurlbert AC. . In: 29th European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP 2006). 2006, Saint Petersburg, Russia: Perception: Pion Ltd.
    • Ling Y, Hurlbert A. . In: CGIV 2006 - 3rd European Conference on Colour in Graphics, Imaging, and Vision, Final Program and Proceedings. 2006, Leeds, UK: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Hurlbert A, Wolf K. . In: Human Vision and Electronic Imaging VII. 2002, San Jose, California, USA: SPIE.
    • Aspell JE, Bramwell DI, Hurlbert AC. . In: European Conference on Visual Perception - ECVP 2000. 2000, Groningen, Netherlands: Pion Ltd.
    • Bloj MG, Hurlbert AC. . In: Perception: 23rd European Conference on Visual Perception. 2000, Groningen, Netherlands: Pion.
    • HURLBERT AC, WEN W, POGGIO T. LEARNING COLOR CONSTANCY. In: JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC SCIENCE. 1994.

  • Editorials

    • Hurlbert A, Cuttle C. . Leukos 2020, 16(1), 1-5.
    • Hurlbert A, Ridley M. . Current Biology 2005, 15(3), R78-R79.
    • Hurlbert A. Illusions and reality-checking on the small screen. PERCEPTION 1998, 27(6), 633-636.