Jocelyn Faubert (born 1959) is a psychophysicist best known for his work in the fields of visual perception, vision of the elderly, and neuropsychology. Professor Faubert holds the NSERC-Essilor Industrial Research Chair in Visual Perception and Presbyopia. He is the director of the Laboratory of Psychophysics and Visual Perception at the University of Montreal. Professor Faubert has also been involved in the award-winning transfer of research and developments from the laboratory into the commercial domain. He is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of CogniSens Inc.
Dr. Faubert obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Faubert's early work was related to aging, vision, and glaucoma. More recently, his work has focused on neuroplasticity as it relates to visual perception and cognitive performance.
Psychophysics and Visual Perception Laboratory
Dr. Faubert oversees the work of over ten masters and doctoral students as well as a team of researchers and post-doctoral fellows in his multidisciplinary psychophysical and visual perception laboratory. He has been director for over 20 years. research areas include: Brain Function Perception Multi-sensory integration Neurolobiological Alterations (Autism, aging, mTBI, Stroke amongst others) Neurological systems Biophonics Nanophotonics Optics Over 130 Peer-reviewed articles have resulted from the research conducted at the laboratory, as well as several patents. One of the stated aims of the University of Montreal's laboratory is to develop technologies for use in the society at large; applying research resulting from investigations into aging and perceptual-cognitive performance to the commercial domain.
Technologies
The laboratory makes use of several suites of sophisticated technology to conduct its research: EON Icube : A Multi-sided immersive environment in which participants are completely surrounded by virtual imagery and 3D sound. CAVE :The Cave Automatic Virtual Environment is an advanced display system of the size of a room. It combines stereoscopic projection and high-resolution 3D computer graphics to create the illusion of being present in a virtual environment. EEG: the recording of electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the brain. EEG refers to the recording of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity over a short period of time as recorded from multiple electrodes placed on the scalp. Driving Simulator: An immersive 180° field-of-view screen with simulated rear and side-view mirrors. Used extensively in research into the driving capacity of the elderly.
Laboratory research populations
The laboratory utilises its 3D technologies and diagnostic equipment to investigate perceptual cognitive issues in various populations: adults, the elderly, children, autistics and those suffering from mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI).
Research programs
Using the immersive virtual reality technologies of the laboratory, Professor Faubert and his researchers are able to use custom-made programs in the CAVE, Icube and Driving Simulator to investigate areas of research interest. These include: Simulated Optic Flow to examine effects on postural reactivity Visual Distortion Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) programs for testing an individual's ability to track moving objects in their peripheral vision Biological Motion Perception Motion Perception Illusions
Scientific research
Aging and visual perception
In a number of studies, Dr. Faubert and colleagues were able to pinpoint the effect of normal aging on visual and perceptual functions. One important study demonstrated that it is not the physical tools of vision which are affected by aging. Rather, it is a loss of computational or processing ability of the brain that ultimately affects visual perception as people age.
Development Disorders and Visual Perception
In a number of studies, Dr. Faubert and colleagues examined the impact of developmental disorders (autism, fragile x syndrome, etc.) on visual function. They were able to demonstrate that in the case of autism (unlike fragile x), patients' results are not pathway-specific, but rather are dependent on the complexity of the neural processing required to perceive the image. Over the course of their studies, Dr. Faubert and colleagues observed autism patients who could significantly outperform the general population at certain visual tasks, and patients who could significantly underperform the general population at the same tasks.