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null Robert Hess, PhD

Honorary Investigator, RI-MUHC, Montreal General Hospital site

Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program

Centre for Translational Biology

Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University

 

Keywords

visual processing • amblyopia • psychophysics • brain imaging

Research Focus

Robert Francis Hess received an Honorary Scientist appointment to the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in 2025. His pioneering research in visual neuroscience has profoundly shaped the understanding of human vision. His influential work on contour integration has clarified how the brain organizes visual information, while his groundbreaking discoveries in amblyopia treatment have transformed clinical practice. By demonstrating adult cortical plasticity, his research overturned long-standing assumptions and introduced novel therapies, including behavioral training and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Robert Hess’ research focuses on understanding low-level vision, in particular cortical plasticity in the adult, using a range of different techniques including psychophysics, brain stimulation (TMS and tDCS), brain imaging (fMRI, EEG and MEG) and computational modelling to better understand normal visual cortical function and how it can be modulated. One key application of this work is to a condition called amblyopia. This is the most common form of unilateral blindness in the adult population, with an incidence of three per cent, but currently there is no treatment beyond 17 years of age. His laboratory has developed an innovative new treatment for children and adults that has been acquired by Novartis.

Selected Publications

Click on Pubmed to see my current publications list

  • Webber, A, L. Schmidt, K. L, Baldwin, A. S. and Hess, R. F. Suppression rather than visual acuity loss limits stereoacuity in amblyopia. IOVS (in Press).

  • Tao, C. He, Z. Chen, Y. Zhou, J. Hess, R. F. Can short-term ocular dominance plasticity provide a general index to visual plasticity to personalize treatment in amblyopia? Front Neurosci (in press).

  • Wu Y, Reynaud A, Tao C, Mao Y, He Z, Zhou J* & Hess RF. (2020) Two patterns of interocular delay revealed by spontaneous motion-in-depth Pulfrich phenomenon in amblyopes with stereopsis. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Vol.61, 22.

  • Alarcon Carrillo, S. Baldwin, A. S. & Hess, R. F. (2020). Factors limiting sensitivity to binocular disparity in human vision: evidence from a noise-masking approach. Journal of Vision. Vol.20, 9.

  • Beylerian, M.; Hess; R. F.; Matonti, F.; Denis, D.; Chavane, F. & Reynaud, A. (2020) Interocular Suppressive Interactions in amblyopia depend on spatial frequency. Vision Research. 168, 18-28.