Khazar Ahmadi

khazar

Otto-von-Guericke University, Ophthalmic Department, Visual Processing Lab

Profile Update 28.02.2018

Current activities:

I am currently writing my thesis. In parallel, I am finalizing the manuscript of two separate studies in which, we used state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to study cortical plasticity in congenital chiasmal abnormalities.

Accomplishments:

Throughout my Ph.D, I have focused on 4 main research projects on clinical populations with visual problems, ranging from migraine to albinism. The results of these projects have been published in the following journals and presented in several conferences. Additionally, I have done two secondments at distinguished institutions.

Published manuscripts:

  • Ahmadi, K., Fracasso, A., van Dijk, J. A., Kruijt, C., van Genderen, M., Dumoulin, S. O., & Hoffmann, M. B. (2018). Altered organization of the visual cortex in FHONDA syndrome. NeuroImage.
  • Arngrim†, N., Hougaard†, A., Ahmadi*, K., Vestergaard*, M. B., Schytz, H. W., Amin, F. M., Larsson, H.B.W., Olesen, J., Hoffmann, M.B. & Ashina, M. (2017). Heterogenous migraine aura symptoms correlate with visual cortex functional magnetic resonance imaging responses. Annals of neurology, 82(6), 925-939. [shared † first & * second authorships]
  • Hoffmann, M. B., Thieme, H., & Ahmadi, K. (2017). Potential of fMRI for the Functional Assessment of the Pathological Visual System. Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde, 234(03), 303-310. [in German]
  • Ahmadi, K., Pouretemad, H. R., Esfandiari, J., Yoonessi, A., Yoonessi, A. (2015). Psychophysical evidence for impaired Magno, Parvo, and Koniocellular pathways in dyslexic children. Journal of ophthalmic & vision research, 10(4), 433.

Manuscripts under revision:

  • Eick, C., Ahmadi, K., Sweeney-Reed, C. M., Hoffmann, M. B. Interocular transfer of visual memory: influence of visual impairment and abnormalities of the optic chiasm. [Neuropsychologia]

Conference presentations:

Invited talks

  • Ahmadi, K. (2018). Macroscopic and mesoscopic cortical organization in congenital visual pathways abnormalities. Brain-in-depth (BID) – Symposium on layer-dependent MRI, Magdeburg, Germany.
  • Ahmadi, K., Fracasso, A., van Dijk, J. A., van Genderen, M., Dumoulin, S. O., & Hoffmann, M. B. (2016). Altered retino-cortical connections and visual cortex reorganization in the recently discovered FHONDA syndrome. Society for neuroscience (SfN), San Diego, USA.

Poster presentations

  • Ahmadi, K., Fracasso, A., Gouws, A. D., Morland, A. B., Dumoulin, S. O., Hoffmann, M. B. (2017). Functional organization of the visual cortex in a unique case of achiasma. Society for neuroscience (SfN), Washington, D.C., USA.
  • Ahmadi, K., Fracasso, A., van Dijk, J. A., Kruijt, C., van Genderen, M., Dumoulin, S. O., & Hoffmann, M. B. (2017). Cortical plasticity in FHONDA: a new inherited visual system disorder. European conference on visual perception (ECVP), Berlin, Germany.

Secondments:

  • Spinoza Center for Neuroimaging, Amsterdam, Netherlands. March – April. 2017
  • Experimental Ophthalmology Lab, University Medical Center Groningen, in conjunction with Royal Dutch Visio, Groningen, Netherlands. October. 2017

Future plans:

Upon completion of my Ph.D., I would like to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship. I intend to continue studying normal and the diseased brain using combination of electrophysiological and imaging techniques.

My NextGenVis Experience:

As a NextGenVis fellow, I had the privilege of attending several scientific meetings and workshops, which considerably improved my knowledge of human visual system and the common analytical tools to study it. Moreover, some of my projects could not have been completed without collaboration with other PIs and fellows whom I got to know during these meetings. Finally, the program increased my international network, a prerequisite for a successful career in academia.

======

Education:

9/2006 – 2/2010: B.Sc. Clinical Psychology, Tabriz University, Tabriz. Iran

9/2010 – 6/2013: M.Sc. Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. Iran

8/2014 – now: Ph.D. Candidate, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg. Germany

Research Interests:

Visual neuroscience

Cognitive neuropsychology (in particular executive functions)

Research Project:

4/2012 – 4/2013: Investigation of Magno-cellular deficit hypothesis in Persian speaking dyslexic children (a psychophysical study)

9/2014 – 2/2015: Delineation of retinotopic maps in patients suffering from Migraine with visual aura (an fMRI study)

Current Project:

“Plasticity and stability of cortical wiring in Albinism”: an fMRI study to investigate                             replacement of ocular dominance with hemifield dominance columns in visual pathway misrouting disorders i.e. albinism and achiasma

Publications:

Kh. Ahmadi, H. R. Pouretemad, J. Esfandiari, A. Yoonessi & A. Yoonessi. “Psychophysical evidence for impaired Magno, Parvo and Konio-Cellular pathways in dyslexic children” (assigned to be published on issue Oct-Dec 2015, Journal of Ophthalmic and Vision Research)