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Matthew R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.

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Huxlin Lab

About Me

Dr. Matthew Cavanaugh is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Cavanaugh received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from State University of New York College at Geneseo in 2012, followed by a Master's of Neuroscience in ...
Dr. Matthew Cavanaugh is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Cavanaugh received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from State University of New York College at Geneseo in 2012, followed by a Master's of Neuroscience in 2014 and Doctorate of Neuroscience in 2017, both from the University of Rochester. His research focuses on the development of visual perceptual learning interventions to alleviate vision loss associated with stroke-induced damage to the occipital cortex. This work has centered around quantification of visual recovery through visual perimetry, identifying mechanisms and substrates that underlie the restored vision, and the use of attention to enhance training outcomes.

Faculty Appointments

Research Assistant Professor - Department of Ophthalmology (SMD)

Credentials

Education

PhD | University of Rochester. Neuroscience. 2017

MS | University of Rochester. Neuroscience. 2014

BS | SUNY, College at Geneseo. Biology. 2012

Publications

Journal Articles

The effect of unilateral cortical blindness on lane position and gaze behavior in a virtual reality steering task.

Giguere AP, Cavanaugh MR, Huxlin KR, Tadin D, Fajen BR, Diaz GJ

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology.. 2025 February 6 Epub 02/06/2025.

Vision-related quality of life after unilateral occipital stroke.

Dogra N, Redmond BV, Lilley S, Johnson BA, Lam BL, Tamhankar M, Feldon SE, Fahrenthold B, Yang J, Huxlin KR, Cavanaugh MR

Brain and behavior.. 2024 July 14 (7):e3582. Epub 1900 01 01.

Training in Cortically Blinded Fields Appears to Confer Patient-Specific Benefit Against Retinal Thinning.

Fahrenthold BK, Cavanaugh MR, Tamhankar M, Lam BL, Feldon SE, Johnson BA, Huxlin KR

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.. 2024 April 165 (4):29. Epub 1900 01 01.

Limited restoration of contrast sensitivity with training after V1 damage in humans.

Yang ??? J, Saionz EL, Cavanaugh MR, Fahrenthold BK, Melnick MD, Tadin D, Briggs F, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

eNeuro.. 2024 February 2311 (3)Epub 02/23/2024.

Rehabilitating homonymous visual field deficits: white matter markers of recovery-stage 1 registered report.

Willis HE, Cavanaugh MR, Ajina S, Pestilli F, Tamietto M, Huxlin KR, Watkins KE, Bridge H

Brain communications.. 2024 6 (5):fcae324. Epub 09/21/2024.

Rehabilitating homonymous visual field deficits: white matter markers of recovery-stage 2 registered report.

Willis HE, Caron B, Cavanaugh MR, Starling L, Ajina S, Pestilli F, Tamietto M, Huxlin KR, Watkins KE, Bridge H

Brain communications.. 2024 6 (5):fcae323. Epub 09/23/2024.

Training in cortically-blind fields confers patient-specific benefit against retinal thinning after occipital stroke.

Fahrenthold BK, Cavanaugh MR, Tamhankar M, Lam BL, Feldon SE, Johnson BA, Huxlin KR

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.. 2023 December 20 Epub 12/20/2023.

Contrast sensitivity: a fundamental limit to vision restoration after V1 damage.

Yang J, Saionz EL, Cavanaugh MR, Fahrenthold BK, Melnick MD, Tadin D, Briggs F, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences.. 2023 September 2 Epub 09/02/2023.

GABA and Glutamate in hMT+ Link to Individual Differences in Residual Visual Function After Occipital Stroke.

Willis HE, Ip IB, Watt A, Campbell J, Jbabdi S, Clarke WT, Cavanaugh MR, Huxlin KR, Watkins KE, Tamietto M, Bridge H

Stroke.. 2023 September 54 (9):2286-2295. Epub 07/21/2023.

Perceptual restoration fails to recover unconscious processing for smooth eye movements after occipital stroke.

Kwon S, Fahrenthold BK, Cavanaugh MR, Huxlin KR, Mitchell JF

eLife.. 2022 June 2211 Epub 06/22/2022.

Benefits of Endogenous Spatial Attention During Visual Double-Training in Cortically-Blinded Fields.

Cavanaugh MR, Tadin D, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

Frontiers in neuroscience.. 2022 16 :771623. Epub 04/14/2022.

Optic Tract Shrinkage Limits Visual Restoration After Occipital Stroke.

Fahrenthold BK, Cavanaugh MR, Jang S, Murphy AJ, Ajina S, Bridge H, Huxlin KR

Stroke.. 2021 November 52 (11):3642-3650. Epub 07/16/2021.

Spared perilesional V1 activity underlies training-induced recovery of luminance detection sensitivity in cortically-blind patients.

Barbot A, Das A, Melnick MD, Cavanaugh MR, Merriam EP, Heeger DJ, Huxlin KR

Nature communications.. 2021 October 2012 (1):6102. Epub 10/20/2021.

Efficacy of Visual Retraining in the Hemianopic Field after Stroke: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Cavanaugh MR, Blanchard LM, McDermott M, Lam BL, Tamhankar M, Feldon SE

Ophthalmology.. 2021 July 128 (7):1091-1101. Epub 11/23/2020.

Feature-based attention potentiates recovery of fine direction discrimination in cortically blind patients.

Cavanaugh MR, Barbot A, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

Neuropsychologia.. 2019 May 128 :315-324. Epub 12/10/2017.

Author response: Visual discrimination training improves Humphrey perimetry in chronic cortically induced blindness.

Huxlin KR, Cavanaugh MR

Neurology.. 2018 February 2790 (9):437. Epub 1900 01 01.

Visual discrimination training improves Humphrey perimetry in chronic cortically induced blindness.

Cavanaugh MR, Huxlin KR

Neurology.. 2017 May 988 (19):1856-1864. Epub 04/12/2017.

Visual recovery in cortical blindness is limited by high internal noise.

Cavanaugh MR, Zhang R, Melnick MD, Das A, Roberts M, Tadin D, Carrasco M, Huxlin KR

Journal of vision.. 2015 15 (10):9. Epub 1900 01 01.