ICH Babylab
May 2013
How visual input shapes our world
Joe Bathelt talks about his investigations at the
London Babylab, his quest to understand the higher
order functions of the brain, and how our everyday
environment impacts brain development. He fills us
in on his PhD life here at UCL Institute of Child
Health.
Can you sum up your research in three lines?
I’m interested in how visual experience shapes the thinking and social interaction of children. The
interaction of visual brain areas with other brain areas is important for many thinking skills, including
social understanding, attention switching and spatial representation.
What kind of children do you work with?
I work with children with visual impairment in the peripheral part of their visual systems (this includes
the eyes, the retina, and the optic nerve). I usually work with school-age children, but I occasionally
work with toddlers.
Tell me, how did you choose to research this particular area?
I’m intrigued by the question of how we acquire our mental representations of the world and how we
learn to interact with other people. Children offer a unique window into helping us learn how this
process evolves as their brains are constantly developing. Children with visual impairment are
particularly important to this type of research as they show us how the process can be altered due to
unusual visual experience.
Will your research lead to any important outcomes?
We are working very closely with clinicians at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Any findings translate
very rapidly into new methods of assessment and shape the advice that the clinical team provides to
children with visual impairment and their parents. This also influences the awareness of the specific
educational needs of children with visual impairment in their school
environment.
“Before entering this area, I had the notion that
thoughts are something very abstract and build on
absolute logical rules.”
Pictures from Joe’s brain research.
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What is the most interesting thing you have come across since entering this area of research?
I think the most interesting realisation was that experience and development influence thinking to a
very large degree. Before entering this area, I had the notion that thoughts are something very
abstract and build on absolute logical rules. Following the rationalist view, I thought that the way by
which the representations are acquired does not matter. However, my work with children who have
visual impairment shows that their representation of the world is often quite different. Many of these
children have very differentiated perceptions of sounds or can distinguish unbelievably tiny details in
patterns by touch. However, their experience of space is sometimes different to that of fully sighted
individuals.
What or who motivates you?
My long-term motivation comes from my belief in the significance of the research question. It is very
important for me to work towards something that provides new knowledge, but also has the
potential to positively impact on the life of people.
My day-to-day motivation mostly comes from the desire to solve problems. I actually enjoy figuring
out the puzzles that any sophisticated analysis is associated with. The process of carving out the
truth and beauty from the complex data of brain imaging is quite rewarding and enjoyable for me.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you arrived at the Babylab?
I did my undergraduate degree in general biology. I was fascinated by the close link between
physiological mechanisms and observable behaviours. However, my strongest interest was in
complex behaviours like emotion and social interaction-these are very difficult to study in animals!
So, I decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Neuroscience and focus more on human brain function.
Through the tutelage of my supervisor, Dr. Michelle de Haan, as well as the inspiring seminars at
the Centre for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, I came to realise that it is not possible to
understand these higher functions without taking their development into account. Consequently, I
wanted to explore this area further and decided on a PhD at the Institute of Child Health.
Joe Bathelt interviewed by Michelle Downes
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