Sports and Visual Performance

Visual performance and athletic performance are inextricably linked, but how? This question has intrigued athletes, trainers, team managers, coaches, and franchise owners. Moreover, understanding the link between eye, mind, and body has fascinated vision care providers, neuroscientists, and vision researchers as well. This feature issue was born from several discussions about what was needed to further research in sports vision. It was decided that the goal should be to bring together some of the best minds investigating the sports-vision link and spotlight emerging and important practices and research trends. This project was also designed to bring new evidence-based practices to light—rigorous research designs and rigorous methodologies were to be featured to address pressing questions. Finally, for the first time, the Optometry and Vision Science also decided to publish invited reviews from leaders in the field. We hope you enjoy this feature issue as we bring current research topics and new evidence to you in new ways. This issue would not be possible without a tremendous effort from an outstanding team of contributing guest editors. Leading this team was Nick Fogt, OD, PhD, FAAO. Dr. Fogt also helped to assemble other leading figures in the field to serve as guest topical editors: L. Gregory Appelbaum, PhD; Kristine Dalton, OD, PhD, MCOptom, FAAO; Dr. Graham Erickson, OD, FAAO; and Rob Gray, PhD. It is a pleasure to introduce these distinguished leaders.Nick Fogt, OD, PhD, FAAODr. Nick Fogt is a professor at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He earned his OD, MS, and PhD degrees from the Ohio State University. He completed a residency in hospital-based optometry before his PhD studies. Dr. Fogt's research is primarily related to vergence eye movements, fixation disparity, and head and eye coordination. He teaches courses in retinal disease, systemic disease, and eye movements at the College Optometry. Dr. Fogt is a fellow of the Optometric Retina Society and a member of the Ohio State University Human Performance Collaborative and the Ohio State University Academy of Teaching.L. Gregory Appelbaum, PhDDr. Appelbaum is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Duke University School of Medicine. He is the head of the Human Performance Optimization Lab (www.dukeoptilab.org) and directs the Duke Brain Stimulation Research Center (https://psychiatry.duke.edu/brain-stimulation-research-center). Dr. Appelbaum's research interests primarily concern the brain mechanisms underlying visual cognition, how these capabilities are refined in experts, and how they can be improved through behavioral, neurofeedback, and neuromodulation interventions. As a faculty member, his research has been continuously supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Army Research Office, and Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. His research includes use of behavioral psychometrics, electroencephalography, functional MRI, transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, wearables, and virtual reality.Kristine Dalton, OD, PhD, MCOptom, FAAODr. Kristine Dalton is an associate professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, where she founded the Sports Vision Clinic, cofounded the Brain Injury Clinic, and provides performance vision enhancement and vision rehabilitation services for athletes and individuals with traumatic brain injury and concussion. Dr. Dalton has also established the Vision and Motor Performance Lab, and her research interests include sports performance, traumatic brain injury rehabilitation in able-bodied, and Para sport. Dr. Dalton is also involved with Paralympic classification for athletes with vision impairment. Dr. Dalton is a member of the Concussion in Para Sport group, a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and a fellow of the British Contact Lens Association.Dr. Graham Erickson, OD, FAAO (BVPP)Dr. Graham Erickson is a professor at the Pacific University College of Optometry. He currently teaches vision therapy, strabismus/amblyopia, and sports vision courses and is the coordinator of the Vision Therapy/Rehabilitation and Pediatric Optometry residency at Pacific University. Dr. Erickson is a diplomate in Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry in the American Academy of Optometry and a fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development. He has worked with collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports athletes and teams for more than 30 years. Dr. Erickson has authored the text Sports Vision: Vision Care for the Enhancement of Sports Performance, coauthored the text Optometric Management of Reading Dysfunction, and published chapters and articles in various professional journals.Rob Gray, PhDOriginally from Toronto, Canada, Dr. Gray completed his BA in Psychology at Queen's University and his MS and PhD in Experimental Psychology at York University. After receiving his PhD in 1998, he worked as a research scientist for Nissan Motor Corporation in Cambridge, MA. In 2001, Dr. Gray was appointed as an assistant professor in the newly formed Applied Psychology Program at Arizona State University. In 2006, he was appointed as an associate professor and a program head. Since 2005, he has also worked part-time as a research psychologist for the U.S. Air Force. From January to June 2010, he was appointed as a visiting professor in sport sciences at the University of the Mediterranean in France. From 2010 to 2014, he was a reader (associate professor) in Perception & Action in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. His research focuses on perceptual-motor control with a particular emphasis on the demanding actions involved in driving, aviation, and sports. His goal is to conduct basic research that can be applied toward the improvement of training, simulation, accident prevention, and human-machine interface development within these contexts. In 2007, he was awarded the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association and the Earl Alluisi Award for Early Career Achievement in the Field of Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology. Clearly, this is an accomplished and distinguished group of leaders. We are proud of their accomplishments and grateful for their contributions. We hope this issue may inspire others to take up the challenge to pursue new evidence-based approaches to sports vision practice and raise new research questions for others to pursue. Michael D. Twa, OD, PhD, FAAO Editor in Chief University of Houston College of Optometry Houston, TX

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