We study how the human brain develops and change across the lifespan.
Explore the Visual Neuroscience Laboratory
​and learn more
COVID-19 update: It has been a very challenging time and the Murphy lab wants to thank all of the frontline workers, healthcare professionals, grocery store clerks, delivery workers and everyone else who is out there everyday taking care of us -- THANK YOU.
  • My lab is contributing to understanding the effects of COVID-19 on the brain.  We launched a series of studies to help identify areas of the brain with heightened vulnerability to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Stay healthy and stay safe.
Kathy Murphy
​We believe that studying how the brain develops is the key to understanding how we think, see, hear and feel.
​Our lab is a place where people experience the power of science to develop their own potential.​




In my lab, we study development of the human visual cortex.  My students and I are uncovering new insights about how our brain changes and how those changes affect how we see.
More than 20 areas in the human cortex process visual information and our studies are answering important questions about how those areas develop.
  • We understand that healthy brain development continues into the 4th decade of life.  
  • We have linked cognitive and perceptual changes with molecular changes in the brain.
  • We know that there is much more to learn about how the human brain develops.
My students have done amazing research and gone on to pursue careers in academic and non-academic settings.  I'm looking for students who want to join our team on this journey to make the next discovery about how the human brain develops.



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We study the developing brain

  • We use a library of rare & valuable postmortem tissue samples from the human brain 
  • and a collection of animal models
  • to study development and plasticity in the visual areas of the brain

We are exploring how normal and abnormal experience affects developing synapses and plasticity in the brain.

We use cellular and molecular tools to measure the expression of neural proteins, especially proteins involved in neuroplasticity, and we quantify how synaptic and non-synaptic proteins change across the lifespan and after different types of visual experience.

Human Brain Development

We found that development of the human brain is slow and the
visual cortex is not fully mature until about 35 years of age.

Experience & Neuroplasticity

We found that certain synaptic proteins important for regulating neuroplasticity are vulnerable to abnormal visual experience.

Promoting Recovery

We found that that perceptual training and binocular vision can promote recovery of vulnerable neuroplasticity mechanisms.

Do you know someone who is interested in the human brain and wants to do graduate studies in neuroscience?

Come to explore sex differences in the developing human brain

We are uncovering new insights into how the female and male brain develops and changes across the lifespan.  This is important for understanding sex differences in brain functions and the potential for recovery from visual, neurological or psychiatric disorders.

Come to study synaptic plasticity

 We are comparing synaptic plasticity mechanisms in different areas of the human brain and in animal models to answer why certain visual behaviours are more or less plasticity.  This is important for finding new treatments for visual disorders.

Come to work on translation

We are building models to translated synaptic age between animal models and humans.  This is important for translating biologically inspired treatments for a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders.
​​Oh, and did I mention that I have great students doing cool stuff in the lab and in their outreach activities like organizing Out of Our MiNDS and starting a podcast about how COVID affects the brain (COVIDontheBrain).
Here are the wonderful students that I've had the pleasure to work with, supervise, mentor and learn from.
Fill out this application if you are interested in joining the lab.

THE DETAILS ARE IN OUR PUBLICATIONS

Thank you for visiting the Visual Neuroscience Lab webpage.
Please contact me if you have questions -- Dr Kathryn Murphy
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My book of synaptosome protocols published in the Springer Nature series of NeuroMethods series.
"This volume describes techniques to make synaptosomes, and discusses numerous ways that synaptosomes are used to study and answer diverse questions about synapses. After examining the history that led to making synaptosomes, the chapters delved into its important as a tool to explore synaptic connections. Some of the topics covered in this book are: synaptosome bioenergetics and glutamate release; affinity proteomics for interactome and phosphoproteome screening in synaptosomes; isolation of highly purified and functionally active synaptic mitochondria; and profiling of microRNA and protein from purified synaptoneurosomes in a neurodegenerative disease model. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory.
 Cutting-edge and thorough, Synaptosomes is a valuable resource for any researcher interested in learning more about this developing field."
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