Faculty > Tychsen

Lawrence Tychsen, M.D.

Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
Professor, Anatomy and Neurobiology
Professor, Pediatrics
(314) 454-6026

B.S. Biology, Georgetown University (1975); M.D. Georgetown University (1979); Fellow, Neuro-Ophthalmology, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD (1979-1980); Resident, Ophthalmology, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (1980-1983); Fellow, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Neurobiology, University of California, San Francisco (1984-1985); Fellow, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Smith-Kettlewell Institute of Visual Sciences, San Francisco (1984-1985)

Lawrence Tychsen, MD is Professor of Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, Anatomy and Neurobiology at St Louis Children's Hospital/Washington University Medical Center. His clinical work focuses on 3 topics:

  1. Surgical repair of vision in children with ocular and brain damage, including prematurity, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism
  2. Refractive surgery (excimer laser and intraocular implants) for children who have major difficulties wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses
  3. Eye muscle surgery for children and adults who have crossed eyes (strabismus) and eye movement abnormalities (e.g. nystagmus)

He is principal investigator on NIH-funded studies of visual brain maldevelopment and repair in infant primates, as well as clinical studies of visuomotor abnormalities in cerebral palsy and pediatric refractive surgery.

Research Area:

Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus

Research Interests:

Development of binocular vision in primates

Dr. Tychsen’s laboratory work is focused broadly on development of binocular vision in infant humans and monkeys, and specifically on neural mechanisms in strabismus (the clinical disorder of crossed-eyes). Studies have shown that infantile strabismus is not due primarily to an eye muscle problem, but rather to malformation of circuits in the CNS. The malformations are manifest as a constellation of visual and motor deficits, which include loss of depth perception, abnormal motion vision and inaccurate eye tracking. These deficits in humans and strabismic monkeys are quantified using measures of perception, visually-evoked cortical potentials and eye movement recordings. In the animal model, injection of neuronal tracers is used to examine CNS circuits that are known to mediate the relevant behaviors. The behavioral-neuroanatomic experiments are carried out in collaboration with Dr. Andreas Burkhalter and are designed to answer three major questions:

  1. How do the visual and motor circuits in crossed-eyed infants differ from those in normal infants?
  2. Which miswired circuit caused the eyes to cross in the first place?
  3. How can we alter the development of these circuits to prevent or cure the disorder?

Selected Publications:

  1. Tychsen L: Infantile Esotropia and Current Neurophysiologic Concepts. Chapter 8, Clinical Strabismus Management, ed. Rosenbaum AL and Santiago AP WB Saunders, 1999, 117-138.
  2. Tychsen, L., Yildirim, C., Anteby, I., Boothe, R. and Burkhalter, A. Macaque monkey as an ocular motor and neuroanatomic model of human infantile strabismus. Advances in Strabismus Research: Basic and Clinical Aspects. ed. Lennerstrand, G. and Ygge, J. Wenner-Gren International Series. Vol. 78 103-119, 2000.
  3. Wong, A.M.F., Lueder, G.T., Burkhalter, A. and Tychsen, L.: Anomalous retinal correspondence: neuroanatomic mechanism in strabismic monkeys and clinical findings in strabismic children J. Amer. Assoc. Pediatr. Ophthalmol. and Strabismus 4:168-174, 2000.
  4. Tychsen, L.: Critical Periods for Development of Visual Acuity, Depth Perception and Eye Tracking. In Critical Thinking about Critical Periods. National Center for Early Development and Learning, Univ. North Carolina at Chapel Hill.pp. 67-80, 2001.
  5. Wong, A.M.F. and Tychsen, L.: Effects of extraocular muscle tenotomy on congenital nystagmus in macaque monkeys. J. Amer. Assoc. Pediatr. Ophthalmol. & Strabismus 6:100-107, 2002.
  6. Wong AMF, Foeller P, Bradley D, Burkhalter A, and Tychsen L: Early versus delayed repair of infantile strabismus in macaque monkeys: I. Ocular motor effects. J Am Assoc Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 2003; 7:200-209.
  7. Tychsen L, and Scott C: Maldevelopment of convergence eye movements in macaque monkeys with small and large angle infantile esotropia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2003; 44:3358-3368.
  8. Tychsen L, Wong, AMF, Foeller P, and Bradley D: Early versus delayed repair of infantile strabismus in macaque monkeys: II. Effects on motion visual evoked potentials. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2004; 45:821-827.

Additional Info

Pediatric Ophthalmology at St. Louis Children's Hospital



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