Welcome to the Center for Retina and Brain (CRAB)
At the Center for Retina and Brain (CRAB), we study the ways that changes in the brain from aging, disease, and injury affect the eye, and whether eye measurements can help us screen for, and understand, changes in the brain. Our hope is that learning about these changes will allow us to provide better screening, diagnostic, and predictive tools to help people with a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions.
We are located in the Department of Psychiatry, and we collaborate with teams across the university and study a wide range of psychological and medical conditions.
Learn more about our current research projects
Our collaborators include faculty from Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Radiology, Cardiology, Emergency Medicine and the Institute for Data Science.
Learn more about us.
Introduction to the Retina | Animator: Sophia Chen
Visual examples of retinal variables
Learn more about retinal variables affected by schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders conditions.
Flash electroretinography (ERG) Eyeing the Link Between Heart and Brain Health
Exploring the use of retinal biomarkers to study delirium risk and the neural and neurovascular basis for delirium, as well as its subsequent cognitive and functional outcomes.
Superficial retinal vascular layer as imaged by optical coherence tomography angiography
Retinal Vasculopathy as a Proxy for Cerebral Vascular Health
Evaluating changes in retinal microvasculature as a biomarker of changes in cerebral blood flow and cognition in heart failure patients.
Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)
Retinal Vasculopathy as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk in Individuals with Early Psychosis
Examines microvascular changes that impact cardiovascular health in early psychosis.
Research Team
Steven Silverstein, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry
Judy L. Thompson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Brian Keane, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Joy Choi, MD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Mark Oldham, MD
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Rajeev S. Ramchandran, MD, MBA
Associate Professor, Ophthalmology
View All Research Team Members
- Reliability of computational versus noncomputational metrics of working memory and episodic memory in serious mental illness.; Journal of psychopathology and clinical science. 2026 Sep 21.
- The eye as a canary in the coal mine: oculomics for psychiatry.; Molecular psychiatry. 2026 Sep 18.
- Large language models can supplement the assessment of clinical high risk for psychosis.; Journal of psychopathology and clinical science. 2026 Aug 06.
- Apical integration theory provides a neural basis for understanding disorganization and consciousness in the schizophrenias.; Current research in neurobiology; Vol 11, pp. 100165. 2026 Jul 24.
- The effect of monetary versus point-based rewards on effort-cost decision making in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.; Schizophrenia research; Vol 296, pp. 155-162. 2026 Jul 20.
Contact Us
Center for Retina and Brain (CRAB)
University of Rochester Medicine
Department of Psychiatry
300 Crittenden Boulevard
Rochester, NY, 14642
Center for Retina and Brain
