Understanding How the Eyes Are Affected After a Brain Injury w/ Dr. Zelinsky

Join host Amy Zellmer as she chats with Dr. Deborah Zelinsky about how eyes are affected after a brain injury. 

Deborah Zelinsky, O.D., F.N.O.R.A., F.C.O.V.D. graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1985 and founded the Mind-Eye Connection in 1993.

She has spent the past thirty years developing methods for assessment of brain function with emphasis on the often untested linkage between eyes and ears. Certification in the use of those methods is beginning in 2017.

Customized eyeglasses can be used to stabilize dysfunctional eye/ear connections, enhancing learning and language abilities. When visual and auditory pathways are not solidly interacting, reading and spelling abilities suffer, as do social skills. 

Dr. Zelinsky’s cutting edge research in retinal circuitry and three patents in novel usages of retinal stimulation have been described in neuro-optometric rehabilitation publications and optometric courses worldwide. Currently she is a reviewer for the Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE) and has been a scientific grant reviewer for the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program several times. In 2013, she was presented with the Founding Father’s Award from NORA (NeuroOptometric Rehabilitation Association) and is an active member of the World Brain Mapping Foundation and the Society for Neuroscience.

Her books include “Open your Eyes and Listen” and “An Insight to Vision”.  Along with Donalee Markus, Ph.D , Dr. Zelinsky is featured in the 2015 book “The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and the New Science of Brain Plasticity Brought it Back” by Dr. Clark Elliott.