About

Dr. Nicklaus Fogt graduated with a Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 1992, concurrently earning a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Physiological Optics. His M.S. thesis focused on spectacle adaptation. After completing a residency in hospital-based optometry at the Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1993, he returned to Ohio State to pursue a Ph.D. in Physiological Optics, which he completed in 1996 with a dissertation on mechanisms of binocular vision. Dr. Fogt has held faculty positions at Ohio State since 1996, progressing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. His research areas include eye and head tracking, binocular vision, nystagmus, and space perception. He has contributed to numerous scientific abstracts and publications in these fields, advancing understanding of visual and oculomotor functions.

Research topics

• Anatomy
• Psychology
• Radiology
• Psychiatry
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Neural consequences of symptomatic convergence insufficiency: A small sample study

  Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics · 2024 · 3 citations

  • Medicine
  • Psychology
  • Anatomy

  INTRODUCTION: Convergence insufficiency (CI) is an oculomotor abnormality characterised by exophoria and inadequate convergence when focusing on nearby objects. CI has been shown to cause symptoms when reading. However, the downstream consequences on brain structure have yet to be investigated. Here, we investigated the neural consequences of symptomatic CI, focusing on the left arcuate fasciculus, a bundle of white matter fibres which supports reading ability and has been associated with reading deficits. METHODS: We compared the arcuate fasciculus microstructure of participants with symptomatic CI versus normal binocular vision (NBV). Six CI participants and seven NBV controls were included in the analysis. All participants were scanned with 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and anatomical and diffusion-weighted images were acquired. Diffusion-weighted images were processed with TRACULA to identify the arcuate fasciculus in each participant and compute volume and radial diffusivity (RD). RESULTS: Compared with NBV controls, those with symptomatic CI had significantly smaller arcuate fasciculi bilaterally (left: t = -3.21, p = 0.008; right: t = -3.29, p = 0.007), and lower RD in the left (t = -2.66, p = 0.02), but not the right (t = -0.81, p = 0.44, false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected p > 0.05) arcuate fasciculus. Those with higher levels of reading symptoms had smaller arcuate fasciculi (r = -0.74, p = 0.004) with lower RD (r = -0.61, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that symptomatic CI may lead to microstructural changes in the arcuate fasciculus. Since it is highly unlikely that abnormalities in the arcuate fasciculus are the cause of the neuromuscular deficits in the eyes, we argue that these changes may be a potential neuroplastic consequence of disruptions in sustained reading.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Post‐therapy Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Adults with Symptomatic Convergence Insufficiency

  Optometry and Vision Science · 2018-05-22 · 22 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  SIGNIFICANCE: Prior studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of vergence-accommodative therapy in the treatment of convergence insufficiency (CI). These results show the changes in brain activation following therapy through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in brain activation following office-based vergence-accommodative therapy versus placebo therapy for CI using the blood oxygenation level-dependent signal from fMRI. METHODS: Adults (n = 7, aged 18 to 30 years) with symptomatic CI were randomized to 12 weeks of vergence-accommodative therapy (n = 4) or placebo therapy (n = 3). Vergence eye movements were performed during baseline and outcome fMRI scans. RESULTS: Before therapy, activation (z score ≥ 2.3) was observed in the occipital lobe and areas of the brain devoted to attention, with the largest areas of activation found in the occipital lobe. After vergence-accommodative therapy, activation in the occipital lobe decreased in spatial extent but increased in the level of activation in the posterior, inferior portion of the occipital lobe. A new area of activation appeared in the regions of the lingual gyrus, which was not seen after placebo therapy. A significant decrease in activation was also observed in areas of the brain devoted to attention after vergence-accommodative therapy and to a lesser extent after placebo therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Observed activation pre-therapy consistent with top-down processing suggests that convergence requires conscious effort in symptomatic CI. Decreased activation in these areas after vergence-accommodative therapy was associated with improvements in clinical signs such as fusional vergence after vergence-accommodative therapy. The increase in blood oxygen level-dependent response in the occipital areas following vergence-accommodative therapy suggests that disparity processing for both depth and vergence may be enhanced following vergence-accommodative therapy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Is early literacy of 4- and 5-year-olds related to percentage of visual on-task time during storybook reading?

  2016-09-26

  article

• Eye Movements and Accommodation

  2015-09-22

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The separation of eye movements into separate subcategories has allowed for an understanding of the neurological basis of ocular motility disorders. Analysis of each of the eye movement subtypes independently has also allowed for an understanding of the limitations of the various motility functions. The oculomotor system has a remarkable ability to combine different eye movement subtypes. As virtual reality displays become more prevalent, issues related to ocular accommodation take on more importance. Display designers should be aware of the conditions that lead to inappropriate accommodation.

  PublisherDOI

• A Method to Monitor Eye and Head Tracking Movements in College Baseball Players

  Optometry and Vision Science · 2014-01-06 · 23 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  PURPOSE: This study had two purposes. The first was to develop a method to measure horizontal gaze tracking errors (based on synchronized eye and head tracking recordings) as subjects viewed many pitched balls. The second was to assess horizontal eye, head, and gaze tracking strategies of a group of Division 1 college baseball players. METHODS: Subjects viewed, but did not swing a bat at, tennis balls projected by a pneumatic pitching machine. Subjects were to call out numbers and the color of these numbers (black or red) on the balls. The trajectory of each pitch was very predictable. Eye and head movements were monitored with a video eye tracker and an inertial sensor, respectively, and these movements were synchronized with ball position using an analog recording device. Data were analyzed for 15 subjects. RESULTS: Eye rotation, head rotation, gaze errors (GEs), and unsigned gaze errors (UGEs) were calculated at various elapsed times. On average, subjects tracked the pitched ball with the head throughout the pitch trajectory, while the eye was moved very little until late in the pitch trajectory. On average, gaze position matched the target position throughout the pitch trajectory. There was some variability in the mean amplitudes of head and eye movement between subjects. However, the eye and head were related by a common rule (partial rotational vestibulo-ocular reflex suppression) for all subjects. Although the mean amplitudes of the GE and UGE varied between subjects, these means were not consistent with anticipatory saccades for any subject. CONCLUSIONS: On average, Division 1 college players tracked the pitched ball primarily with the head and maintained gaze close to the ball throughout much of the pitch trajectory. There was variability between subjects regarding the head and eye movement amplitudes and GEs, but, overall, all subjects maintained gaze close to the ball throughout the pitch trajectory despite the fact that these individuals were not batting.

  PublisherDOI

• Dynamic visual fields of one-eyed observers

  Optometry · 2005-05-01 · 20 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• THE ABILITY TO JUDGE EYE POSITION WHILE TRACKING A MOVING TARGET.

  Optometry and Vision Science · 2002-12-01

  articleSenior author

  Saturday, December 14, 2002: Posters: Binocular Vision, Pediatric Optometry, Public Health, Vision Science: PDF Only

  PublisherDOI

• THE EFFECT OF HEAD MOVEMENT ON THE ACCURACY AND SPEED OF A POINTING TASK.

  Optometry and Vision Science · 2001-12-01

  article

  Saturday, December 8, 2001. Posters: Academy Information, Cornea and Contact lenses, Ocular Disease, Optics and Refraction, Vision Science, Visual Biology: PDF Only

  PublisherDOI

• The relationship between motor and sensory processes in the fusion of disparate retinal images /

  OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · 1996-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Tamara Oechslin

  6 shared

• Marjean Taylor Kulp

  SUNY College of Optometry

  6 shared

• Andrew J. Toole

  5 shared

• Douglas E. Widmer

  The Ohio State University

  5 shared

• G. Lynn Mitchell

  SUNY College of Optometry

  4 shared

• Steven Manning

  SUNY College of Optometry

  4 shared

• Gregory W. Good

  4 shared

• David E. Osher

  The Ohio State University

  2 shared

Labs

• Karla Zadnik LabPI

Awards & honors

• Reunion Weekend Alumni Awards (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021,…