August 05, 2004

Cognitive Neuroscience

Some interesting links on cognitive neuroscience, visual illusions etc:


1. Donald D. Hoffman has an interesting book called Visual Intelligence. An abstract from his preface:

"After his stroke, Mr. P still had outstanding memory and intelligence. He could still read and talk, and mixed well with the other patients on his ward. His vision was in most respects normal---with one notable exception: He couldn't recognize the faces of people or animals. As he put it himself, "I can see the eyes, nose, and mouth quite clearly, but they just don't add up. They all seem chalked in, like on a blackboard ... I have to tell by the clothes or by the voice whether it is a man or a woman ...The hair may help a lot, or if there is a mustache ... ." Even his own face, seen in a mirror, looked to him strange and unfamiliar. Mr. P had lost a critical aspect of his visual intelligence."


He also has some examples of visual illusions on his web-site that could be useful at some stage.


2. Semir Zeki's group uses the following methodologies:


  • Functional imaging allows us to obtain pictures of brain activity when the subject is viewing a particular scene, such as a painting.
  • Visual psychophysics is the study of what we see when confronted with various unusual visual displays, such as visual illusions.
  • Single cell physiology enables us to assess the contributions that individual neurons in various parts of the brain make to the task of seeing.

Books by Zeki:


3. The Artist as a Neurologist describes neuro-physiological mechanisms in the way we perceive art. Pay particular attention to

"Furthermore the patient complained of difficulties in following a dialogue because she could not see the movements of the face and, especially, the mouth of the speaker."

Posted by gpapan at August 5, 2004 03:17 PM
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