The COVID-19 global pandemic is opening new questions for exploring how we get to know and recognize people in our lives. From the rise of digital representations of people — whether through avatars or teleconferences — to the use of masks for protection, we are taking in lots of different types of information beyond mere […]
Mapping the Brain’s Visual Behavior One Tidbit at a Time
Q&A with Marlene Behrmann For the past 30 years, Marlene Behrmann has been on a mission to answer some of the biggest questions in cognitive neuroscience about how visual function in the brain maps onto structure. Along her journey, she has explored a wide range of topics, including autism, migraines, aphasia, agnosia, and more. “These […]
Smell Stimulates Early Visual Processing in Women But Not in Men
Smells are undeniably powerful, able to transport us to different places and times in our memories. Think of how you feel when you smell cookies baking in the oven. But can they also change how we see things? New research shows that smells can enhance visual processing – but only in women, not men. “The […]
Tourette’s Symptoms Increase When Patients Watch Themselves Tic
When we see children moving their bodies uncontrollably, we sometimes tell them to calm their bodies and thereby draw their attention to the unwanted behavior. But for people with Tourette’s syndrome, being more aware of their tics may actually exacerbate the actions. In a new study, researchers found that people with Tourette’s syndrome who watched […]
Using Fruits and Veggies to Break Down How We Remember and Identify Objects
Guest Post by Marc Coutanche, Yale University From a young age, we learn the differences between a lemon and a lime and dozens of other fruit, making going to a farmer’s market to shop for fruit a seemingly simple task. But despite appearances, very little is simple about holding what you want in mind, and then identifying […]
Social Priorities: We Rapidly Process Communicative Cues
A smile, a wave, a head nod – seemingly small communicative gestures are of vital importance even for babies. And new research finds that the brain processes these social cues faster than previously thought, as quickly as 70 milliseconds. The finding gives insight into the brain’s priorities that may further understanding of both typical and […]
How Loss of Hearing Leads to Improved Vision in the Deaf
We have all heard the amazing things the brain can do when deprived of one of the senses – stories about blind people with incredible hearing or deaf people with amazing visual skills. That is because the part of the brain responsible for hearing reorganizes itself in the deaf to take in visual information (and […]
Why Do People, But Not Cameras, Consciously See?
CNS 2014 Blog Does a camera have consciousness? Well, of course not. But the camera serves as a good starting point for understanding some key features of the human visual system that enable us to have conscious awareness of what we see, as explained Victor Lamme of the University of Amsterdam in a symposium on consciousness […]
Our Visual World is Not Fact: Our Highly Flexible View of Race, Gender, Emotion, and More
CNS 2014 Blog Part 2 of 2 about the role of social context in how we see people We all know that long-held cultural stereotypes influence how we evaluate and interact with others. But what about how we actually – visually – see people? New research, for the first time, shows that stereotypes change how […]
We See Race – and Create Social Categories – Quickly
CNS 2014 Blog Part 1 of 2 about the role of social context in how we see people When you look at a face, you don’t just see what’s in front of you. You are also processing a whole host of social information about the person. And this happens fast – as quick as one-tenth […]
