Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101159
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,556.00
Summary
Understanding the role of hemispheric communication in the human brain. A crucial question in cognitive neuroscience regards how humans integrate perceptual information to understand and interact with our environment. This project aims to identify neural processes that operate competitively and cooperatively within the left and right hemispheres to understand how the human brain integrates information for perception. This project expects to generate new insight into the nature of hemispheric com ....Understanding the role of hemispheric communication in the human brain. A crucial question in cognitive neuroscience regards how humans integrate perceptual information to understand and interact with our environment. This project aims to identify neural processes that operate competitively and cooperatively within the left and right hemispheres to understand how the human brain integrates information for perception. This project expects to generate new insight into the nature of hemispheric communication and perceptual decision making. This should provide significant benefits by understanding how the two brain hemispheres process different visual information yet communicate efficiently to allow seamless interface with the world.Read moreRead less
Understanding the neural basis of gaze behaviour in the human brain. Selecting where to look is a necessary step in human vision that is vital for guiding social behaviours. For example, although we inadvertently look toward faces in our environment, especially faces expressing emotion, we do not know how this is accomplished. This project aims to define the mechanisms responsible for detecting and prioritising faces in the human brain. The results are expected to advance our understanding of ho ....Understanding the neural basis of gaze behaviour in the human brain. Selecting where to look is a necessary step in human vision that is vital for guiding social behaviours. For example, although we inadvertently look toward faces in our environment, especially faces expressing emotion, we do not know how this is accomplished. This project aims to define the mechanisms responsible for detecting and prioritising faces in the human brain. The results are expected to advance our understanding of how vision operates in daily life, and augment theories of how the prioritisation of social cues might differ in people living with Anxiety disorders. It is anticipated that the project outcomes will also inform the development of artificial vision systems that can interpret social meaning in visual environments.
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Novel psychophysical paradigms for examining predictive coding in vision. Human vision is shaped by predictive signals in the brain. Despite a century of speculation, we do not know how this interplay is implemented - particularly during natural viewing. This project will establish and validate new psychophysical protocols for investigating predictive coding in human vision. Experiments will involve natural viewing and eye tracking, so results will generalize to real-life. Studies will seek to c ....Novel psychophysical paradigms for examining predictive coding in vision. Human vision is shaped by predictive signals in the brain. Despite a century of speculation, we do not know how this interplay is implemented - particularly during natural viewing. This project will establish and validate new psychophysical protocols for investigating predictive coding in human vision. Experiments will involve natural viewing and eye tracking, so results will generalize to real-life. Studies will seek to clarify how predictions are formed and signalled. This could inform future developments in artificial intelligence, as that cutting edge technology continues to be informed by our understanding of predictive coding in human vision.Read moreRead less
Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empi ....Creating perceptual experts in Australia's policing and security agencies. This project aims to create the next generation of experts in Australia’s policing and national security agencies, by improving crime scene evidence interpretation. Agencies are under pressure to develop more rigorous training practices that go beyond mere intuition and tradition. This project will use a novel approach that directs learning toward the most diagnostic perceptual cues. Expected outcomes include a solid empirical basis for national training programs designed to create experts that are accurate, reliable, and continuously improving. Improving the training of experts will ensure the integrity of forensics as evidentiary tools available to police, lead to more reliable courtroom convictions and help safeguard Australia from terrorism and crime.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100136
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,288.00
Summary
The influence of naturalistic context on visual short-term memory. This project aims to understand visual short-term memory in natural visual environments using a combination of behavioural and brain data. Visual short-term memory is thought to be critical to complex cognitive tasks such as learning and problem solving, but how low-level image context and high-level semantic information influence short-term memory is poorly understood. This project will use advanced computational image processin ....The influence of naturalistic context on visual short-term memory. This project aims to understand visual short-term memory in natural visual environments using a combination of behavioural and brain data. Visual short-term memory is thought to be critical to complex cognitive tasks such as learning and problem solving, but how low-level image context and high-level semantic information influence short-term memory is poorly understood. This project will use advanced computational image processing tools, neuro-imaging, and psychophysical experiments to provide a comprehensive analysis of short-term memory in naturalistic images. The expected outcome is a better understanding of the neural bottlenecks that limit short-term memory, and a model that predicts memory constraints in natural visual environments.Read moreRead less
Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational? This project aims to investigate an important, newly discovered dissociation between early visual selection and perceptual decision-making. Contrary to current theories, attentional and perceptual processes are tuned to different stimulus attributes described in the relational vs. optimal account, which implies that current theories of attention do not describe early attention but later, decisional processes. This project will ....Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational? This project aims to investigate an important, newly discovered dissociation between early visual selection and perceptual decision-making. Contrary to current theories, attentional and perceptual processes are tuned to different stimulus attributes described in the relational vs. optimal account, which implies that current theories of attention do not describe early attention but later, decisional processes. This project will provide an accurate description of these processes, which promises important theoretical breakthroughs. Work on this project will also significantly advance methods to detect and describe early attentional processes, by identifying error-prone methods of Psychophysics and Neuroscience studies, and proposing remedies.Read moreRead less
A honking horn can blind you: how sudden distractions redirect attention. This project aims to investigate the sudden offset of distraction and its effects. Distraction can have a devastating impact on our ability to pay attention. This project derives its approach to distraction from recent neurophysiological advances in understanding the Locus Coeruleus–Norepinephrine system. The project intends to establish the role of the Locus Coeruleus in sudden distraction and to examine how sudden distra ....A honking horn can blind you: how sudden distractions redirect attention. This project aims to investigate the sudden offset of distraction and its effects. Distraction can have a devastating impact on our ability to pay attention. This project derives its approach to distraction from recent neurophysiological advances in understanding the Locus Coeruleus–Norepinephrine system. The project intends to establish the role of the Locus Coeruleus in sudden distraction and to examine how sudden distraction interacts with both environmental and internal factors. The outcomes of the research may lead to improvements in technology to enhance road safety and reduce the social and physical costs of distraction-related accidents. This should provide significant benefits such as informing policies on distraction-while-driving to make Australia’s roads safer.Read moreRead less
Linking human brain structure to function with ultra-high resolution fMRI. This project will examine the structure and function of the sensory cortex of the human brain using ultra-high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (7 Tesla MRI). The project pushes new boundaries for resolution with ultra-high field MRI (7 Tesla) and, as such, will advance techniques for the acquisition, analysis, and computational modelling of high-resolution fMRI brain imaging, providing detail of the funct ....Linking human brain structure to function with ultra-high resolution fMRI. This project will examine the structure and function of the sensory cortex of the human brain using ultra-high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (7 Tesla MRI). The project pushes new boundaries for resolution with ultra-high field MRI (7 Tesla) and, as such, will advance techniques for the acquisition, analysis, and computational modelling of high-resolution fMRI brain imaging, providing detail of the functional organisation of the sensory cortex at a level never previously possible in the living human brain. This will provide new understanding of the neural-level networks that underpin attention and touch perception in the human brain.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100357
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,320.00
Summary
What determines your face identification accuracy? Accurate face identification underpins normal social functioning and important identity verification procedures in society, government and the justice system. However, there is little understanding of the cognitive processes that give rise to individual differences in face identification. This project aims to develop a new cognitive model that characterises how holistic and part-based processing combine to determine individual differences in fac ....What determines your face identification accuracy? Accurate face identification underpins normal social functioning and important identity verification procedures in society, government and the justice system. However, there is little understanding of the cognitive processes that give rise to individual differences in face identification. This project aims to develop a new cognitive model that characterises how holistic and part-based processing combine to determine individual differences in face identification. Expected benefits include advancing knowledge of human face perception, and evidence-based training and personnel selection tools to improve decision accuracy, help police prevent crime and terrorism, and avoid wrongful conviction of innocent suspects.Read moreRead less
Understanding the neural dynamics of integrated perceptual decisions. This project aims to characterise the brain processes involved in perceptual decision-making. While scientists have a good understanding of how people make decisions about the properties of individual sensory inputs, much less is known about how the brain integrates information across multiple sensory sources that differ in their salience and fidelity. The project expects to elucidate the neural mechanisms responsible for thes ....Understanding the neural dynamics of integrated perceptual decisions. This project aims to characterise the brain processes involved in perceptual decision-making. While scientists have a good understanding of how people make decisions about the properties of individual sensory inputs, much less is known about how the brain integrates information across multiple sensory sources that differ in their salience and fidelity. The project expects to elucidate the neural mechanisms responsible for these integrative perceptual decisions, using a combination of brain imaging and behavioural measures, computational modelling and real-time neurofeedback. This should provide significant benefits for developing more effective approaches to training individuals in professions that rely on optimal decision-making skills.Read moreRead less