Determinants and consequences of conscious visual awareness. Usually salient images can disappear from awareness without corresponding stimulus changes. This project is based on an innovative account linking such disappearances to a functional adaptation which facilitates vision in cluttered environments. Project completion will expand Australia's knowledge base, forge links between junior and senior Australian based investigators and provide excellent training opportunities. Publication of rese ....Determinants and consequences of conscious visual awareness. Usually salient images can disappear from awareness without corresponding stimulus changes. This project is based on an innovative account linking such disappearances to a functional adaptation which facilitates vision in cluttered environments. Project completion will expand Australia's knowledge base, forge links between junior and senior Australian based investigators and provide excellent training opportunities. Publication of research in top-ranking international journals will further promote Australian science abroad. Ultimately, this research will have implications for the design and implementation of artificial visual systems, which must overcome many of the same dilemmas faced by the human visual system in cluttered environments.Read moreRead less
Human Time Perception. Most human tasks require timing on a scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. We must judge time to produce and comprehend speech, to move about and interact with our dynamic environment, to determine causality and decode information from sensory receptors. However, the neural bases of time perception are largely unknown. This project will explore temporal phenomena to determine how and where durations, temporal order and coincidence are encoded in the human brain. Proje ....Human Time Perception. Most human tasks require timing on a scale of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. We must judge time to produce and comprehend speech, to move about and interact with our dynamic environment, to determine causality and decode information from sensory receptors. However, the neural bases of time perception are largely unknown. This project will explore temporal phenomena to determine how and where durations, temporal order and coincidence are encoded in the human brain. Project results will provide new insight into the mechanisms of time perception, with implications for disorders associated with impaired time perception, such as autism, dyslexia and schizophrenia.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100433
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Cortical layer specific functional imaging of the human brain. This project aims to record layer specific cortical activity in humans by leveraging ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging. It expects to yield robust techniques for the general analysis of neuroimaging-based, layer-specific measurements. This project will progress the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging as well as bring the field of neuroimaging closer to that of neurophysiology and thus facilitate collaboration ....Cortical layer specific functional imaging of the human brain. This project aims to record layer specific cortical activity in humans by leveraging ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging. It expects to yield robust techniques for the general analysis of neuroimaging-based, layer-specific measurements. This project will progress the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging as well as bring the field of neuroimaging closer to that of neurophysiology and thus facilitate collaboration among researchers.Read moreRead less
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
Why does time seem to drag and fly? This project aims to investigate varying perceptions about the passage of time. It is unclear if these variations reflect functional adaptations that allow fast information processing in the face of disaster or if such sensations are inferred after the events in question. Nor is it clear if such experiences are similar across individuals. The project aims to answer these questions, with long-term potential to inform artificial intelligence systems that rely on ....Why does time seem to drag and fly? This project aims to investigate varying perceptions about the passage of time. It is unclear if these variations reflect functional adaptations that allow fast information processing in the face of disaster or if such sensations are inferred after the events in question. Nor is it clear if such experiences are similar across individuals. The project aims to answer these questions, with long-term potential to inform artificial intelligence systems that rely on temporal sensitivity. The project also has potential to provide insights into conditions associated with impaired time perception-place roles.Read moreRead less
Insights from brain imaging to study the neural basis of cognition. This project aims to address a major challenge - the need for a better understanding of the basis for human cognition. Humans have a unique capacity for diverse, complex, thought and behaviour. To achieve this our brains need to rapidly and flexibly reconfigure, directing attention to different aspects of the world moment-to-moment as we think and act. The project will combine innovative analysis methods with state-of-the-art n ....Insights from brain imaging to study the neural basis of cognition. This project aims to address a major challenge - the need for a better understanding of the basis for human cognition. Humans have a unique capacity for diverse, complex, thought and behaviour. To achieve this our brains need to rapidly and flexibly reconfigure, directing attention to different aspects of the world moment-to-moment as we think and act. The project will combine innovative analysis methods with state-of-the-art neuroimaging and brain stimulation to understand how key brain regions drive this process. Insights from this project will link brain activation to behaviour, improve insights from brain imaging, and contribute a better understanding of the neural basis of cognition. Such insights can ultimately benefit the development of evidence based approaches to key areas of public concern such as health and education.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
Distorted Time Perceptions: Altered neural coding or decisional criteria? Human time perception is subject to systematic distortions. For instance, prolonged exposure to a movie wherein sounds lead the visual footage can result in this timing relationship seeming to be synchronous when it did not previously. As yet, it is unclear if such effects reflect altered neural processing times (in this example, visual analyses could be sped, or auditory analyses slowed), or if neural processing times are ....Distorted Time Perceptions: Altered neural coding or decisional criteria? Human time perception is subject to systematic distortions. For instance, prolonged exposure to a movie wherein sounds lead the visual footage can result in this timing relationship seeming to be synchronous when it did not previously. As yet, it is unclear if such effects reflect altered neural processing times (in this example, visual analyses could be sped, or auditory analyses slowed), or if neural processing times are unchanged, with people simply altering the decisions they make about sensory inputs. This project will determine which type of scenario is responsible for a number of distortions of human time perception. Read moreRead less