Brain and the Gaze

Brain and the Gaze PDF Author: Jan Lauwereyns
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262017911
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although we routinely take our vision to be veridical representations of reality, in actuality we choose (albeit unwittingly) or construct what we see. By movements of the eyes, the direction of our gaze, we create meaning. The author offers a reformulation of perception and its neural underpinnings, focusing on the active nature of perception. In his investigation of active perception and its brain mechanisms, he offers the gaze as the principal paradigm for perception. He discusses the dynamic and constrained nature of perception; the complex information processing at the level of the retina; the active nature of vision; the intensive nature of representations; the gaze of others as visual stimulus; and the intentionality of vision and consciousness.

Brain and the Gaze

Brain and the Gaze PDF Author: Jan Lauwereyns
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262017911
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although we routinely take our vision to be veridical representations of reality, in actuality we choose (albeit unwittingly) or construct what we see. By movements of the eyes, the direction of our gaze, we create meaning. The author offers a reformulation of perception and its neural underpinnings, focusing on the active nature of perception. In his investigation of active perception and its brain mechanisms, he offers the gaze as the principal paradigm for perception. He discusses the dynamic and constrained nature of perception; the complex information processing at the level of the retina; the active nature of vision; the intensive nature of representations; the gaze of others as visual stimulus; and the intentionality of vision and consciousness.

Fixing My Gaze

Fixing My Gaze PDF Author: Susan R. Barry
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 078674474X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
A revelatory account of the brain's capacity for change When neuroscientist Susan Barry was fifty years old, she experienced the sense of immersion in a three dimensional world for the first time. Skyscrapers on street corners appeared to loom out toward her like the bows of giant ships. Tree branches projected upward and outward, enclosing and commanding palpable volumes of space. Leaves created intricate mosaics in 3D. Barry had been cross-eyed and stereoblind since early infancy. After half a century of perceiving her surroundings as flat and compressed, on that day she saw the city of Manhattan in stereo depth for first time in her life. As a neuroscientist, she understood just how extraordinary this transformation was, not only for herself but for the scientific understanding of the human brain. Scientists have long believed that the brain is malleable only during a "critical period" in early childhood. According to this theory, Barry's brain had organized itself when she was a baby to avoid double vision - and there was no way to rewire it as an adult. But Barry found an optometrist who prescribed a little-known program of vision therapy; after intensive training, Barry was ultimately able to accomplish what other scientists and even she herself had once considered impossible. Dubbed "Stereo Sue" by renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks, Susan Barry tells her own remarkable journey and celebrates the joyous pleasure of our senses.

Brain and the Gaze

Brain and the Gaze PDF Author: Jan Lauwereyns
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262304619
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
A radically integrative account of visual perception, grounded in neuroscience but drawing on insights from philosophy and psychology. How do we gain access to things as they are? Although we routinely take our self-made pictures to be veridical representations of reality, in actuality we choose (albeit unwittingly) or construct what we see. By movements of the eyes, the direction of our gaze, we create meaning. In Brain and the Gaze, Jan Lauwereyns offers a novel reformulation of perception and its neural underpinnings, focusing on the active nature of perception. In his investigation of active perception and its brain mechanisms, Lauwereyns offers the gaze as the principal paradigm for perception. In a radically integrative account, grounded in neuroscience but drawing on insights from philosophy and psychology, he discusses the dynamic and constrained nature of perception; the complex information processing at the level of the retina; the active nature of vision; the intensive nature of representations; the gaze of others as visual stimulus; and the intentionality of vision and consciousness. An engaging point of entry to the cognitive neuroscience of perception, written for neuroscientists but illuminated by insights from thinkers ranging from William James to Slavoj Žižek, Brain and the Gaze will give new impetus to research and theory in the field.

Active Vision

Active Vision PDF Author: John M Findlay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019852479X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 235

Get Book Here

Book Description
This title focuses on vision as an active process, rather than a passive activity and provides an integrated account of seeing and looking. The authors give a thorough description of basic details of the visual and oculomotor systems necessary to understand active vision.

Mind Wide Open

Mind Wide Open PDF Author: Steven Johnson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743258797
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
BRILLIANTLY EXPLORING TODAY'S CUTTING-EDGE BRAIN RESEARCH, MIND WIDE OPEN IS AN UNPRECEDENTED JOURNEY INTO THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN PERSONALITY, ALLOWING READERS TO UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES AND THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES AS NEVER BEFORE. Using a mix of experiential reportage, personal storytelling, and fresh scientific discovery, Steven Johnson describes how the brain works -- its chemicals, structures, and subroutines -- and how these systems connect to the day-to-day realities of individual lives. For a hundred years, he says, many of us have assumed that the most powerful route to self-knowledge took the form of lying on a couch, talking about our childhoods. The possibility entertained in this book is that you can follow another path, in which learning about the brain's mechanics can widen one's self-awareness as powerfully as any therapy or meditation or drug. In Mind Wide Open, Johnson embarks on this path as his own test subject, participating in a battery of attention tests, learning to control video games by altering his brain waves, scanning his own brain with a $2 million fMRI machine, all in search of a modern answer to the oldest of questions: who am I? Along the way, Johnson explores how we "read" other people, how the brain processes frightening events (and how we might rid ourselves of the scars those memories leave), what the neurochemistry is behind love and sex, what it means that our brains are teeming with powerful chemicals closely related to recreational drugs, why music moves us to tears, and where our breakthrough ideas come from. Johnson's clear, engaging explanation of the physical functions of the brain reveals not only the broad strokes of our aptitudes and fears, our skills and weaknesses and desires, but also the momentary brain phenomena that a whole human life comprises. Why, when hearing a tale of woe, do we sometimes smile inappropriately, even if we don't want to? Why are some of us so bad at remembering phone numbers but brilliant at recognizing faces? Why does depression make us feel stupid? To read Mind Wide Open is to rethink family histories, individual fates, and the very nature of the self, and to see that brain science is now personally transformative -- a valuable tool for better relationships and better living.

Discovering the Brain

Discovering the Brain PDF Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309045290
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Get Book Here

Book Description
The brain ... There is no other part of the human anatomy that is so intriguing. How does it develop and function and why does it sometimes, tragically, degenerate? The answers are complex. In Discovering the Brain, science writer Sandra Ackerman cuts through the complexity to bring this vital topic to the public. The 1990s were declared the "Decade of the Brain" by former President Bush, and the neuroscience community responded with a host of new investigations and conferences. Discovering the Brain is based on the Institute of Medicine conference, Decade of the Brain: Frontiers in Neuroscience and Brain Research. Discovering the Brain is a "field guide" to the brainâ€"an easy-to-read discussion of the brain's physical structure and where functions such as language and music appreciation lie. Ackerman examines: How electrical and chemical signals are conveyed in the brain. The mechanisms by which we see, hear, think, and pay attentionâ€"and how a "gut feeling" actually originates in the brain. Learning and memory retention, including parallels to computer memory and what they might tell us about our own mental capacity. Development of the brain throughout the life span, with a look at the aging brain. Ackerman provides an enlightening chapter on the connection between the brain's physical condition and various mental disorders and notes what progress can realistically be made toward the prevention and treatment of stroke and other ailments. Finally, she explores the potential for major advances during the "Decade of the Brain," with a look at medical imaging techniquesâ€"what various technologies can and cannot tell usâ€"and how the public and private sectors can contribute to continued advances in neuroscience. This highly readable volume will provide the public and policymakersâ€"and many scientists as wellâ€"with a helpful guide to understanding the many discoveries that are sure to be announced throughout the "Decade of the Brain."

The Oxford Handbook of Eye Movements

The Oxford Handbook of Eye Movements PDF Author: Simon Liversedge
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191626619
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 1048

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the past few years, there has been an explosion of eye movement research in cognitive science and neuroscience. This has been due to the availability of 'off the shelf' eye trackers, along with software to allow the easy acquisition and analysis of eye movement data. Accompanying this has been a realisation that eye movement data can be informative about many different aspects of perceptual and cognitive processing. Eye movements have been used to examine the visual and cognitive processes underpinning a much broader range of human activities, including, language production, dialogue, human computer interaction, driving behaviour, sporting performance, and emotional states. Finally, in the past thirty years, there have been real advances in our understanding of the neural processes that underpin eye movement behaviour. The Oxford Handbook of Eye Movements provides the first comprehensive review of the entire field of eye movement research. In over fifty chapters, it reviews the developments that have so far taken place, the areas actively being researched, and looks at how the field is likely to devlop in the coming years. The first section considers historical and background material, before moving onto section 2 on the neural basis of eye movements. The third and fourth sections looks at visual cognition and eye movements and eye movement pathology and development. The final sections consider eye movements and reading and language processing and eye movements. Bringing together cutting edge research from and international team of leading psychologists, neuroscientists, and vision researchers, this book is the definitive reference work in this field.

Gaze-Following

Gaze-Following PDF Author: Ross Flom
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1351566016
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does a child’s ability to look where another is looking tell us about his or her early cognitive development? What does this ability—or lack thereof—tell us about a child’s language development, understanding of other’s intentions, and the emergence of autism? This volume assembles several years of research on the processing of gaze information and its relationship to early social-cognitive development in infants spanning many age groups. Gaze-Following examines how humans and non-human primates use another individual’s direction of gaze to learn about the world around them. The chapters throughout this volume address development in areas including joint attention, early non-verbal social interactions, language development, and theory of mind understanding. Offering novel insights regarding the significance of gaze-following, the editors present research from a neurological and a behavioral perspective, and compare children with and without pervasive developmental disorders. Scholars in the areas of cognitive development specifically, and developmental science more broadly, as well as clinical psychologists will be interested in the intriguing research presented in this volume.

Psychophysiology

Psychophysiology PDF Author: John L. Andreassi
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1135613079
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 781

Get Book Here

Book Description
As new technology fuels the rapid growth of research in psychophysiology, it is essential that those new to the field receive a comprehensive introduction. Psychophysiology: Human Behavior and Physiological Response provides students with elementary information regarding the anatomy and physiology of various body systems, recording techniques, integrative reviews of literature, and concepts in the field. Highly accessible, this book fills a gap between edited handbooks that are often difficult for beginners, and journal articles that may also be a challenge to digest. In this new edition, John L. Andreassi incorporates: *a glossary of terms at the end of each chapter to help students learn definitions of novel terms introduced throughout the book; *a new chapter focusing on the proliferation of neuroimaging studies, including positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); and *content changes in all chapters to cover new areas of research, as well as to update findings in traditional topics of interest. Upper level undergraduate and beginning graduate students in psychophysiology, biological psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and physiological psychology will benefit immensely from this important text, just as professionals new to psychophysiology will find this book exceptionally useful in their work.

Neuroradiology Signs

Neuroradiology Signs PDF Author: Mai-Lan Ho
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071804331
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 493

Get Book Here

Book Description
A COMPREHENSIVE, FULL-COLOR GUIDE TO NEURORADIOLOGY SIGNS ACROSS ALL IMAGING MODALITIES The first book of its kind, Neuroradiology Signs provides a multimodality review of more than 440 neuroradiologic signs in CT, MR, angiography, radiography, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine. It is designed to enhance your recognition of specific imaging patterns, enabling you to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. Neuroradiology Signs consists of 7 chapters: Adult and General Brain Pediatric Brain Head, Neck, and Orbits Vascular Skull and Facial Bones Vertebrae Spinal Cord and Nerves All cases have been reviewed by subspecialty experts and include: Imaging Findings Modalities Differential Diagnosis Discussion References Full-color photographs illustrate sign etymology and enhance your learning experience. The index is conveniently organized by sign, diagnosis, and modality. Neuroradiology Signs is a valuable review for trainees preparing for board examinations and a trusted daily reference for practicing clinicians.