Extrastriate Visual Processing: Integration of Computational, Psychophysical and Imaging Approaches

Principal Investigators: AAPO HYVÄRINEN1, SIMO VANNI2, JUSSI SAARINEN3
Researchers: Urs Köster1, Linda Henriksson2, Markku Kilpeläinen3

1Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, 2Brain Research Unit, Low Temperature Lab, Helsinki University of Technology, 3Deartmentt of Psychology, University of Helsinki

Research on human vision is a multidisciplinary field of study. Possible approaches include 1) psychological experiments which attempt to measure when the subject perceives certain stimuli or differences among them (also called psychophysics), 2) direct physical measurement of brain activity, e.g., using modern brain imaging methods, and 3) mathematical and computational modelling of the visual system based on computer simulations. The purpose of this consortium is to combine these three approaches to study a brain area called the extrastriate cortex. The function of this area is not well known, but its significance to vision is obvious, because visual signals almost always pass though it on their way from the primary visual cortex to the higher-order pattern recognition areas.

Contact: ahyvarin(at)cc.helsinki.fi, tel. +358 9 1915 1234