Dear Students, Due to the current situation in Europe we do not know if the regular and usual seminar series will take place as always.
UPDATE: COURSE IN ONLINE FORMAT ONLY! (03.05.2020)
In case the seminars will not be held in their usual form we will inform you in due time. For helping you in preparing for the exam and to avoid (as much as humanly possible from our side) the loss of LPs i have uploaded a few guiding ideas for each topic and questionairs on MOODLE.
To facilitate bilateral communication, i will open a FORUM channel on MOODLE where you can state your questions to me and discuss topics with other students.
I also will describe in a pre-recorded video how the seminar will go on this semester and what are the new requirements.
I am sure we will manage this extrem semester without serious delays. Stay healthy!
Gyula Kovács
Weimar, 27.03.2020. (the above Kommentar will be updated if the situation changes- check back regularly)
Visual processing
This module will provide an understanding of how different cognitive techniques have contributed to our understanding of the organization of the visual system and the mechanisms that allow us to see.
Vision begins with light waves exciting the photoreceptors in the retina. From this the visual brain creates an idea of what lies outside. But that basic perception is not the brain's finished product. The final construct is a perception that is invested with meaning. The meanings we attach to our perceptions are usually useful - they transform mere patterns of light into objects we can use, people we can love, places we can go. But sometimes they are misleading: the pool of water in the desert turns out to be a mirage; the axeman in the dark corner a mere shadow. This module will show how modern cognitive neuroscientific techniques are beginning to contribute to our understanding of how the visual brain allows us to see the world.
Learning Objectives
After completing this module students should be able to:
- Give an account of the organization of early visual pathways
- Describe how neuroimaging can be used to reveal sensory maps in visual cortex.
- Discuss how the topography of sensory maps relates to our perception of the world
- Give an account of how different aspects of the visual scene are processed in the visual system
- Discuss how information is represented in visual cortex
- Describe how cognitive neuroscience has contributed to our understanding of attention
- Compare and contrast how different regions of the brain contribute to visual awareness
Topics Covered
- Introduction to the applied techniques
- Maps of the visual world
- From maps to modules
- Objects in the brain
- How faces are represented in visual cortex
- Space, actions and attention
- Neural mechanisms of attention and selective perception
- Visual cortex and implicit processing and awareness
- Neural correlates of visual consciousness
- Visual perceptual learning
Teaching Methods
The course will be based on brief introductory lectures and student referaats. A topic will be introduced in a lecture and will be followed up with a seminar in which students will present key readings, supplied in a separate document. Students will have access to course information via the course home page.
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