Event overview
Lecture by Dr. Romi Nijhawan, University of Sussex.
Title: "Predicting the Present: Visual-Motor Neural Delays and Compensation"
Abstract:
For more than a hundred and fifty years, scientists have known that neural processes are relatively slow. This implies that the visually experienced world, which involves the activation of higher cortical areas several synapses removed from the visual input, and therefore subject to delays, is forever lagging the real one. Consequently, events should be perceived after a delay and moving objects should appear where they were in the recent (about 1/10th second) past. But why should it matter if this is so as long as actions of animals are not delayed? The reason is simple: Animals would not survive if neural delays remained uncompensated. I will make a case that delays, in addition to be being compensated by motor systems, are also compensated in the sensory pathways by ‘visual prediction’. This compensation can be observed in several instances. Of these I will focus on a fascinating phenomenon (the flash-lag effect) in which a flashed object presented at the same position as a moving object appears in a position lagging the moving object. I will consider the various forms of this phenomenon and address the controversies raised by ‘visual prediction’. Supportive data from other labs, for example prediction by retinal cells (rabbits and salamanders) and Head Direction cells (rats) will be mentioned.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00pm - 5:15pm |
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