Neural dynamics of visual cognition

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Radoslaw Martin Cichy
• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278405424

When we open our eyes, we recognize everyday objects as the letters on this page or the coffee cup on the table without effort. Once we have recognized an object visually, we also know its meaning: we know what e.g. a cup is, how to use the cup, and that the written letters and spoken word cup refers to it. The apparent ease of our visual recognition abilities, however, belies its complexity. Hitherto, the mechanisms by which the brain recognizes objects remain unclear.The overall goal of the proposed research project Neural Dynamics of Visual Cognition is to clarify the neural mechanisms of visual object recognition. The overarching hypothesis is that visual object recognition is accomplished by a hierarchy of cortical regions that transform sensory into abstract representation in distinct processing steps. To unravel the spatiotemporal dynamics underlying this step-wise transformation, we will use recently developed analysis techniques integrating spatial with temporal information from different brain data recording techniques with computational models in a common quantitative analysis framework. This will allow us to address the following three aims in a unique and novel fashion.The primary aim is to clarify how the brain transforms sensory input into abstract representations during object recognition. For this, we will investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of unique and common neural components elicited by perception of object images or words denoting those object images in written or spoken format. The secondary objective is to uncover where and when in the neural architecture underpinning object recognition feed-forward bottom-up and feedback top-down signals are integrated. For this we will use an imagery paradigm to isolate feedback top-information flow in the visual brain, and compare it to feed-forward bottom-up information flow during veridical visual perception. Second, we will investigate how behavioral goals of an organisms change neural dynamics of object representations through feedback top-down signals.The tertiary objective is to determine how plastic the human neural architecture underlying visual object recognition reacts to changes in experience. For this, we will turn to blindness as an extreme case of sensory deprivation offering a strong model of plasticity. Our research will address the role of the visual brain in the transformation of sensory to abstract representations in the blind during Braille reading.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups
• Major Instrumentation: EEG System mit aktiven Elektroden
• Instrumentation Group: 3430 Elektro-Enzephalographen