A vision scientist walks into a clinic...

Organizers: Benjamin Backus^1,2; ¹Vivid Vision Inc, ²SUNY College of Optometry (emeritus)

For Helmholtz, eye doctoring and vision science informed one another. Today, most vision scientists without a joint degree focus on basic research. In this symposium, vision scientists describe their research that has a clinical element. Aside from the science itself, there will be interesting facts about the ways vision can go wrong; practical tips for working with clinicians; and intimations about how new technologies are opening doors for vision scientists to help test, preserve, and improve people's vision. More…

The influence of language in higher-level visual cortex

Organizers: Oscar Woolnough¹, Alex L White²; ¹UTHealth Houston, ²Barnard College, Columbia University

Our ability to communicate information about the visual world with other people is dependent on interconnection between our brain’s visual and language networks. This is crucial for our ability to name objects and recall their abstract semantic associations, and also for our ability to read written words. This symposium will cover multiple aspects of the vision-language interface, including modulation of visual cortex activation by the demands of linguistic tasks, changes in visual cortex function and white matter connectivity as we learn to read, and representations of semantics in higher-level visual cortex. More…

25 Years of Seeing ‘Stuff’—Advances and Challenges in Material Perception

Organizers: Vivian C. Paulun¹, Roland Fleming²; ¹Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ²Justus Liebig University Giessen and Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), Universities of Marburg, Giessen and TU Darmstadt

"Our world contains both things [e.g., chairs, apples, hammers] and stuff [e.g., snow, honey, cream cheese], but things tend to get the attention.” With his paper “On Seeing Stuff”, Adelson (2001) laid the foundation for the study of material perception. This symposium celebrates the upcoming anniversary of Adelson’s seminal publication by exploring the most exciting advances in the field of material perception through a variety of approaches and perspectives. Six talks will highlight the deep connections between material perception and many areas in vision science, e.g., object, shape, motion, color, scene perception and intuitive physics, and discuss its unique challenges. More…

Selective Visual Attention, Alive and Well!

Organizers: Marisa Carrasco¹, Miguel Eckstein², Anna C Nobre³; ¹New York University, ²University of California Santa Barbara, ³Yale University

Visual attention is critical for perception, enabling prioritized and selective information processing. We discuss recent studies on attention in human and non-human primates, focusing on different types: spatial [Carrasco, Briggs, Eckstein], feature-based [Ling, Briggs], and temporal [Nobre], across various analysis levels and methods: psychophysics [Carrasco, Briggs, Nobre], neuroimaging [fMRI, Carrasco, Ling], MEG/EEG [Nobre], neurostimulation [TMS, Carrasco], multi-unit recording [Briggs], and computational [CNNs, Eckstein]. Each presentation illustrates how attention systems are defined, operationalized, and manipulated. We highlight the interplay among different analytical levels and methods, showcasing how they collectively inform our understanding of the psychological and neural substrates of attention. More…

From insects to fish to mammals: Active vision in non-primate organisms

Organizers: Lisa Kroell¹, Lisa Fenk¹; ¹Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence

The link between perception and action is extensively discussed in human and non-human primate vision. Among the remaining 99.98% of animal species, however, an entire universe of active visual behaviors waits to be discovered. In this symposium, we combine the expertise of six active vision specialists who investigate visual perception in behaving fruit flies, dung beetles, Monarch butterflies, zebrafish, ferrets and mice. Despite their diverse backgrounds, all speakers pursue a common aim: understanding how movements of the eyes, body, paws, wings, tails or fins shape and even support vision. More…

Model-optimized stimuli: more than just pretty pictures

Organizers: William Broderick¹, Jenelle Feather¹; ¹Center for Computational Neuroscience, Flatiron Institute

Experiments in vision science rely on designing the correct stimulus set to test the properties of the underlying representation. With data collection time inherently limited, choosing stimuli that get the most "bang for your buck" when collecting behavioral or neural data is imperative. In this symposium, we highlight recent progress in utilizing model-optimized synthetic stimuli to investigate properties of visual systems. Speakers will highlight how such stimuli can probe aspects of behavioral, neural, and computational model responses, demonstrating the power of model-optimized stimuli for improving our understanding of visual processing. More…