The seeing brain

1. Cognitive Psychology
Lesson 3 - Spring 2020
The seeing brain
Professor Valentina Bazzarin
USAC Reggio Emilia

2. From eye to
brain
The eyes play a crucial role in vision
but the brain is involved in actively
constructing a visual representation of
the world that is not literal
reproduction of light falling on the
eyes.
Sensation Vs Perception
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_cont
ours

3. Sketch a caricature of one of your classmates
Source: https://www.groundai.com/project/alive-caricature-from-2d-to-3d2778/

4. 10 year challenge: a clean database about
ageing
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-10-year-meme-challenge/

5. Gestalt?
- People can quickly recognize
the faces of people they know;
we process a face in terms of
its gestalt
- Neuroscience techniques
demonstrate that cell in
inferotemporal cortex play an
important role in perceiving
faces
https://youtu.be/YrpK90bHO2U

6. Sensation and
perception
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/
08/30/face-blind
https://vimeo.com/218515419
Prosopo-
agnosia

7. Recognizing faces
https://youtu.be/qxCC74jCfXc https://youtu.be/7s6kQdyyxOEhttps://youtu.be/7s6kQdyyxOE

8. Sensation
Vs
Perception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unWnZvXJH2o

9. Cortical blindness and blindsight
Myth 1 The retina of the of the left eye
represents the left side of space. The left
side of the left eye and the left side of the
right eye both contain an image of the
object in the right space
Myth 2 Some visual neuron respond
when the light is taken away. The analogy
with the TV’s pixels is not correct. The
neurons in the extrastriate areas respond
only to certain colors or movements.
Myth 3 The image in the retina and the
representation of it are upside down with
respect of the outside world. All
orientation is relative and the brain does
not need to turn things around to
perceive them appropriately. It extracts
relevant information.

10. Functional specialization of the
visual cortex
The visual cortex of the brain is a part of the
cerebral cortex that processes visual
information. It is located in the occipital lobe
in the back of the head.

11. Visual impairments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5ZuK0_qtc

12. Visual (optical) illusions

13. Gregory’s
categorization of
visual illusions
List
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_optical_illusions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWiTTyLrBqI

14. Using Gestalt principles for storytelling
https://www.fusioncharts.com/blog/how-to-use-the-gestalt-principles-f
or-visual-storytelling-podv/

15. Best illusions of the year
http://illusionoftheyear.com/
Gianni A. Sarcone, Courtney Smith, Marie-Jo
Waeber
Archimedes Laboratory™ Project, Italy

16. Assignment
Invent a visual
illusion
discover a visual
illusion in art
Deadline Monday 3rd of February

17. Recognizing objects
Apperceptive agnosia is a failure in
recognition that is due to a failure of
perception. In contrast, associative agnosia
is a type of agnosia where perception occurs
but recognition still does not occur.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apperceptive_agnosia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze8VVtBgK7A
Agnosias

18. Imagery and
perception
Imagery involves some
of the same structures
of perception, but
activated in the
reverse from semantic
knowledge to early
visual processing.

19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4oTcWevGfs
Charlie Chaplin
Modern Times
Roller Skating
Scene VFX