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Project

Understanding the causes of functional selectivity in the human brain through a study of sign language and visual Braille reading.

Past research has developed the tools to investigate information processing in the human brain, and has used these  methods to elucidate the complex hierarchical system involved in the processing of visual stimuli. In particular, a  large part of human cortex is organized in terms of the category a visual stimulus belongs to, such as faces, bodies,  and visual word forms. However, as reviewed in Op de Beeck et al. (2019, Trends in Cognitive Sciences), many  questions remain about how this complex organization comes about as a consequence of the interplay between  factors such as the sensory properties of visual stimuli versus in which cognitive domain the stimuli are being used  (e.g., for linguistic processing). In this research project we propose to clarify these interactions by investigating the  changes at the neural level when individuals develop expertise in using uncommon stimuli for a a specific purpose.  More specifically, we will investigate the processing of body movements, normally confined to body‐selective  regions, in sign language experts, who process such body movements in the linguistic domain. In addition, we will  clarify the processing of simple dot patterns in experts in visual Braille reading. These experiments will significantly  advance our understanding of the determinants of the functional organization of the human visual cortex.

Date:1 Oct 2020 →  30 Sep 2022
Keywords:vision, expertise, development, brain, neuroimaging
Disciplines:Cognitive neuroscience